History of Soy

Introduction of Soybeans to North America by Samuel Bowen in 1765

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Samuel Bowen traveled to London (Georgia Gazette, August 6, 1766) around April 1766 and he returned to Savannah in November of the same year (Georgia Gazette, November 19, 1766). He must have had a triumphant welcome in Savannah and most certainly his status as an entrepreneur among his fellow Georgians increased, for Samuel Bowen was awarded a gold medal from the Society of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce and received a present of 200 guineas from King George III (Dossie, 1768-1771, Georgia Gazette, September 17, 1766, Georgia Gazette, November 19, 1766). Dr. John Fothergill, the famous English physician and botanist, revealed in a letter (Georgia Gazette, September 17, 1766) that the Society's agricultural committee had conducted experiments on the sago and vermicelli produced by Mr. Samuel Bowen and that indeed they appeared to be cheap and salutary foods that under proper encouragement could become considerable articles of commerce. It was Dr. Fothergill's opinion that the Society should award Mr. Samuel Bowen a gold medal. Samuel Bowen was introduced to King George III by Lord Dartmouth, who was the President of the Board of Trade and a Lord of the Privy Council (Georgia Gazette, November 19, 1766, Ms of Earl of Dartmouth, 1895).

On July 1, 1767, Samuel Bowen received a patent, number 878, for his "new invented method of preparing and making sago, vermicelli and soy from plants growing in America, to be equal in goodness to those made in the East lndies." (Woodcraft, 1854). The first 2 pages of the patent (Candler, l937) are shown in Fig. 1.

The January 16, 1769 minutes of the American Philosophical Society for the Promotion of Useful Knowledge in Philadelphia contains the following sentence: "Sample of Chinese Vetches, six bottles of Soy and six pounds of powdered Sago, presented with a letter from S. Bowen of Georgia." (Lesley. 1884). The chance reading of this one sentence motivated the authors to investigate (1) the possibility of soy sauce importation or manufacturing in America, (2) the identities of S. Bowen of Georgia and his Chinese vetches, and (3) the raw materials used to produce sago powder which normally is made from sago palms.

On March 3, 1769, the Communications Committee of the Philosophical Society sent a letter to S. Bowen thanking him for his account of Chinese vetches. Another committee was established to experiment on the quality of the soy and sago and to report. Samuel Bowen' s seeds were distributed to 8 farmers. On April 21, 1769, "Mr. S. Bowen of S.C." (obviously an error) was elected to membership in the Society.

Benjamin Franklin is credited with the first introduction of rhubarb (Rheum rhaponticum L.) to America. In 1772, he obtained rhubarb seeds from Scotland and sent them to John Bartram in Philadelphia (Woodward, 1943). We have discovered an earlier introduction of rhubarb to America. On March 12, 1770, John Ellis, the Agent for West Florida in London, sent rhubarb seeds to the Hon. James Habersham in Savannah, Georgia. The seeds were received on July 10, 1770. According to the letter written on October 18, 1770 by John Habersham to John Ellis, the former distributed the seeds to several of the best horticulturalists in the area and among them was Samuel Bowen, the inventor of and patentee for making sago powder and soy (Letters of Hon. James Habersham, 1904) In a letter dated January 11, 1770 (Smyth, 1907), Benjamin Franklin wrote the following to his friend John Bartram in Philadelphia about seeds used to produce tofu:

I send also some green dry peas, highly esteemed here as the best for making pea soup: and also some Chinese caravances, with Father Navarrete's account of the universal use of cheese made of them in China, which so excited my curiosity, that I caused inquiry to be made of Mr. Flint, who lived many years there, in what manner the cheese was made, and I send you his answer. I have since learned, that some runnings of salt [I suppose runnet] is put into water, when the meal is in it, to turn it to curds. I think we have caravances with us, but I know not whether they are the same with these, which actually came from China. They are said to be of great increase.

The Father Navarrete, referred to in Franklin's letter, is Domingo Navarrete who is credited with the earliest accurate European's description for the use of soybeans as a food. In 1665, he wrote about the Chinese use of tofu (Cummins., 1962). Obviously, the Mr. Flint referred to by Benjamin Franklin was James Flint. John Bartram most probably planted the soybeans sent to him by Benjamin Franklin in his garden which was situated on the west bank of the Schuylkill River below Philadelphia (Fox, 1919).

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