Videos

Welcome to Juleps, Songs and Jacob’s Punch! Celebrate July 4th with that most American of summertime beverages…the Mint Julep. It is prepared by Jacob and Charlotte Weaver, as portrayed by Brian Cushing and Amy Liebert. Follow that up with a song chaser performed by Lance Minnis and Adin Pemberton. Raise your glasses with us and toast our National Day.

It’s Militia Muster Day! Join Jacob and Charlotte as they prepare a large pitcher of Cold Tankard Punch for the guarantors of our freedom.

Mr. Pemberton may not be able to say ‘guarantor’ correctly, so he turns his talent in this episode to wagering. He, Mr. Minnis and special guest Tom Cunningham provide a stirring rendition of a favorite military air.

Get ready to march in lock step and shoulder your tankards. Episode 2 of Juleps, Songs and Jacobs’s Punch is reporting for duty!

We’re heading downriver to New Orleans! Jacob has been gone for three months. He returns home to Charlotte with something better than money. It’s an Absinthe cocktail. It’s all the rage in the Crescent City.

Meanwhile, Messrs. Minnis and Pemberton are anxious to try their hand at flatboating down the Ohio. Will they make the fortune they are pursuing? That remains to be seen. But for right now enjoy a New Orleans Beverage coupled with the rollicking song Shawneetown.

Wine was essential to Switzerland County. In this episode, Jacob and Charlotte make a delicious Imperial Punch using some fine Indiana wine.

Meanwhile Messrs. Minnis and Pemberton return home from their flatboat trip to New Orleans. Did they find their fortune?

Enjoy this subtly nuanced episode along with the song Rosin the Beau and find out! See more from Amy and Brian AKA Jacob and Charlotte here on their own channel The Victorian Barroom

William Henry Harrison and Martin Van, that used up man, Van Buren are running for president. Jacob and Charlotte prepare a special libation and cake in honor of old Tippecanoe. Messrs. Minnis and Pemberton sing Harrison’s campaign song. Cast your vote by subscribing to our YouTube channel!

See more from Amy and Brian AKA Jacob and Charlotte here on their own channel ‘The Victorian Barroom’: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1xz…

In March of 1817 Jacob Weaver details a terrible accident which took place in Vevay, Indiana. Could the accident he describes actually have been murder?

Using his actual letters and original source documents we compare what he wrote and to what actually happened.

Come along with us and ponder the legal arguments as we read between the lines.

Watch time 17:24

MOVE OVER NATTY BUMPPO!

Meet the intrepid frontiersman of Switzerland County, Jacob Weaver. Episode two of our series “Between the Lines’ relates a story which must be a tall tale. Or is it? As Jacob would often say, a bullet in the hand is worth two in the ladle!

Enjoy the background sound track provided by the award winning ‘Million Cicada Orchestra’.

Watch time 11:05

Up for some herbage and heavy metal? No, we don’t mean a rock concert. Episode 3 of ‘Between the Lines’ explores the medical treatments available to those who lived in early 19th century Indiana. The use of garden grown herbs and heavy metals like mercury and copper were standard treatments. Many of those same herbs we still use today.

Featuring Laura Willyard, a domestic history scholar and Scott Frede MD, medicines used by Jacob Weaver and his family are analyzed. You will be surprised and perhaps shocked at what the leading home remedy book of the time prescribed. You’ll also be glad of the modern cures we now use in their place.

American history as you know it might have been changed by the actions of one man. “One of the Rangers” explores the waning days of the War of 1812 in the west. While rumors of peace with Britain were being circulated, in the Indiana Territory, things were different. Join us and our historians in this two-part episode which tells a story you have never heard. One man CAN make a difference; for both good and ill.

In the closing days of the War of 1812 a murder took place at Ft. Harrison, Indiana Territory. “An act so atrocious” was about to unleash violence and retribution too horrible to be conceived. Did this murder deserve atonement and in what form could it be? Find out as we present part 2 of “One of the Rangers” This untold story changed the course of American history.

Laura Willyard tells us how to make an early 19th century healing salve with common plants at Musée de Venoge. She uses Comfrey, Mint, Plantain, Sweet Oil and Beeswax.

Made for 19th century medicinal herb demonstration purposes. Not intended for use.

Laura’s Plantain and Comfrey Healing Salve:
–Take Comfrey, Mint and Plantain and some Lavender if you have it; a goodly handful of each, let them set overnight to wilt them a bit.
–Then cut all them very small & stamp them good in a mortar til they are well bruised.
–Place them into a pot and pour over with enough sweet oil (olive oil other oils fats maybe used) to cover herbs; Set pot near the hearth to steep several hours to steep (simmer gently).
–Once steeped set away from hearth and let cool; when cool lay straining cloth over bowl herbs, pour the contents into cloth and twist cloth with hands to press out oil and the essence of the herbs into the bowl.
–The oil should now be good and green; pour this green oil back into pot and add beeswax; return pot to heat near hearth to melt beeswax slowly. When melted pour this into your containers.
–Cover with cloth tied with string and store in cool dark place (for modern storage, pour into tin or a sealed jar and store in refrigerator)

Watch time 5:04

Andrew Jackson’s decisive American victory over the British at the Battle of New Orleans is the stuff of legend. Fought at the end of the War of 1812 stories, movies and even songs have been written about it. The most popular tune was written in 1821. It lionized the Kentucky long rifle and the men who helped win the day. Join Lance Minnis, Adin Pemberton and a cast of over a thousand for this music video of “The Hunters of Kentucky”!

Warm up those vocal cords. It’s time to sing! This video merriment stars the musical performances of Lance Minnis, Adin Pemberton and Tom Cunningham.

The story is set in the year 1829, shortly after the building of Venoge cottage. Get ready to join Jacob and Charlotte Weaver the cottage’s original occupants as portrayed by Brian Cushing and Amy Liebert. Also featured in the film are Walt and Jan Dubbeld, Erica and Maddie Coulter, Mike Kruse, Kathy Holcomb and Lars and Lucia Isenhart.

Watch time 24:12

This special music video features the song, “The Old House”, performed by the renowned tenor, John McDermott. We thank him for personally granting permission to use. Scenes were filmed at the Musée de Venoge and portray Jacob and Charlotte Weaver, the first couple who resided there.

Watch time 3:12

Enjoy this wonderful and haunting melody played in memory of Charlotte Golay Weaver (1787-1841), who with her husband and 10 children were the first residents of the home now known as Musée de Venoge. Michael Thompson wrote and performed this original score as he sat on a fallen tree near Charlotte’s graveside.

Watch time 1:22

Watch the trailer for our true-life movie about Jacob Weaver and his family, the first owners of the Venoge cottage. It is based on 34 letters written between 1813 and 1847, set against the backdrop of the wilds of early Indiana it chronicles their life, from prosperity to bankruptcy, weddings, births and deaths, life-altering disease, warfare, but most of all the dreams they had in this new land.

Buy the DVD of To Make a Beginning

Watch time 1:52

We’re getting ready to celebrate. The only thing missing is you! Join us for A Country Christmas at Musee de Venoge and the Thiebaud Farmstead in Switzerland County, Indiana on Saturday December 11. This brief video is sure to tantalize your appetite and set your toes a tapping! Fireplace included! Snow sold separately. Some assembly required. Subscription encouraged.

Raise a few spirits this Halloween season! Join us for All Hallows Eve and Harvest Tavern Night. Haunt along with the spirits; liquid or otherwise at Thiebaud Farmstead and Musee de Venoge on Saturday October 23rd. Both are located in Vevay Indiana. No tricks. Just treats! Gaze into your Crystal Ball and see the future. We mean the video.

See what it was like in 1815 when Musée de Venoge celebrates our National Day!  This public 4th of July event featured food, speeches, fashions, trades, crafts, music, and dancing reminiscent of the days when Indiana was a young state.

Take a look at more pictures from this past event.

Watch time 1:23

The amazing story about the detective work guiding a 16-year effort to save and restore the Musée de Venoge cottage near Vevay, Indiana. Jacob Weaver, the first owner of the Venoge cottage, once referred to it in a letter to his father as ‘A Small Place I Wrote You About’. Today it is a National Register-listed house and a rare example of an early 1800s French Colonial style of construction.

Visit the Venoge cottage!

Watch time 16:41