HANOVER, Va. (WWBT) – Lillie Pearl Fearnow turned a pre-Civil War family recipe into Fearnow’s Brunswick Stew, a product that became a staple in pantries across the south.
Richmond’s support of female entrepreneurship helped make it happen.
“So there was a place in Richmond called the Women’s Exchange so they could take stuff and sell it on consignment. So she took six pot jars that she made in her would cook stove on her pressure cooker, and it would cook stove,” said Herbert Fearnow Jr., Lillie Pearl’s grandson.
“And the lady says, well, I don’t think it’s going to sell. And my grandmother was a little stubborn. And she says, well, I’d like to leave it anyway,” he said.
Lillie Pearl Fearnow cooking her infamous Brunswick Stew.(Family Photo)
Lillie Pearl was a Hanover County woman who became the founder of Mrs. Fearnow’s Homemade Brunswick Stew.
In the early 1900s, it was frowned upon for women to work outside the home. Local female entrepreneurs sought out Richmond’s Exchange for Woman’s Work on Franklin Street, which operated a safe space for women to earn an income without violating social stigmas of the day.
The Bolling Haxall House was the Fearnow’s launching pad. The company turned the corner when the stew found its way into Richmond’s top department stores.
“She took back more so visually. Miller and Rhoads and Talhimer the two department stores in Richmond at the time. They had food sections and they started selling it. The man got to where she couldn’t keep up,” Fearnow said.
Herbert Fearnow Jr., Lillie Pearl’s grandson.(WWBT)
Lillie Pearl’s extended family got involved. All living on the same tract of land in Mechanicsville, the women of the family helped prepare the Brunswick stew. The Fearnow brothers built their own cannery, which upgraded to the latest in canning technology through the years.
Connoisseur magazine named the stew one of the 10 worthiest canned products on the market. It could be shipped worldwide.
“I think it started off with about 800 cans a day, and eventually we were up to like, I don’t know, 17,000 or something really way up there. Gradually expanded it over the years,” Fearnow said.
Brunswick Stew(WWBT)
Until her death in 1970, Lillie Pearl took great pride in her family’s recipe for Brunswick stew.
She did not tolerate anyone calling it soup. Herbert Fearnow Jr. learned that lesson.
“If you called her stew soup, she would give you the riot act. She might take her cane and hit you side the head on somewhere, because she she. That was a big insult to her if she called it soup,” he said.
Mrs. Fearmow’s Delicious Brunswick Stew(Hanover County)
Lillie Pearl Fearnow died in 1970 at 88 years old.
Her family continued to run the business for 21 more years.
Her recipe is now owned by Boone Brands and continues to be one of their best sellers.
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Dining and Cooking