As a follow up to the July 21, 2024 talk, 18th Century Healers in Rural Vermont, given at the Cavendish Historical Society Museum, below is a list of the books Charis Boke brought with her; more information about A Midwife's Tale and Guide books from the 18th century.
Per the request of attendees, we are organizing a fall series combining history and herbs. If you have questions for either of the speakers, you can reach them as follows:
• Margo Caulfield: 802-226-7807 or margocaulfield@icloud.com
• Charis Boke: charis.boke@gmail.com
A Midwife’s Tale: The Life of Marth Ballard Based on her Diary 1785-1812 by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
Herbs Mentioned in Martha Ballard’s Diary.
Audiobook: Includes the introduction and the first Chapter via YouTube
Read chapters of the book on-line
Guidebooks
• Every Man His Own Doctor: OR, The Poor Planter’s Physician by John Tennent. The first American domestic medicine manual 1734. Tennent was a Virginia doctor controversial for advocating Native American herbal remedies. .
• The Instructor: Adapted by Benjamin Franklin, from the popular British manual for everything from letter to caring for horses’ hooves, it includes The Poor Planter’s Physician. Published in 1748.
• John Wesley. Primitive Physick: or, an Easy and Natural Method of Curing Most Diseases. American Edition 1764. Wesley, the founder of Methodism, advocated common herbs which would supposedly do no harm and might cure. He too uses some of John Tennent’s work. He rejected dangerous and expensive drugs like mercury and opium. First published in England in 1747, his book was reprinted dozens of times. Just as Wesley’s commitment to care for the body was grounded in his conviction of the holistic nature of salvation, his manner of caring for the body sought holistic balance. It included natural remedies for asthma, baldness (onions and honey), earaches, bee stings, kidney stones, vertigo and much more. He also includes tips on maintaining wellness through exercise, a healthy diet and adequate sleep. Wesley understood that physical and spiritual health were intimately connected. Wesley taught that God cares for the health of our minds and bodies as well as our souls.
• The Compleat Housewife or Accomplish’d gentlewoman companion by Eliza Smith printed 1732 London, Printed and sold by William Parks 1742 Williamsburg VI: Includes a collection of about 200 family receipts of medicines-drinks, syrups, slaves, ointments and various other Things of sovereign and approved Efficacy in most Distempers, Pains, Aches, Wounds, Sores, &c. never before made publick ; fit either for private Families, or such publick-spirited Gentlewomen as would be beneficent to their poor Neighbours.
• James Thacher The American Dispensatory: An early 19th Century pharmacopeia that attempted to evaluate and incorporate Indian physic.
• Nicholas Culpeper: English 17th century herbalist, botanist, physician and astrologer whose books, Complete Herbal and Astrological Judgement of Diseases from the Decumbiture of the Sick were still being widely used being used in the 18th century American colonies. Note that Charis Brough a current edition of that book.
• Doctor Caesar’s Antidote for Poison: In the spring of 1750, the South Carolina General Assembly purchased the freedom of an enslaved man known as Doctor Caesar, who possessed life-saving medical knowledge. In return for his emancipation, Caesar divulged to a committee of White legislators his secret antidote for poisons and snakebites, prepared from a combination of familiar plants found across the colonial landscape. The two main ingredients that Caesar employed-narrowleaf plantain and common horehound had been used in folk remedies for many centuries by cultures around the world. Neither of these plant is native to South Carolina, however, and were apparently brought here by early European settlers who were familiar with their medicinal properties. Caesar was known to successfully treat yaws (a type of bacterial infection), pleurisies (inflammation of the chest cavity), fits
• Sampson’s Rattle Snake Cure: Sampson was paid less, because he only offered an antidote for rattlesnake bites whereas Caesar’s cure could alleviate both poisons and venomous bites. In exchange for his cure, the South Carolina Assembly decreed that “the said Sampson be from thenceforth manumitted and delivered from the yoke of slavery,” and the members resolved to provide a lifetime annuity “for the said negro Sampson,” which amounted to £50 per year.
Charis Boke's Book
• Herbal Home Remedy Book: Simple Recipes for tinctures, teas, salves, tonics and syrups by Joyce A. Wardwell
• The Earthwise Herbal: A complete to Old World Medicinal Plants by Matthew Wood
• Northeast Foraging: 100 Wild and flowerful edibles from beach plums to wineberries by Leda Meredith
• Color Herbal by Nicholas Culpeper
• Herbs For The Mediaeval Household; For Cooking, Healing And Divers Uses by Margaret B. Freeman
• Women Healers of the World by Holly Bellebuono
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