Sending for the Doctor
In the letters of the 19th century, wishes for continuing good health are abundant since a cough or cold could actually end a life. The following documents are from the papers of Governor Howell Cobb, who was in residence in the Governorís Mansion from 1851 to 1853 and Governor Joseph Brown who lived with his family in the mansion from 1857 to 1865. Their children and servants received medical care from doctors at home and in Milledgeville. These documents will serve to sponsor some interesting discussions and thoughts about medicine past and present.
You will need the following images:
Activity 1: Looking for a Cure
(Upon completion of this activity, students should be able to :
1. Compare and contrast medical practices and expenses of the 19th century with those of the present.
2. Locate and identify at least (5) five different remedies that were common in the 19th century.
3. Research at least (2) two illnesses and remedies that were common in the 19 thcentury.
4. Synthesize a written activity which demonstrates knowledge of 19th century letter writing customs, remedies and illnesses.
5. Discuss social and economic reasons for the medical care of slaves.)
QCC Objectives:
Grade 4: Topics/Concepts: A12, Skills: A1, A2, A3, A8, A12, A13
Grade 8: Topics/Concepts: D20, Skills: A1, A2, A6, A7, A10, A12, B14, B15, C24, C25, D38, D39
Suggested Lesson:
1. Give each student a copy of a different letter to read and to examine in class.
2. Ask the students to list the similarities and the differences in 19th century medical practices and in current medical practices that they may find in their document.
3. Allow the students to research the illness or treatment that was described in their letter.
4. This information should be written so that it can be presented to the class.
5. Students should keep a list of the different maladies and cures that their documents described during the class discussion.
6. At the conclusion of the discussion, each student should choose two remedies that were commonly used in the 19th century to research.
7. As an extending assignment, students should write an imaginary letter or a diary entry using common 19th century manners of writing and should include an illness and remedy to the illness in the body of the letter.
Activity 2: "Send for the Doctor!"
(Upon completion of this activity, students should be able to:
1. Describe the duties of a 19th century physician.
2. Discuss common medical practices in the 19th century.
3. Complete basic research concerning medical advances.
4. Compare and contrast the expenses of medical care in the 19th century and in the present.)
QCC Objectives:
Grade 4: Skills: A1, A2, A3, A4, A8, B12, B13, C23
Grade 8: Topics/Concepts: D20, Skills: A1, A2, A6, A7, A12, C24, D38, D39
Suggested Lesson:
1. Make a copy of the invoice for medical services provided by Dr. Moore for each student.
2. Discuss the concept of the house call (visit) and explain to the students that a good portion of medicine had to be mixed and administered by the doctor.
[Terms to Know:
a. Emetics- (common type:Ipecac) Used to treat high fevers and croup. These
treatments were used to purge the body by vomiting.
b. Bitters- commonly found as a mixture of medicines/herbs to settle the stomach
and to relieve headaches.]
3. Remind students that there were no antibiotics, no sulfa drugs, and sterilization practices for medical instruments was not common. The health of the person was generally determined by the state of his/her digestive system.
4. Ask the students to complete some research to determine when antibiotics became available and when most of the vaccines that are commonly given today to babies were created (diphtheria, polio, tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella, etc.) Also, the students can include in their research other common 19th century diseases such as typhoid fever (found in Elizabeth Brownís letter, Nov. 8, 1857), malaria, dysentery, whooping cough, scarlet fever, tuberculosis and smallpox. Lockjaw, the common cause of death from tetanus, is discussed in the letter from S. R. Cobb, mother of Governor Howell Cobb, Feb, 1, 1849. In this same letter, it is discussed that "...Ellenís little Jim" has "...a great many worms." Being "wormy" in this time period is fairly common. Ask the students to find the reason(s) for the presence of worms and how the parasites were transferred.
5. Food preparation and storage practices could also be discussed at this point. Remind students that refrigeration, pasteurization and canning practices were limited or did not exist. ( The letter from S. R. Cobb, mother of Governor Howell Cobb, Sept. 24, 1842, discusses the fact that the wild crab apples preserves caused illness.)
6. Sanitation, disposal of human wastes and water sources were also a cause for illnesses.
7. Allow the students to compare the prices for medical care offered in the 19th century and today. Students should complete some research to determine the typical salary of a man in the 19th century and estimate how much of the family income was spent upon the services of a doctor. Compare this information with the present day costs of medical care.
Activity 3: Sickness in the Family
(Upon completion of this activity, students should be able to:
1. Discuss the social and economic implications of illness among slaves.)
QCC Objectives:
Grade 4: Topics/Concepts: A11, Skills: A1, A2, A3, A7, B10, B11, B15, C23
Grade 8: Topics/Concepts: D20, G38, Skills: A1, A6, A7, A9, A10, B13, C24, C25,
C33, D38, D39
Suggested Lesson:
There are several references to slaves in the letters and the bill of Dr. Moore:
"Emma"- Letter from Elizabeth Brown, wife of Governor Joseph Brown, Nov. 8, 1857
"Ellenís little Jim" - Letter from S. R. Cobb, mother of Governor Howell Cobb, Feb 1, 1849.
"Visit to boy" or "woman" - Bill from Dr. Moore, 1846
1. Discuss with the students the reasons for which the doctors were called.
2. According to the letters, who was responsible for the initial care of the slaves before the doctors were called?
3. What social and economic problems could be caused by the sickness of a slave?
(This becomes not only a question of caring for the sick but as the letter from Mrs. Brown, Nov. 8, 1857, states when the servant is too ill to work, another servant must be hired or found.)
4. Point out to the students that a social role reversal occurred when the slave holder became the care giver. Also, ask the students to discuss the race of the physician. Was this important? Why or Why not?
Cowpens Sept. 26th 1842
My Dear Mary Ann,
I expect you will be
surprised at Bobís not reaching Athens tonight
but I hope you will not be uneasy as I was, at
his not coming home last night, he got here
this evening, he was detained a day in McDonough
by the sickness of Edmond, who was taken very
ill the night they got there, Mr. Glenn sent at
once for a Dr. Who gave him medicine, and
Milly kept Bob one day hoping he might be
well enough to come with him. She went, but
altho he was better, the Dr. said it would be
running a very great risk to bring him, Bob
had to leave him, and Milly wrote me. They
would have him well attended to and either
send Titus with him as soon as he was well
enough to come or bring him themselves,
I am affraid poor Susan will be very uneasy
about him, but do tell her. The Dr. said he
was in no danger and Milly will do all
(p. 2)
she can for him, and black Milly had taken
him in her bed. Milly says I must tell you
she was truly thankful to you for letting the
waggon bring her things as she was in much
want of them, all got there safe, one odd crate
was sent that wont stand in her casters&
they forgot to send her slop bowl she has written
to John about them do make him attend to
it for her, she writes to ask you to try and
get her music book from Col Jacksons and
send it by Bob to me so she can get it if she
comes or Laura can carry it to her, she sent
the children a larger potato a piece and said
she would have sent more if she had had them
I shall put them on the bag and send them
over to you must give them the Misses she also
sent to them, she sent me a nice loaf of salt
yeast bread to let me see what a good cook
she had, we had a nice plate of toasts for
supper off of it, she has been trying to preserve
wild crab apples in her zinc pan and Mr.
Glenn insisted on having some for supper
whilst she was fixing them he eat a spoonful
or two and complained of feeling very sick, that
frightened her & she eat two or three & became
very sick black Milly had also eat some
(p.3)
And she was throwing up Milly sent one pan
with some of the syrup to the Dr he said the
acid from the apples had drawn the (something
I could not make out what) from the zinc like
under grease, but that it would not hurt them
only make them sick that night she says she
thought she should have thrown up all the
contents of her "breadbasket,"she threw all the
preserves away and lost her labour & sugar besides
being so sick. I sent Tomís & Johnís shoes and
hope they will fit them. I also send your little
bag of dryed fruit, your pepper and your
green vail which I found in my room and
your trunk, Mr. Logan told Mr. Cobb he was
going to send Johnny a great deal, I shall put your
things in a linen bag of mine which you can put
the sugar in dont let the size frighten you, I send
it because I sould separate the the pepper & shoes
from the fruit better than in a small one &
you can have my sugar sewed up in it and
then the empty part wrapted around it, I
met with a sad misfortune yesterday I gave
chang my molasses demijohn to wash ready
for Bob to carry and she broke it, I never did
want to whip any body as bad in my life, I
have sent a small stone jug. I have felt very anxious
to hear how you got threw your journey home I hope
and trust safely, you dont know how much we all
missed you and the dear children, I believe little
Johnny missed the children, kiss them a thousand
times for us all, and tell them not to forget Grandma.
Laura had a bad cold and sore throat, Mr. Cobb also
has been complaining of sore throat and mine hurts
me some, Johnny had a cold in his head. The girls
are well and all join me in love to you. Howell
Tom John and the dear little boy also to all
at Col Jacksons. Write me by Bob how you
found them all, as I expect you will go out
before Bob reaches Athens. I shall write a few
lines to Patsy about the room. Mr. Glenn sent
a letter to Henry, which I send. God bless you all
and dear child pray you
Mother
S R Cobb
(Mother of Governor Howell Cobb)
Athens Febry 1st 1849
My dear Mary Ann
I would have written sooner
but I thought I would wait till I felt better & was in bet-
ter spirits, I got a severe hurt on one of my large toes,
from the hand iron falling on it, I never had any thing
to give me more pain, for two days & nights I had to keep
large poultices on it, and the dread of its give me that
horrible malady the lockjaw made me feel worse,
but my general health has not been good since you left
indeed I have been sick enough to lay by, but you know as
long as I can keep up, I try to do so, especially when my
services are needed and they never were in greater demand
that since you left, for our lot has been a perfect hospital
Betty big Lucy old Charlotte Miles & Ellenís little Jim
all sick & the last so ill we had to send for the Dr today
who says he has a great many worms, if it had not been
for my having Milly here I dont know how I could have
got along, I have not yet been able to hire her & have writ-
ten to Milly that she had better try & hire her in Griffin
Laura has suffered a good deal with pain in her arm
we put on a large mustard plaister which blistered like
a fly plaister, and was so sore that one day it gave her a chill
& fever, it is now better & I hope the pain is relieved, but she
(p.2)
Is not as well as when you left, little Mary Ann keeps quite,
well and grows fast, she is beginning to notice Williams has
determined to start to Crawford the first of next week if
nothing happens to prevent him, I so hope all will get well be-
fore he leaved, as I miss them enough anyhow, but more to
when sickness is about. Mattie went to your house today
to get the reciept for your physic for me to enclose to you
but you have not left the key of the wardrobe, you only left
one bunch of keys & none would open the wardrobe or the
trunk where the receipt was, she says I must tell you she
means to write you a long letter next week , she & Mary
have been assisting their brother in fixing the curtains to his
carriage. I hope every day to get a letter from you or the dear
boys but I am doomed to disappointment, not a letter has come
from Howell either to you or me several enclosures with
seeds have come for you, which I have carefully put away
as I do all the papers as soon as they are read, do let me hear
when you get letters how he is, as I expect that will be my
only chance of getting any intelligence of him, I hate to pester
him with any more of my letters, if he wanted to hear from me
he would let me know it. Tom got home the other day, he was
unaminously elected to the office of the late Mr. Shelly he
& Marion came to see me one evening for a few moments, the
only time I have seen them since you left, Tom looks very well
but Marion came to see me one evening for a few moments, the
but Marion was pale & had a bad cough, their little girls are all
much better. I got a long letter from dear Sarah, written in her
old style and filled with the overflowings of her affectionate
heart, her health she says is perfectly good, her dear mother
was in tolerable health, but both, still suffering anguish of heart
(p.3)
for their irreparable loss, the dear little babe was growing ra-
pidly, and I expect is the idol of their hearts, Henryís health
is still bad & Tom says he dont look well, and he thinks the
plan of starving him is doing him no good. I also got a letter
from Milly, she had just got to her new home, she says her
children had colds, the house was very open, but altogether
she was very well pleased, Judson is delighted & thinks he will
do well, her furniture was much injured in moving it & she
lost a good many of her things, I feel anxious to hear from
her again. Mattie says all are well at your lot, the old woman
is still there, Sylvia was here on Sunday & asked me when
she had best have your meat hung up, I told her the first
cold clear day, but it has been warm & raining all the week
it has broke off this evening & turned colder, and she may
soon be able to have it done, it is time of the flyís will be
about before it is smoked enough to pack away , we have
not hung up ours yet. Tell my dear boys they must all write
to me, and you must too, I will take no excuse, and now I am
sick & low spirited your letters will be doubly dear to me,
I want to hear if you had a pleasant journey and indeed every
thing that concerns you and the dear children will be in-
teresting to me, I hope my dear Johnnyís tooth has not been
troubling him all the time, Mattie had been suffering a good
deal with it. John B. keeps well and comes out sometimes
to see us, I have not been off the lot since you left & now I
cant walk much on my foot, I expect you will find me
just where you left me. Mr. Cobb was quite sick a day or two
with an affection of the bowells, but he has recovered and
walks to town every two or three days to hear the news.
(p. 4)
All join me in much love to you and the dear boys to whom
you must give a kiss for GrandPa & Ma & their little
cousins all send their love & a kiss. Give our most affec-
-tionate regards to your brother, and write soon my
beloved child to your ever devoted mother.
S. R. Cobb
(Mother of Governor Howell Cobb)
Macon Nov 30th /57 (1857)
Dear Sister
I have spoken to Dr. Lamar about
Mary Ann, as you decided. He says hers is
tubular bronchitis, as distinguished from
capillary bronchitis, - the latter affecting the
lungs, while hers affects only the large tubes
of the throat.
And that the only difficulty is that
by exposure, it might run into croup, rheuma-
tism or pneumonia. There is no danger in the
bronchial tubes being affected, as in her care,
only that care is necessary to prevent her ta-
king cold & its running into something else,
as there is liability. She ought to be
kept close during variable weather, and par-
ticular care taken that she does not take
cold, until the Spring of the year.
He suggests that counter irritation
produced by rubbing Croton oil on her
heart would perhaps be productive of
good. It would produce pustules on the skin
& make her irritable however.
The sum & substance of his ideas
on the subject is, that if she can be kept from
taking cold, she will be as fat as a pig
(p.2)
when warm weather comes on & her lungs be as
sound as a pair of new bellows.
My family are all quite well ex-
cept Amos, who eat so much cold roast pig
night before last, that Dr. Lamar services were
necessary. He is still abed & unwell.
During my absences at Milledgeville some
villain poisoned two of my best dogs-big
Barnum & Boy. They have gone to that home
whence no dog ever returns & left numerous
friends to bewail their untimely end. Some
thief who found them too vigilant for him
to rob my smoke house, find if necessary
to carry on his trade, to put them out of
the way. I had but one Turkey, one lone
Gobbler awaiting Thanksgiving day, & the night
the dogs died, he took his departure, to
grace some other table.
Betty as if to do her share in the
way of repairing my loss in the luck of
dogs, presented the establishment with a
litter of eight puppies, a few days since. Four
of them I apprehend, in accordance with a
barbarous customs, which originated in the dark
ages no doubt, will be consigned to the ruthless
waves of the Ocmulgee.
(p.3)
It has been raining for the last two days
almost unceasingly. Today has reminded
me very much, of those- "dark, dull, dreary,
drizzly, dismal December days" that Professor Wilson
in his fondness for alliteration; used to talk
about in Blackwood Magazine. Prince, John
Addison, myself, Dodge & Irving, Laird have
spent the day around a rousing fire in the
sitting rooms, some in rocking chairs & some
on the rug & lounge. Some reading Plutarch
& the Eclectic magazine & others snoozing.
You dont know how much more pleasant
Macon is than Milledgeville in raw, cold
weather. I think Macon is the most pleasant
winter climate in the world. In fact, for nearly
nine months of the year it is as perfect an
experience as the earth affords- So I think.
After Christmas you had better all
come over to the Bears Den & spend the
balance of the winter.
Affectionately Your Brother
John B. Lamar
P. S. Kiss Mary Ann for me.
(Brother of Mrs. Mary Ann Cobb, Governor Howell Cobbís Wife)
-----------------------------------------Invoice-------------------------------------------------
.
1846 Mr. John B. Lamar Trustee
To A. B. Moore Dr. $ cts
Augt 17th To Milage & visit to boy 1.50
24th To Medicine & visit to boy 1.50
Septm 8th To Medicine for boy ben .75
13 To Milage & visit to boy Edmund 1.50
" To Giving (*)Emt & Medicine left 1.25
October 10th To Milage & visit to woman 1.50
" To Medicine Left .50
" 11th To Milage & visit to woman 1.50
" " To Medicine left .50
" 12th To Milage visit & medicine 2.00
" 14th To Milage at night & visit 2.00
" " To Medicine .50
" 17 To Medicine sent .75
" 23 To Medicine sent .25
" 30th To Medicine .25
Nov. 12th To Milage & visit & Medicine 2.50
" 14th To Bitters .50
Bagly Place
Augt 24th To Milage & visiting two cases & medicine 4.00
" 25th To Medicine sent 1.25
$24.50
Received payment Jan. 2nd 1846
A B Moore
(*) Emetic
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