Did you know Iowa’s very first first lady was named Friendly Lucas?
It’s true. It’s also true, or at least likely, that she had some distinctly un-friendly thoughts about President Martin Van Buren when he appointed her husband, Robert, to be the first governor of the Iowa Territory in 1838. The Lucases were living comfortably in Ohio, where all seven of their kids were born, and the new appointment meant they’d have to pack their stuff on a wagon and haul it out to the western frontier.
But Friendly made the best of it. After Robert retired, the couple eventually settled on an acreage in Iowa City where Friendly planted the garden you can see on page 77. They called the place Plum Grove because a productive orchard of plum trees grew east of their house.
I think of Friendly every time I see the displays of jams and jellies at the Iowa State Fair. Several years ago, my former colleagues at the State Historical Society of Iowa encouraged me to follow Friendly’s recipe for plum butter and enter it in the fair. To my genuine surprise, it won a blue ribbon — despite the fact that the recipe advised not to worry about a few worms in the fruit. They’ll “give it a meaty flavor, so do not be squeamish,” according to a note recorded by Friendly’s great-granddaughter.
Except for that special ingredient, the recipe for this magazine is surprisingly similar. Gather a bunch of the freshest, juiciest stories you can find. Boil them down to their essence. Preserve them in a tidy package to share with family and friends.
So go ahead: Flip to any page for a taste of honest-to-goodness Iowa flavor. Read about the state’s new poet laureate in Cedar Falls, a devoted volunteer at the Iowa Farm Sanctuary in Oxford and an old-fashioned woodworker in Jefferson. Learn about the renovated African American Museum of Iowa in Cedar Rapids, the new mountain bike trails in Sioux City and a huge tapestry in Centerville, a collaborative project that stitched the community closer together.
On behalf of our talented team of writers, photographers and designers, I invite you to sample a few stories from the territory-turned-state that Friendly and Robert finally called home. We’re proud to showcase Iowa. That’s our jam.
– Michael Morain
