The first - and so far, only - time I have made this, I guess I didn't beat it well enough. I think you have to beat the living shit out of it. As a result of not mixing well enough,  the corn meal sank to the bottom, and the custard from the eggs and milk rose to the top. 
Also, although I put what I considered a generous amount of butter on the bottom and sides of the dish, the corn meal still stuck to the bottom!
The story of this recipe:
Carl Ferguson, in Cooking with Carl, Hugh and your Friends, stated that this is a recipe from 1864.
However, I did a little research and discovered that T.J. Ferguson, Missouri Ann's husband, was only 14 in 1864.
I found nothing to tell me when she was born, but if they were about the same age, I would be surprised to see them already married, even in those days, not to mention writing down recipes.
Still, the recipe is pretty old, and it is cool to have it in her own writing.
UPDATE (3/09/25): Missouri Anne was 3 years old in 1864, so I am going out on a limb here and guess she was neither married nor writing down recipes then!