Mary Chambers Bankhead – 1840-1906 - The Belle & Civil War

A celebrated beauty from St. Louis, Mary Chambers was an amateur actress and loved to sing in private parlors for splendid society parties in this city, then, the largest and most sophisticated in the west. Mary's mother, Madame Chambers, was patroness of a one-night benefit stage presentation held at the old St. Louis Opera House on Friday, October 1, 1852, were Mary, in her teens, played a starring roll. We still have the hand written menu they created for the After the Theatre Supper complete with Mary's recipes. Fresh versions of them are printed here.

There was certainly something magnetic about the Bankhead men, because this bright little star chose to marry a dashing plantation man from rural territory, far up the River from her cultivated city. Granted, Archer was of the same character and bearing as his handsome father, even considered more striking with the same dark black hair and piercing blue eyes. He was called to duty as a Captain in The Missouri Militia. When the Civil War unfolded, Bankhead's Company became a part of the Confederacy essentially because the Union Army threatened to put all of Missouri under martial law.

The favored family story tells how Captain Bankhead, while at the front in 1862, received word that his beautiful Mary was dying in childbirth. He was an impressive hunter and woodsman so with cunning skill he did steal through the enemy lines to reach her bedside. Hiding by day and traveling by night, he swam his horse across the Mississippi River. He arrived in time to encourage and comfort Mary through her ordeal. Once she survived, Captain Bankhead turned around and returned to his Company along the same treacherous route that had carried his faithful heart home.

Mary, a confirmed lover of romance and luxury, almost hinging on extravagance, fashioned her remote plantation way of life into a savvy convivial center for family and friends. We know she had many of the ladies magazines of the day. As a teenager, Mary may have read this poem from her Mother's Godey's Lady's Book, 
Philadelphia, From the 1850s, Entitled, "Love", by Thomas W. Lane.

"OH! if there is on earth a perfect joy,
A bliss unstained by this world's gross alloy;
If earthly joys approach, or e'er attain
To that bright bliss we'll know when born again,
'Tis in the calm delights we feel when near
Some being held above all others dear:
The very air her presence doth refine;
Near her, the sun doth warmer seem to shine;
On rosy wings, whole hours like moments fly;
The earth seems fairer, and more bright the sky;
Each pleasure, doubled, doth more pleasing seem;"

Even in her provincial home in Missouri's hinterlands, Mary prepared all stylish manner of concoctions with panache. In her two story grey-green stone manor house she served up charm right along with her creative, pace-setting dishes. She was in love with love as were women of her time and wore velvet dresses on occasions where fine dinners were placed on beautiful lace trimmed tablecloths.

No party would have surpassed the one she made for her husband Archer's homecoming from the war. He is said to have jumped off his horse, kissed his surprised wife and children and headed directly to the hearth where the wood was red hot. He removed his Confederate Uniform and threw it in the fire. He took his mud-laden boots and tossed them at the back of the chimney where they remained hidden until years later when a great grandson retrieved them, mud and all, while making renovations.





After the Theatre Supper

This sumptuous meal is a striking example of the refinement and glamour of St. Louis in Mary's day. The theatre experience in the mid-19th Century was a very big deal. For most it was the primary source of exciting entertainment, so much so that there are copious reviews from the time and etiquette books written on the exact manners and emotions that the proper audience should display. We are guessing that after a possibly long and tedious performance this delectable repast must have been a heavenly reward.


Menu

Walnut Studded Cheese Ball
Peppery Consommé Madrilène
Herbed Chicken Breasts – Honeydew Melon &Lime Curry Sauce
Baby Carrots Glace Crusted with pistachios
Oyster Pie with Citron Butter Sauce
Rhubarb Dessert & White Chocolate Curls
Caramelized Bourbon Banana Tart
Turkish Delights