Margie and I have just returned from a trip to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the most important day in my life. The day we were married.
I give thanks every day that I found Margie and she agreed to be my wife. Everything that I am or ever will be or could ever want to be is thanks to her.
She is the guiding light of my life and fills it with joy. I give thanks to God for the 50 wonderful years that we have had together and for every day that continues.
Our 50th anniversary is not just a day. For us, it’s a year-long celebration of our love. Every day we are thankful for our family and our friends who have made it all so special to us. You’ll never know how much you mean to us.
We all have an idea of what life was like for our 18th century ancestors: no electricity, no running water or indoor plumbing, no central heat, no telephone or computers, no rapid transportation. But try to imagine what medicine was like under these conditions. Most things that we take for granted as a routine part of our medical care did not yet exist. There were no X-rays, no lab tests, no EKGs, no antibiotics and no concept of sterile procedure or anesthesia. Surgery was a painful and often fatal process.
In many ways, medicine was more of a trade than a profession. There were only two medical schools in 18th century America. The Philadelphia Medical College was founded in 1765 and Kings College Medical College in New York two years later. Most physician and surgeons (chirurgiens as it was spelled at the time) who had formal training received it in Europe. By far, most physicians received their training by a one-to-three-year apprenticeship in the office of an established physician. Others, particularly on the frontier, simply declared themselves physicians and set up practice. In some remote areas, surgery was performed by the local barber or butcher because they had the tools.
The first medical society was formed in Boston in 1735. By the mid-1700s most colonies required a medical license of some form. In many colonies the medical license was little more than a business tax with few, if any, enforceable professional standards. The first hospital in the colonies was founded in Philadelphia in 1751 by a group that included Benjamin Franklin.
In 1775 there were an estimated 3000 physicians practicing in the colonies. Fewer than 300 had a medical degree or a certificate from a formal apprenticeship. Early attempts at licensing were resisted as an attempt to place a monopoly on medicine. Massachusetts was the first colony to attempt regulation by issuing a certificate of proficiency for completion of an approved apprenticeship. But even in Massachusetts, as notable a physician as Benjamin Rush reported that the only prerequisite for “…. a doctor’s boy (apprentice) is the ability to stand the sight of blood”.
While modern concepts of disease and sanitation were beginning to evolve in the late 18th century, many practitioners still ascribed to the almost 1000-year-old ideas of the Greek physician Galan. He believed that the body had four humors: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. Good health required a balance of the humors and illness resulted from their imbalance. Attempts to restore balance included bleeding, purging, diuretics and laxatives, and placing heated cups on the back to form blisters and draw out the humors. It was this belief that led to the bleeding that hastened George Washington’s death. Quite literally, the cure was worse than the disease.
The physicians of the time had few effective medicines and often acted as their own apothecary, compounding medications of spices, herbs, flowers, bark, mercury, alcohol, or tar. Opium elixir was marketed to help babies sleep through the night. Mercury was used to treat everything from syphilis to scabies. Voltaire summed up the state of pharmacology when he said “…. a physician is one who pours drugs of which he knows little into a body of which he knows less.”
Disease and hardship were a fact of life in the colonies. One in eight women died in childbirth or from complications of pregnancy. One in ten children died before the age of five. Diseases such as malaria, yellow fever, typhus and measles ravaged many communities. They were especially deadly for American Indians.
Smallpox was perhaps the deadliest disease of the colonial period. Entire American Indian tribes were annihilated. Epidemics repeatedly swept through the colonies in the 1700s killing thousands. George III became King of England in part because of smallpox. The last Stewart claimant to the throne died of the disease and England looked to the House of Hanover for the German born King George I.
Inoculations against smallpox had been widespread in Africa and in Arab countries for many years. In the American colonies inoculation was denounced as barbarian and some clergy preached that it was thwarting God’s will. Despite the support of such notables as Cotton Mather and Benjamin Franklin, inoculation against the disease was not widespread until George Washington, seeing the debilitating effect of smallpox on the Continental Army, ordered massive inoculation of all troops.
Disease and poor hygiene were the greatest foes faced by the army. John Adams reported that for every soldier killed in battle, ten died from disease. On July 25, 1775, the Continental Army Medical Corps was formed. Initially, each regiment was required to provide its own surgeon and there were no established qualifications. Only Massachusetts required examination of regimental surgeons and many colonies did not provide the surgeons with a military rank. To make matters worse, the first director general of the army medical corps, Dr. Benjamin Church, was a British spy.
Modern ideas of sanitation were unknown to most colonists. Few people bathed because they believed it removed the body’s protective coating. Most soldiers had only a single set of clothes in which they also slept and almost never washed. Army camps were hot beds of flux (dysentery) and camp fever (typhoid and typhus, the distinction between them was unknown). Camp fever took a huge toll on the army because it left the survivors so debilitated that they required almost constant care and seldom returned to duty.
Sanitation consumed a large part of General Washington’s time at Valley Forge. Latrines, garbage disposal and animal manure were constant problems. Attempts to prevent and treat the itch (scabies) were relentless. At times, several hundred soldiers would be unfit for duty due to infestation. What little clothing and blankets they did have often had to be burned to prevent the spread of the parasite.
Conditions in army hospitals were not much better and could be far worse. Camp fever spread rapidly through the close confines, often killing entire wards, including the staff. Death rates could run as high as 25% in hospitals and many soldiers preferred to remain in camp where they felt they had a better chance of survival. Dr Benjamin Rush stated “Hospitals are the sinks of human life. They robbed the United States of more citizens than the sword.”
The French, as with many things during the revolution, aided the patriots with their health problems. Dr. Jean Francois Coste, chief medical officer of the French Expeditionary Force, was one of the first to introduce strict regulations concerning sanitation and hygiene in army camps. The Americans, noting the significantly better health of their allies, were quick to follow suit.
The revolution was always close to failure. It was made even closer by widespread disease. But as with everything, our patriot ancestors persisted and triumphed.
This post was adapted from my article published in The SAR Magazine, Fall 2020, Sons of the American Revolution.
Sources:
Colonial Society of Massachusetts. Medicine In Colonial Massachusetts 1620-1820. Boston, MA, 1980
Miller, Christine. A Guide to 18th Century Military Medicine in Colonial America, Self-Published,Lexington, KY, 2016.
Reiss, Oscar, MD. Medicine and the American Revolution; How Diseases and their Treatments Affected the Colonial Army. McFarland & Co, Jefferson, NC, 1998.
Shryock, Richard. Medicine and Society in America 1660 – 1860. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1960.
Terkel, Susan. Colonial American Medicine. Franklin Watts, NY, 1993.
Wilber, C. Keith, MD. Revolutionary Medicine 1700 -1800. The Globe Pequot Press, Guilford CN, 1980.
I find it interesting that things take on more importance in retrospect than they had at the time. I grew up in West Virginia and I left the state when I was 19 and spent the next 21 years living in other parts of the country.
We moved back to West Virginia when I was accepted in medical school at Marshall. I found it interesting to discover that things I really didn’t remember as being part of the culture had somehow become iconic.
What most surprised me was brown beans and cornbread. Schools and churches had brown beans and cornbread suppers to raise funds. This was supposedly a West Virginia tradition. Unfortunately for me I really don’t remember it.
I know we had cornbread and probably had brown beans. I don’t remember them being linked together as the “classic” Appalachian dinner. Although I must say it has become one of my favorite meals and I regret all those years I missed out on enjoying it.
This got me to thinking how many things that we consider traditional or “American” have only become so from the vantage point of looking backward. Nostalgia minimizes faults and amplifies virtues.
Many things that were not so important at the time have become set in stone as an important part of our heritage. For example, collectors now pay a fortune for old toys that are considered to somehow represent a special bygone era. However, at the time, they were just toys. They were played with and discarded when the kids lost interest in them. Who has not said at one time or another, “I wish I still had my”, you fill in the blank here, be it the original Barbie doll, baseball cards or Star Trek toys.
Speaking of Star Trek, let’s look at the series. I’m sure this is where The Grumpy Doc may upset some people.
When you consider the entertainment dynasty that arose from the original Star Trek series it is hard to believe that it only lasted three seasons. It was initially cancelled after the second season and brought back for an additional season only after an aggressive letter writing campaign by fans.
If you look at the old shows, the stories were simplistic, the special effects were rudimentary, and the acting was over the top. Especially Captain Kirk, who could always find it within himself to over act in any scene. Yet somehow, after many movies and numerous spinoff series, we have come to regard this initial run as classic television. I will admit they made moral points on many episodes, but these were often heavy handed and in-your-face moralizing.
When we think of Great American literature one of the books we think of is The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. At the time of its initial release, it sold poorly. When Fitzgerald died, he considered himself to be a failure as a writer. It wasn’t until World War II when The Great Gatsby was one of the books printed and distributed to the troops, that it became popular. He is now considered an American icon and rightly so.
The same thing happens to politicians. These are people that we know and revere as great Americans and who have been subjected to near deification. These are people literally carved in stone, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln. From the perspective of many years, we have come to believe that these men were universally loved, admired, and respected. However, during their lifetime they had many political and personal enemies who criticized them at great length and all three suffered through periods of declining popularity.
In future posts I’m going to discuss each of them in turn and look at how they were perceived during their lifetime as compared to how we perceive them now. Each deserves separate attention. Despite their flaws, each was vitally important to the America that we now know.
Equally as interesting are things that were once popular or considered important and are now almost completely unknown. I will be addressing those in a future post as well.
One thing I will warn you about now, I have a great interest in historical trivia. The Grumpy Doc is really trying to understand how perceptions of previous generations have shaped current opinions about many aspects of society. I will be sharing many of my thoughts on these issues.
First of all, let me say I’m a wine aficionado. For those of you not into wine you can translate that as, “wine snob”. Yes, I talk about things like tannins, complexity, aging, and many other esoterica. Wine aficionados (my brother Glenn and I in particular) truly enjoy discussing flavors and aromas and finish. (Just ask our wives.)
I know that a lot of people only recognize two types of wine, good wine, and bad wine. I can’t deny that is the true bottom line of wine appreciation. It’s where everyone starts, and you really don’t need to go any further to enjoy wine.
Having said that, those of us who consider ourselves to be “experts” on wine disagree greatly about one thing and that is the significance of wine glasses. Many people make a concerted effort to have the proper wine glass for the proper wine. They discuss the importance of the design of the glass for collecting the aroma and for allowing you to “swirl” the wine so that the aromatics can be released for appreciation. They talk about how the shape of the rim of the glass affects the way the wine is presented to the tongue.
For those who genuinely appreciate these subtleties, I envy you. I have never been able to tell the difference in the flavor or the aroma of wines based on the type of glass. It may be that I’m not as much of an expert as I’d like to think. That’s always a possibility. (Don’t tell anyone I admitted that. The first rule of wine snobbery is that you are never wrong.)
When we visited Italy, we found that most restaurants where locals dined served wine in glasses that can best be described as juice glasses. Only in the restaurants frequented by tourists did we find stemmed glassware. I think Italians know a thing or two about wine.
My thoughts on wine glasses are not shared by many of my friends, whose opinions I respect. I believe that good wine is good in any glass and bad wine is bad in any glass. I will make an exception here. You should never drink any wine, even bad wine, from a styrofoam cup.
If you drink good wine out of a water glass it will still taste really good. If you drink bad wine in an expensive and appropriately shaped glass it will not be good.
So, what does The Grumpy Doc say? Well, The Grumpy Doc says; “Enjoy your wine and drink it out of whatever glass you have. If it’s good, you will like it no matter what. But remember, wine is best enjoyed with friends. That, not the glass, is what really makes wine good.”
Brown Beans and Cornbread
By John Turley
On June 8, 2021
In Appalachia, Commentary
I find it interesting that things take on more importance in retrospect than they had at the time. I grew up in West Virginia and I left the state when I was 19 and spent the next 21 years living in other parts of the country.
We moved back to West Virginia when I was accepted in medical school at Marshall. I found it interesting to discover that things I really didn’t remember as being part of the culture had somehow become iconic.
What most surprised me was brown beans and cornbread. Schools and churches had brown beans and cornbread suppers to raise funds. This was supposedly a West Virginia tradition. Unfortunately for me I really don’t remember it.
I know we had cornbread and probably had brown beans. I don’t remember them being linked together as the “classic” Appalachian dinner. Although I must say it has become one of my favorite meals and I regret all those years I missed out on enjoying it.
This got me to thinking how many things that we consider traditional or “American” have only become so from the vantage point of looking backward. Nostalgia minimizes faults and amplifies virtues.
Many things that were not so important at the time have become set in stone as an important part of our heritage. For example, collectors now pay a fortune for old toys that are considered to somehow represent a special bygone era. However, at the time, they were just toys. They were played with and discarded when the kids lost interest in them. Who has not said at one time or another, “I wish I still had my”, you fill in the blank here, be it the original Barbie doll, baseball cards or Star Trek toys.
Speaking of Star Trek, let’s look at the series. I’m sure this is where The Grumpy Doc may upset some people.
When you consider the entertainment dynasty that arose from the original Star Trek series it is hard to believe that it only lasted three seasons. It was initially cancelled after the second season and brought back for an additional season only after an aggressive letter writing campaign by fans.
If you look at the old shows, the stories were simplistic, the special effects were rudimentary, and the acting was over the top. Especially Captain Kirk, who could always find it within himself to over act in any scene. Yet somehow, after many movies and numerous spinoff series, we have come to regard this initial run as classic television. I will admit they made moral points on many episodes, but these were often heavy handed and in-your-face moralizing.
When we think of Great American literature one of the books we think of is The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. At the time of its initial release, it sold poorly. When Fitzgerald died, he considered himself to be a failure as a writer. It wasn’t until World War II when The Great Gatsby was one of the books printed and distributed to the troops, that it became popular. He is now considered an American icon and rightly so.
The same thing happens to politicians. These are people that we know and revere as great Americans and who have been subjected to near deification. These are people literally carved in stone, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln. From the perspective of many years, we have come to believe that these men were universally loved, admired, and respected. However, during their lifetime they had many political and personal enemies who criticized them at great length and all three suffered through periods of declining popularity.
In future posts I’m going to discuss each of them in turn and look at how they were perceived during their lifetime as compared to how we perceive them now. Each deserves separate attention. Despite their flaws, each was vitally important to the America that we now know.
Equally as interesting are things that were once popular or considered important and are now almost completely unknown. I will be addressing those in a future post as well.
One thing I will warn you about now, I have a great interest in historical trivia. The Grumpy Doc is really trying to understand how perceptions of previous generations have shaped current opinions about many aspects of society. I will be sharing many of my thoughts on these issues.