Jeff Ware’s Cane Syrup Supply

The Jeff Ware Family numbered eight in all. There was the father, Jeff; the Mother, Reba; the oldest son, Bertis; the second son, Milton; the third son, Fred; the last son, Morris; then next a daughter, Rosa Lee; and finally a daughter, Nadine. In the 1920’s the family lived in the Mississippi Delta, near Ruleville.

The Mississippi cotton farmer did not believe in doing anything except to grow cotton. Most would move from the hill section of the country to the Delta and stop growing vegetables, fruits, and other edible produce. They also would not keep a cow for milk. If they had any of these things to eat, it would be purchased from a food store.

The landowner didn’t believe in laying aside any of that fresh, fertile land for growing food. They would barely leave room for a site for a house to live in. Can you imagine how hungry these formerly hill folks became for some of those traditional products?

My dad, Charley Watson, used to tell about the time Jeff Ware went to town one Saturday to buy some food. Among the items purchased was a sack of flour and a gallon of Louisiana cane syrup. His intention was to buy enough food, especially syrup, to last for a while.

When Jeff got home with the groceries, Reba built a fire in the cook stove to prepare a good hot supper on that chilly Saturday night. She began making hot biscuits by the panful. Reba knew what it took to fill that hungry family. They could scarcely wait.

The gallon of syrup was opened and placed in the center of the table. There was no point in pouring from the syrup can into a serving container for they would probably eat a good portion of the syrup at this setting anyway.

The biscuits began coming from the oven. Each diner poured syrup directly from the gallon can over the hot biscuits into the plate.

When supper was finished, several pans of biscuits had been eaten. But, they didn’t simply eat a good portion of the syrup. They did not simply eat the greatest portion of that gallon of syrup. That night, in a single supper meal, the family ate every drop of that gallon can of syrup!

This was written by Roy C. Watson at Jackson, Mississippi on September 27, 1990.