Category Archives: Shakers

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.

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.

A Heavy Drinking Age – Shakers and Spirits

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Spirits, or distilled liquor, were consumed so enthusiastically during the 1790’s (and before and after) that tourists and important men alike began to decry the habit. The U. S. was a nation of drunkards. Even George Washington, a whiskey distiller himself, referred to the heavy drinking as the ruin of half the workman.

Where did we get into such a pickle? Well, part of it was cultural. Cotton Mather (he of Puritan fame) declared “Drink itself to be a creature of God.”

Water tended to be dangerous. It could be contaminated or just plain unappetizing. In Natchez water from the Mississippi River had to be set aside so the sediment could settle. (Yum!) Milk was unpasturized and if the cow ate jimson weed it was poisoness. Alcoholic beverages, and I include hard cider, were safe. Also, corn and rye could be transported from the western frontier (like Pittsbugh in 1793) to the east in the form of whiskey and sold for four or more times the price for the grain itself. And without much more cost in transportation.

In times where the food supply could be erratic. alcoholic beverages accounted for a significant proportion of the day’s calories. In the early days of the eighteenth centure, the favorite tipple was rum; sweet and alcoholic. But after the Revolution, it was declared unpatriotic and people switched to whiskey. Rum was made from molasses and while distilled in Maine and Massachusetts at first, began to be distilled in the West Indies. Whiskey, on the other hand, was All-American; the grain grown in the US and distilled here as well.

Everyone drank. Ben Franklin is quoted as saying If God wanted men to drink water He would not have given him an elbow to bend the wine glass. Toddlers were put to sleep with whiskey or given the sugary residue in the bottom of the glass. (This makes my hair stand on end!) But of course there was a double standard. Women were not to been seen intoxicated.

Some primary sources quote men like John Adams complaining about the length it took to get something built. One day’s work earned a man enough to stay drunk all week. So they worked one day out of seven.

As might be expected, early opposition to drink came from the Quakers, most particulary from Anthony Benezet who attacked slavery and rum at the same time. Quakers had already begun to practice restraint before him and by 1777 they were ordered to no longer sell distilled spirits nor to distill them. The Methodists saw drinking as a barrier to purifying the church and society so they joined the Quakers. The Shakers, as a splinter group, also practised retraint and drank mainly water (that they trusted). The Shakers were famous for their cider which went from ‘kind’ to hard’ very rapidly in an age before refrigeration.

The chorus against such heavy drinking began to grown, spurred by Dr. Benjamin Rush, a Philadelphia doctor who concentrated upon the health benefits of abstinence. Another doctor, a Dr. Thomas Calawalder, had identified rum as the cause of an illness called the Dry Gripes. The rum that was aged in lead casks caused lead poisoning. Interestingly enough, the doctors recommended drinking cider (which is still alcoholic) and beer (which is more complicated to make than you might think.

For more information, both depressing and fascinating, read “Alcoholic Republic: An American Tradition” by W. J. Rorabaugh.

Hancock Shaker Village

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Because the first Shaker community was established in New York (they called it Niskayuna – a piece of it now lies under Albany Airport), there are several museum villages within easy driving distance of New York.  The only village still active is Sabbathday Lake near New Gloucester, Maine which still has four living members. Hancock Village is in Pittsfield, MA, a few miles over the New York State Border and is set up as a museum. Although I found it a little difficult to get too, mainly because the GPS had problems with the address, it is well worth a day trip.

This village was clearly wealthier than Sabbathday Lake. (Maine).  If one researches the Shakers and a picture of a round barn comes up, that is Hancock Village. The round barn is unique.

round barn

 

The large structure, painted dark red as all the work buildings were, is especially interesting. The Shakers harnessed a stream to provide water power for a machine shop on one side and laundry on the other.

Machine Shop and laundry

Water power mechanized a variety of machines and helped wash clothing in the 18th century. They also invented a process to create wrinkle free clothing; zinc chloride was steamed into the fabric. Another early invention by the Shakers.

The Museum is laregely solar powered and the Shakers were ahead of the rest of the world in that too, although instead of panels they relied on passive solar.

The Museum Village also has a nice cafe – we had a great lunch there – and a good shop.

 

Dyeing, Batik and Otherwise

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The two books I use most to achieve dyed effects or to dye several shades of the same color are Dyeing to Quilt by Joyce Mori and Cynthia Myerberg and Hand-Dyed Fabric Made Easy by Adrienne Buffington. Both of these teach you how to begin the dyeing process with the procion dyes. I especially enjoy dyeing six or eight tints of the same color for a quilt or dyeing white on white fabric. The white pattern doesn’t pick up the dye so you might have a deep orange piece with a white tracery shot through it.

Of course I had to keep moving on. I went into Batik, which is very fun. I use soy wax to make the designs. Traditionally paraffin and/or beeswax are used but I find soy, although it doesn’t easily give that wonderful crackle, is just so much easier to wash out of the fabric. Soy melts easily too. I have had good success painting on designs and using cookie cutters.

Silk scarf, overdyed in blue, pink and green

Cookie cutters are not the traditional tools, however. Tjants (pronounced chants) are long stylus pens with an opening that allow the hot wax to flow onto the fabric in a straight line. I admit I am not very good with these. Some of the people I’ve taught are much better. The traditional tool I love, though,  is the tjaps (pronounced chops). These are copper designs used for stamping the hot wax onto the fabric. Here is my favorite, dragonflies.

 

 

 

 

 

Copper dragonfly tjap.

I obtain all my supplies from Dharma Trading in California. Just a heads up – the tjaps are hard to come by. They do have shipments from time to time but you must order immediately.

Traveling to earn a living

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Will Rees, the main character in my mystery “A Simple Murder”, is a traveling weaver, called factors. Like many professions then, weaving required an apprenticeship of about seven years. About nine spinners were required to keep a weaver in business. And looms were big, heavy and expensive.

Larger towns, like Williamsburg, had a resident professional weaver and cloth from overseas did come into the ports. Smaller towns might have a weaver who also farmed. The further away these towns were located, the less imported cloth the women had access to. This imported fabric was expensive too.

On the frontier, in the 1790’s this was on the western side of the Alleghenies, local weavers were necessary. One of the leading lights in the Whiskey Rebellion was William Findlay, a weaver. He became a legislator from the Pittsburgh area.

Besides the traveling weavers, other professions took to the roads. Some men made brooms. This was a craft the Shakers took on as well; they sold their wares which included brooms, whips, boxes and other items, from wagons. Tinkers, who not only sold pots and pans but mended them as well, were also a familiar sight.

In these agrarian times, the goal was to make enough money to buy a farm. Usually, once a man had a good farm, he settled, at least for most of the year.

Some of the accounts from the women married to such men speak poignantly of the loneliness and isolation.