The King of Cheeses Goes to the New York State Fair 1866

The Ingersoll Mammoth Cheese during its tour in Saratoga, New York in 1866

My husband's great-great grandfather's brother Robert Facey was the manager of the Canada Cheese Factory. Robert's claim to fame is that he supervised the production of the Mammoth Cheese in 1866.

Yes there really was such a thing as a Mammoth Cheese. It took 35 tons of milk to produce a cheese six feet, ten Inches in diameter, three feet in height and about 21 feet in circumference, 

Robert & Ann Facey

Six horses were needed to haul this huge cheese on a special wagon on August 23rd, 1866 to the Ingersoll Ontario railway station. It went first to the New York State Fair at Saratoga. Then it was loaded on a ship and sailed for England to be on display at the London Exhibition. It was eventually sold to a cheese merchant in Liverpool. ^{FN 1}

A mammoth press was designed that would be used by Robert Facey at James Harris’ cheese factory to produce the 7,300 pound mammoth cheese. When it was ready to be shipped to England, James Noxon was ready to financially support the creation of the Ingersoll Cheese Company which sponsored the cross-Atlantic voyage in 1866. 

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has a very interesting page about Mammoth Cheeses in Ontario. Even though I was born here and have lived in Ontario all my life I never knew we were such amazing cheesemakers - a skill seemingly lost to our province now. 

Orleans independent standard. (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, October 26, 1866, Image 2

Date: Friday, August 17, 1866   Paper: Boston Herald (Boston, Massachusetts)   Page: 2


 ^{FN 1} Source: https://ingersolllibrary.wordpress.com/2010/08/11/the-mammoth-cheese/