Grace Sample McClure

“The Holidays have been marked by many teas, outstanding among them the one that took place Saturday afternoon at the home of Mrs. Grace Sample McClure, 1415 South Jefferson, where the Saginaw chapter of the American Association of University Women entertained many Saginaw young women home from their respective colleges and universities.” 

-The Saginaw News, December 31, 1939.

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Born in 1881, Grace Sample was the daughter of Emma Leeke and Dr. Chester H. Sample – her childhood home stood on South Washington on the site where the AT&T building is now located. Grace Sample McClure was a community leader and a pioneer. Her numerous accomplishments included creating a place at the table for women – locally and nationally.

In 1926, when she became a member of the Saginaw school board–when the east and westside school districts were combined–this biography was published:

“Grace Sample McClure was born in Saginaw and this city always has been her home. She attended the Saginaw schools and after graduation from Saginaw high school, attended Vassar college for four years. She was married in 1906 to Charles W. McClure, and has one son.

She has served for nearly three years on the east side board of education[.] She was affiliated with the first woman suffrage organization formed here, she been active in the affairs of the Saginaw branch of the American Association of University Women and was a member of the first jury including women that ever tried a murder case in Saginaw county. She has been interested in garden work and had written a number of magazine articles dealing with the subject, during the war she held the county chairmanship of the Woman’s Council of National Defense. 

She lives at 1257 South Jefferson Avenue.” (The Saginaw News Courier, February 9, 1926.)

“During the depression years Grace worked to pare school expenses, and badgered Lansing for Saginaw’s fair share of state aid. She saw the need for new school buildings and helped find a way to pay for them.” (The Saginaw News, February 22, 1970.)

She would continue her work, championing civic causes with education being at the forefront. Her work also included serving as Michigan’s State Librarian. In her mid-seventies, she conceived a nationwide night and morning call-in service for those who live alone. 

While her commitment to civic duty seemed endless, she did not let it deter from her passion for gardening. While the arts and crafts home that she and her husband commissioned remains a South Jefferson Avenue landmark, the garden she created to accompany it has vanished. It was once described as one of the city’s most beautiful gardens. In a lecture, she explained her passion for gardening: 

“‘The opening of a flower is a miracle,’ said Mrs. McClure. “It is one of by[sic] greatest satisfactions to see the budding of the first of a variety in my garden. Just as the sky rainbow may be cool or warm as the Creator desires, just so is my garden at present with one end of the rainbow in the cool weather and frozen ground of March with the other in the future or warm weather, bright sunshine and budding flowers.” (The Saginaw News Courier, March 9, 1927. Her lecture included an open invitation to the audience to visit her garden.)

Among her passions was preserving and sharing the history of Saginaw–the community in which she lived her entire life. The Castle Museum’s collection contains clothing from her mother’s wardrobe–into each piece she donated to the fledgling Saginaw Museum, she sewed a label marking its history. One of her last public acts was serving as Vice Chairman of the Webber Home Project–the committee that tried to save the former Millard Street mansion of the William Webber family. Her involvement was a testament to her willingness to support a challenging project. 

When she passed away in 1961, an editorial in the Saginaw News concluded:

“How greatly Grace McClure and her counsels will be missed in organizations in which maintained active roles s tribute the youth of her alert mind and her determined refusal to let it grow old.” (The Saginaw News, October 10, 1961.)

Grace Sample McClure was inducted into the Saginaw County Hall of Fame in 1976.

For additional views of her garden, visit our website.

The Recipe: Grace S. McClure’s Recipe for Cream Scones

Four cups flour, 2 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon sugar, pinch salt, 1 teaspoon soda dissolved in a little boiling water, 2 teaspoons cream of tartar, 1 egg, 1 cup sour cream. Rub butter into flour; add dry ingredients. Make into a smooth paste with egg and cream. Roll out on floured board. Cut into small rounds and bake in moderate oven. Add currants and nuts if desired. Grace S. McClure. The Saginaw Cookbook, published by The Woman’s Society of First Congregational Church, 1929 edition.

CTK interpretation of Grace Sample McClure’s Recipe:

4 cups flour

2 tablespoons butter – cut into small pieces

1 tablespoon sugar

Pinch salt

2 teaspoons cream of tartar 

1 teaspoon soda dissolved in 2+ teaspoons boiling water

1 egg, beaten

1 cup sour cream*

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Using a pastry blender, blend together flour and butter. Add sugar, salt, cream of tartar and mix. Then add soda dissolved in boiling water and egg.  Blend until smooth. Roll on floured surface. Using a cutter, cut into rounds.

We baked them for about 20- 25  minutes. 

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CTK Notes:

This recipe makes a dense, crumbly scone. Although certainly light and airy, it provides a suitable base for clotted cream, lemon curd or blackberry jam – a perfect foil for rich and\or sweet additions. 

As we were making Grace Sample McClure’s scones, our mind started to wander, and as we attempted to mix the dough into a paste, we started to wonder: Is a cup of Daisy sour cream truly the correct ingredient for this pre-1929 recipe? We need to do more research but will be attempting to make this recipe with crème fraiche in the near future. For an introduction to the history of sour cream: https://www.britannica.com/topic/sour-cream

Although we were able to mix the dough, we never really formed the entire mixture into a paste. As a result, some of the dough was a little too dry to be usable and be cut into well-formed scones.  

The next time we make these, we will try adding an egg wash. 

Unlike many scone recipes, this recipe does not use baking powder for leavening. The leavening comes from the combination of cream of tartar, baking soda and sour cream. Although dense–one of our testers thought they were rock-like–we found them crumbly and interesting. However, we feel that more exploration of how the leavening agents are incorporated is in order.  For more information about leavening agents: https://www.masterclass.com/articles/leavening-agents

In short, this recipe is interesting but needs further experimentation before it is ready to be served to guests.  And we are reminded of our culinary limitations by a comment published in the news: 

“A woman friend recalls, ‘She was a cracking good cook.’” (The Saginaw News, February 22, 1970.)

NOTE: In honor of Women’s History Month, may we suggest using Grace S. McClure’s scone recipe as a starting point for preparing a tea celebrating Saginaw heritage women. For Sandwiches:  Martha Hay Ayres tea sandwiches, and for dessert: Elizabeth “Lizzie” Palmer Merrill Ring’s Lemon tarts.  These links will take you to the recipes and the stories behind the recipes. 

Addendum to CTK Notes:

After completing our post, we shared Grace Sample McClure's cream scone recipe and photographs of our less-than-lofty results with a friend who is a chemist. When he reviewed the recipe, he commented on a missing detail in the original recipe: when to add the baking soda that has been dissolved in boiling water. The baking soda's interaction with the acids in this recipe - cream of tartar and sour cream is what–we hope–will make the dough rise. When and how the baking soda is introduced to the mixture is critical. We will leave further testing to another post. And that will afford another opportunity to explore Grace Sample McClure's numerous achievements.  

In short, the CTK interpretation is not ideal and needs more work; however, even in their flattened form, Grace Sample McClure's scones are interesting and slightly addictive.