Joe Frogger cookies are molasses-spiced cookies with rum which date back to the Colonial era. Locals to Marblehead, MA believe that the Joe Frogger cookies are named after a free African American man who served in the American Revolution named Joseph Brown. Joseph was born November 18th, 1749 and was the child of an Aquinnah Wampanoag man and a woman of African descent. Joseph was previously enslaved by Beriah Brown II. Little is known about Joseph’s childhood into young adulthood, but it is believed that he substituted Beriah Brown II’s son, Christopher Brown, in the American Revolution after Christopher turned to a life of privateering. Joseph served 10 months and 20 days to complete Christopher’s service. After the Revolutionary War, Joseph opened Black Joe’s Tavern in Marblehead. The Joe Frogger cookies were served at Joseph’s tavern and the cookie’s recipe is attributed to his wife, Lucretia.
Lucretia Brown was born Lucretia Thomas presumably in Marblehead, MA on September 15th, 1773. Her parents were Peter and Lucretia (also listed as Levinea) Thomas. The Thomas family was previously enslaved by Samuel Tucker of Marblehead, but were manumitted shortly before the start of the American Revolution.
Joseph and Lucretia Brown were known in town lore as “Black Joe” and “Aunt Cresse.” Joseph had become a mortgagee to a woman named Mary Seward on October 15th, 1793 for a lodging that is described as the “northeasterly end of a dwelling house with the land under the same and thereto adjoining with a barn thereon standing.” Joseph was then listed as the property owner, which was rare for people of color during this time. It is unknown if Joseph bought this property while courting Lucretia or if Joseph intended to buy this property for Lucretia, but the two were married on January 5th, 1794. After their marriage, the two took up residence in the property on Gingerbread Hill, living there until their deaths in 1834 and 1857, respectively.
Joseph and Lucretia’s tavern does not appear in any newspapers, and there are no directories from the time period listing the tavern’s existence. However, in later newspaper articles from the late 19th century into the 20th century, longtime Marblehead residents note the Browns to be important people of the town, noting their involvement in events like Election Week. People noted Lucretia’s cooking and Joseph’s fiddle-playing as highlights of the tavern.
Though Joseph Brown is the better known of the couple, Lucretia was the face of the business. Lucretia was noted as being the one serving the beer which, according to Marblehead Museum, "she brewed from her own formula." She would bake wedding cakes, election buns, and even pick roses to create rosewater. While she was popular for her rosewater and her cakes, it was her “Joe Frogger” cookies that became the staple of Marblehead. Supposedly, the “Joe Frogger” cookies were shelf stable enough to survive long sea voyages.These cookies were named after her husband Joseph and, according to some sources, received the name "Frogger" by resembling the lily pads that were in the pond located next to the tavern. These cookies have made such a large impact on African American culinary history that they are served in the café of the National Museum of African American History in Washington D.C.
It is a crucial point to make for Joseph and Lucretia Brown that their “Joe Frogger” cookies were reliant on molasses and sugar, two ingredients directly related to the ongoing slave trade at the time. Joseph and Lucretia’s ironic way of making a living through products that became closely related to the enslavement of their race should not be lost on their inspirational story.
Recipe
Sources
- Yankee Magazine. "Joe Froggers Recipe." New England Today. Available at NewEngland.com.
- Marblehead Museum. "Joseph & Lucretia Brown." Marblehead Museum. Available at MarbleheadMuseum.org.
Edited by Alisa Grishin