Category Archives: murder mysteries

Christmas Customs – Early Days

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Early Days

I’d intended to write this post before and during the holidays but was far too busy. So even if this is a little dated, I will do it now. Bear with me, eventually I will reach Christmas customs for the Shakers.

From its early days, Christianity celebrated the Nativity. The giving of presents, the decoration of the houses with evergreens, the suspension of enmity and the proclamation of peace were all features of the festival from the beginning.

Some of the early customs aren’t so familiar to us now. The Lord of Misrule? The switching of masters and servants ? Likewise, some of our most treasured rituals were not invented yet. The Tree, for example, although known in England before Queen Victoria married Prince Albert, did not achieve its popularity until the Queen adopted it. Like so many British customs, this one crossed the Atlantic.

Disability in the 1790s

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My brother Steve had a variety of cognitive disabilities: Autism, mental retardation, anxiety and others. I began to wonder how someone like Steve would manage.

Read a very interesting book : a Disabled History of the US. As long as we had a farm, Steve would have been able to manage. He could have helped with the animals and would have lived out his days with his parents (which he did anyway.)

But what if you were blind? Or deaf? Of unable to walk well?

Well, in some ways, you might do better than now. No one would expect you to read. And many farm chores can be done by someone who can’t hear. But any of the crafts (printing, weaving, brick making) might or might not be available to you. Blindness would be particularly difficult.

And, of course, living in the bosom of one’s family would make one’s life much easier. Disabled people who had no one had short brutal lives,even those who inherited money. Other people just can’t help but steal it, and the literature has many examples of lawyers, hired to protect, who embezzled every penny.

Interestingly enough, some of the Native American tribes were far in advance of the white man in their treatment of the disabled. A deaf person might be a basket maker, and thus would suffer no stigma for the deafness. Disability might prevent a tribe member from becoming a warrior, but not everyone attained that status anyway. And, because the tribe took care of its own, an orphan would be cared for in the absence of parents.

Another advantage in the tribal setting: the regular use of sign language. The deaf would learn and use sign language and so would be able to communicate.

The Shakers accepted All Children of God and I expect for some, the Shaker Family provided a welcome refuge.

Warning Out: Welfare in the early US

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This sounds like a dry topic, doesn’t it? Well, when one reads contemporary accounts of the women and children affected by this cruel system, it rapidly becomes, instead of dry, horrifyingly real and really awful.

What was warning out? The poor, it is said, are always with us. And the poor tend to be disproportionately women and children. Mortality was high and although there were plenty of widowers, there were a significant number of widows also, many with dependent children. Women didn’t have ‘careers’; they were taught to rely on a man and everything in the culture excluded them from paid employment except for domestic chores. They worked as help or wove out of the home.  (Hence the rise of wet nursing as a profession.) So what happened if a woman fell ill? Or a young woman became pregnant out of wedlock? Or it was a bad year?

The first step the town fathers took was to c0nfirm that this family deserved help. Had the adult been born in the town? If not, she and her children were ‘warned out’ to her town of birth. It did not matter that she had left the town for a very good reason; back she went. If she was pregnant, and late in the term, the town fathers would pay for the birth and care until she could travel. (And the accounts are full of bitching about the expense!) Back she went, even if the baby’s father was still in town.

Some towns were relatively progressive for the times and tried to pay for the trip. Others not so much. A woman’s children could be snatched away and sent out to work and she might never see them again. (And the care of the kids under these circumstances was dire: see post on Orphans.)

What this charity came down to was this: The affluent men who ran the town did not want to pay for the care of anyone out of town coffers. Grudgingly, they would do so for people who they knew and whose families were long time residents, if these people were deserving. Everyone else was sent away or allowed to starve.

Does any of this sound familiar? This country has evolved in baby steps but there are some who would send us back to this.

Inheritance: the good old days were terrible!

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Most people I think are aware that for more than the first hundred years of our existence, only white men could vote. And white men who owned property besides.

Inheritance of property was another perk restricted to and for men. Like the English system, after which this country’s early laws followed, a woman lost all rights to her property upon marriage. Her dowry, if she had one (not so common in the early US), any property such as horses, even her clothing now belonged to her husband. If he gambled away the family assets, oh well.

If she divorced, which was not so common, and wanted to remarry, the clothing she wore belonged to her soon-to-be ex. In one of the examples I read, a woman had to be married in her nightgown, her new husband standing by with new clothing. As soon as she was officially wed, she changed into ‘his’ clothing.

A married woman, since she owned nothing, could not leave a will. Only a widow could prepare a will leaving her possessions, and that was dependent upon the will of her deceased husband. If she were not mentioned in his will, she became the responsibility of her eldest son. If her husband specifically left his wife goods in his will, however, she owned them and could leave them to someone in her turn.

Such restrictions upon a woman make the appeal of the Shakers easy to understand. Although one would own nothing, one also owned a piece of everything. All the members of the community were treated alike and expected to be obedient. A woman might aspire to a role governing the Family as an Deaconess or Eldress. And the Shakers cared for the elderly members until they ‘went home to Mother’.

 

Native American Herbal remedies used by the Shakers

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The Shakers’s herbal business was in full swing by the early 1800’s and most of the communities participated. Sabbathday Lak, the still existent Maine community, still produces herbs and teas which can be purchased in the shops of the Shaker Museum/Villages.

The Shakers used many herbs that had been imported to North American, either by accident or design. The common plant, now considered a weed, dock, is one such example. Lavender, boneset, barberry are just a few of the imports which the Shakers grew in their herb gardens. They also imported medical plants, such as opium, which they did not produce themselves.

They also studied various Native American remedies and added them to their medicines.

I found it surprising how many plants I recognized, although I know them simply as trees or ornamentals rather than herbs. Some are much in favor still today as medicines or for alternative healing.

Both prickly ash and white ash were used for digestive troubles. The Prickly Ash is called the Toothache tree or toothache bush.

Several bee balm species, which I plant for scent for attraction for butterflies,  have a long history of use as a medicinal plants by many Native Americans. The Blackfoot Indians recognized the strong antiseptic action of these plants and used them in poultices. A tea made from the plant was also used to treat mouth and throat infections.  Bee balm is the natural source of the antiseptic thymol, the primary active ingredient in modern commercial mouthwashes.

Bee balm was also used by Native Americans as a seasoning.

Boxberry – wintergreen and checkerberry The fruits are edible, with a minty flavor and were used as a diuretic.

Bloodroot  -Sanguinaria carnadensis), was used for typhoid pneumonia as well as ringworm, scarlatina and jaundice. One of its common names is Indian Paint. In fact, several of the herbs used by the Shakers, betrayed their origin as Native American remedies by using Indian: Indian cup, Indian Hemp, Indian Physic and Indian turnip. All of these were part of the Shaker herb stock.Cup weed or Indian cup weed,  Silphium perfoliatum is native to North America. It resembles Rudabeckia (black eyed Susans) but the center is yellow instead of brown. It was used primarily for chest complaints but is now used as an ornamental.

Lest we disparage the herbal knowledge of the Native Americans and the Shakers, here are a few examples of plants they used which we use as well.

Black Cohosh. (Actaea racemosa) Other common names: black bugbane, black snakeroot, fairy candle . Black cohosh was used for epilepsy and, like today, for ‘female complaints’.

Witch hazel.tract of the plant is used in the astringent Witch hazell Varieties of this shrub are also native to China and Japan. It was used, as it is today, as an antiseptic, particularly for skin complaints. Soaking a toothbrush in witch hazel on a regular basis also helps with the bacteria in the mouth. Hamamelis virginiana produces a specific kind of tannins called hamamelitannis . One of those substances displays a specific cytotoxic activity against colon cancer.

 

Poisonous herbs

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Natural remedies from plants, herbs and otherwise, are not necessarily safe. Some of the herbs used by the Shakers had to be used with care and, in fact, were outright dangerous. I mentioned foxglove in a previous post. Anyone read Agatha Christie mysteries? Foxglove played a starring role as a poison in at least one. Mandrake is another. A mild narcotic and a powerful cathartic, it is also called May apple or wild lemon. Belladonna is another example. It is a member of the deadly nightshade family and is a narcotic. Although it has been used for centuries (the name itself is Italian for beautiful woman. It dilates the pupils and women used it to make their eyes look large and mysterious). It is very dangerous to use as an amateur. Rhubarb, yes, the same plant in which the stalks are eaten, has poisonous leaves. They are full of oxalic acid. Poke berry is another plant with which care must be taken. Although the young leaves were eaten in a ‘sallet’, the leaves become poisonous as the summer wears on. Hellebore is a powerful poison. It was used for epilepsy, dropsy, and apoplexy. In areas where deer are a problem, hellebore can be planted for spots of color. The deer are too smart to eat them. Daffodils, used as an emetic and cathartic, is also poisonous. Another good choice for a flower if deer are a problem. Liquorice has been used for centuries as an aid to digestion. But it is also an abortifacient and should not be eaten by women in the first three months of pregnancy. No discussion of herbs would be complete without mention of opium. The opium poppy has been known in the Middle and Far East for millennia. The Crusaders brought it back to Europe. During the late 1700s, it was imported into the United States, primarily from Turkey and India. Because it was considered a medicine, it was not taxed. It was sold over the counter in apothecary shops with no control whatsoever. During that time, opium was used in a solution of alcohol (laudanum) or as a tea. The opium pipe had not been invented yet so, unless it was mixed with tobacco, it was not smoked. When we think of the opiates, we usually think of their pain killing properties. And in an age where there were few other choices, that is important. However, another important use was to control diarrhea in infants in children. Diarrhea killed many many children so they were dosed with opium. Babies and children were also dosed with opium to make them sleep or to control their hunger so I suspect there were more than a few accidental addicts.

Ornamental plants as herbal remedies

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The Shakers for many years did not plant flowers simply for beauty. Everything had a purpose. That did not mean, however, that plants we now think of as purely ornamental did not have places in the Shaker garden. A by no means exhaustive list of plants that were used as remedies follows.

Boxwood – now used as a hedge. The Shakers used the bark as a tonic and astringent and sometimes as a substitute for quinine. (Who knew?)

Foxglove – A showy plant prized for its flowers. The Shakers used it for the heart (the active ingredient is still used for heart medicine) and asthma.

Gentian, blue fringed – A powerful tonic that improves the appetite and aids digestion.

Hollyhock – Used to treat coughs, female weakness (yes, really) , and inflammation of the bladder.

Hydrangea – A mild diurertic

Iris- Used for fragrance. It’s root was used as a powerful cathartic.

Lavender, English – Stimulant and tonic. Used in flatulence and fainting and to arrest vomiting.

Lobelia – Also called Wild or Indian Tobacco. Antispasmodic and emetic. The milky sap is poisonous.

Marigold – A tincture is used for cuts, bruises, sprains, and wounds, especially to prevent gangrene.

Peony – Both root and flowers were used as antispasmodics. particularly for epilepsy and spasms, and also for whooping cough.

Privet – Another common hedge plant. The leaves are astringent and used for mouthwash.

Rose – The petals were used as astringents. Rose hips also make a tea that is very high in vitamin C.

Sunflower – The seeds were used as expectorants and were used for coughs and pulmonary infections.

Violet – Used in colds, coughs and sore throats.

Were these herbs effective? We know some were because the active ingredients have since been isolated and put into modern medicines. Most of these at least did not harm.  However, there are many herbs that were used in small doses that were, like the lobelia above, poisonous and had to be used with great care.

Medicinal Herbs used by the Shakers

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For millennia, people have depended upon herbs to treat sickness. Before the advent of modern antibiotics and so on, herbs were the only way of treatment. In fact, more than a few of our current medicines : quinine, penicillin, and aspirin to name just a few, were used in their natural states. People didn’t know why they worked but years of observation had told them some of these plants did work.

The Shakers were no different from the previous immigrants to the United States; they brought their herbal lore with them and collected plants from the woods and fields around them. Since they found new and unfamiliar herbs in this new land, they studied the plant knowledge of the Native Americans around them. An epidemic, especially when the numbers of the Shakers were so small, would be disastrous.

Although they at first gathered herbs, they later planted physic gardens and grew certain varieties. If they produced more than required by their Families, they sold the remainder and purchased other medicines they could not produce themselves.  Although their religious beliefs and practices were suspect, (celibacy? Gender Equality? What were they thinking?)  their herbs, as with all their other products, were not only respectable, but reliable.

These medicinal herbs became a source of enormous profits for the Shakers.

What were some of the herbs used by the Shakers?

Many of the herbs are known to us today. Chamomile, which was used as a tonic, and chicory, for example. Black, blue, red and white cohosh were all used. Black Cohosh was used for ‘female complaints’, and has regained favor again for that purpose.

Other herbs, such as boneset, were known and used during the Middle Ages. As the name suggests, it was believed that this herb aided in the healing of broken bones. The Shakers used it for colds, fevers, jaundice and as a general tonic.

Burdock is now commonly considered a weed. Used as a salve or poultice, it treated gout and other rashy diseases, including leprosy and the rash associated with syphilis. I wonder how well they worked.

Another weed used as a medicine was the common dandelion. The young leaves can be eaten in a salad. However, the young plant does possess some slight narcotic properties. It was used as a tonic and a diuretic and used in constipation, dropsy and uterine obstructions.

Flax, which was used to make linen and flaxseed, as well as yellow dye from the flowers, was also given internally for coughs.

One of the ‘herbal’ uses that surprised me was common garden lettuce – used as a narcotic where opium was objectionable.

Pepper

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As I research my next book, I am continually drawn into new channels. Everything is interconnected.

When one thinks of the spice trade, we think of the more exotic spice like cinnamon or cardamon. Not lowly pepper. But pepper was extremely valuable. When the Salem merchantmen began sailing east, before they traded in cloth they traded in pepper. Carnes, the first Captain who sailed to Sumatra for pepper, brought home a cargo that made a 700% profit.

The enormous profits continued to the early 1800s, but fell victim to the pirates in the east.

Since pepper was easily portable, the sailors could carry trade something (butter was a big favorite) for a stash of pepper of their own. This could be traded at home for a little profit. In the 1980s, when the ship, The Mary Rose, was raised from the ocean floor, almost every sailor’s corpse carried a supply of pepper. This ship sank in 1545.

Cloth and Piracy

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What? How could these two disparate topics be connected? Well, in the early 1700s, there was a pirate called ‘Calico Jack” Rackam. A lesser known and not very successful pirate, Calico Jack and his crew plied their trade in the Caribbean. In 1719, during one of the many wars between France and England, they accepted a pardon from Britain. Privateering was really piracy under another name, but on the right side of the law. However, this war ended in February of 1720. Rackam and his crew, which now numbered two women among them, went back to their old ways. With the ship ‘William’, they started capturing ships again and were soon declared ‘Pirates”.

The two women, by the way, were Anne Bonney and Mary Read. Anne Bonney left her husband to sail with Calico Jack. Mary Read, also on board, had disguised herself as a man to join the crew.

They were captured and in November tried and convicted. Anne Bonney and Mary Read were spared from hanging due to pregnancy. Mary Read and her unborn child died in prison but Anne Bonney and her child (probably fathered by Calico Jack) were released and disappeared.

Now, where did Jack get his unusual nickname? Well, in 1700 the import of calico into England and the Colonies was forbidden. (See previous post). One of the theories is that Jack got his name from smuggling the popular cloth.

Who would have guessed that cloth could be so interesting and have such a checkered (ha, ha) history.