An early North American reference to ice cream is from an account in 1744 of a dinner held by governor Thomas Bladen and his wife: "...after which came a Dessert no less Curious. Among the Rarities of which it was Compos'd, was some fine Ice Cream, which, with the Strawberries and Milk, eat most Deliciously." 

Who brought ice cream to the United States first is unknown. Confectioners sold ice cream at their shops in New York and other cities during the colonial era. Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson were known to have regularly eaten and served ice cream. Records, kept by a merchant from Chatham street, New York, show George Washington spending approximately $200 on ice cream in the summer of 1790. The same records show president Thomas Jefferson having an 18-step recipe for ice cream. Although it is incorrect that Jefferson introduced ice cream to America, as is popularly believed, he did help to introduce vanilla ice cream. First Lady Dolley Madison, wife of U.S. President James Madison, served ice cream at her husband's Inaugural Ball in 1813.

Small-scale hand-cranked ice cream freezers were invented in England by Agnes Marshall and in America by Nancy Johnson in the 1840s.