A colonial-style recipe from before the days of molasses-sweetened nostalgia-food. This would have been made with the ubiquitous salt-beef available in barrels everywhere that there were cattle and salt. Most homes would have had salt pork (see Pork and Beans but commercial establishments and ships would have had access to beef. 

Note that sweetening with molasses would be "in-period" but I have seen no mention of it for this recipe. This recipe is rather no-nonsense,  but it is nourishing and not unpleasant. I would add dry mustard before adding any sweetening agent. The molasses does better in the Pork and Beans recipe.