James Mease

James Mease (1771–1846) was a prominent American scientist, horticulturist, and physician from Philadelphia who published the first known tomato-based ketchup recipe in 1812.

Mease was a medical doctor, and the first Vice-President of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia. He served during the War of 1812 as a surgeon. In that same year, he published a recipe for ketchup that is the first known example of it being made with tomato pulp. Mease was a prolific writer of letters, and his writings to various of the more celebrated American figures of the day have made his letters parts of collections at Duke University and the University of California at Los Angeles. Mease wrote a query to Thomas Jefferson about the history of native fruits. He died and he was interred at the Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.

Ketchup has been around the world for centuries, beginning in China. Mease's innovation was the addition of a tomato base, which has become the ubiquitous form of the condiment in the United States and Europe. His ketchup was probably was more in keeping with tomato sauce developed in England by Alexander Hunter and used by Maria Eliza Rundell in a cookbook that was published in Britain and America. He may have also been exposed to the sauce consumed by French Creole refugees from a war in Haiti. His recipe involved spices and brandy, no sugar or vinegar. He called tomatoes "Love Apples," the term used by the French.

Mease's papers are today deposited in the Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library's History and Special Collections division at the University of California at Los Angeles. There is also a collection of his writings at the Duke University David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library

Mease married Sarah Butler, daughter of Pierce Butler, and they had four sons and two daughters. The eldest son, Pierce Butler Mease, died as a child. The youngest son was again named Pierce. He met Fanny Kemble in 1832, and they married in 1834.

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