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AFRICAN AMERICAN SLAVE MEDICINE Herbal and Non-Herbal Treatments HERBERT C. COVEY AFRICAN AMERICAN SLAVE MEDICINE COVEY HISTORY • AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES “African American Slave Medicine by Herbert C. Covey is a concise and cogent treatment of the enslavement of African people and of herbal pharmacopoeia in the United States. The text makes an important contribution to the expanding field of slavery and medicine, covering the areas of American history, African American studies, and the history of science and medicine.” —Katherine Bankole, associate professor of history, West Virginia University African American Slave Medicine offers a critical examination of how African American slaves’ medical needs were addressed during the years before and surrounding the Civil War. Drawing upon ex- slave interviews conducted during the 1930s and 1940s by the Works Project Administration, Dr. Herbert C. Covey inventories many of the herbal, plant, and nonplant remedies used by African American folk practitioners during slavery. Covey places great emphasis on the participation of slaves as health practitioners, the importance of faith in the practice, and the modern scientific evidence behind each plant’s significance in health recovery. Through his study, Dr. Covey unrav- els many of the complex social relationships found between the African American slaves, Whites, folk practitioners, and patients, giving readers a groundbreaking look into an otherwise unknown moment in history. African American Slave Medicine is a compelling and captivating read that will appeal to scholars of African American history and those interested in folk medicine. HERBERT C. COVEY is an instructor in the College of Continuing Education at the University of Colorado at Boulder. For orders and information please contact the publisher LEXINGTON BOOKS A division of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200 Lanham, Maryland 20706 1-800-462-6420 www.lexingtonbooks.com Cover Photo: Nurse for the Minor family, Amherst County, Virginia, c. 1850 Courtesy of Special Collections, University of Virginia Library ISBN-13: 978-0-7391-1645-6 ISBN-10: 0-7391-1645-2 9 780739 116456 9 0 0 0 0 African American SlavePBK.indd 1 African American SlavePBK.indd 1 7/8/08 3:44:21 PM 7/8/08 3:44:21 PM African American Slave Medicine African American Slave Medicine Herbal and Non-Herbal Treatments Herbert C. Covey L E X I N GTO N B O O K S A d i v i s i o n o f ROW M A N & L I T T L E F I E L D P U B L I S H E R S , I N C . Lanham • Boulder • New York • Toronto • Plymouth, UK LEXINGTON BOOKS A division of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200 Lanham, MD 20706 Estover Road Plymouth PL6 7PY United Kingdom Copyright © 2007 by Lexington Books First paperback edition 2008 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available The hardback edition of this book was previously cataloged by the Library of Congress as follows: Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Covey, Herbert C. African American slave medicine : herbal and non-herbal treatments / Herbert C. Covey. p. ; cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Slaves—Medicine—United States—History—19th century. 2. Slaves— Medical care—United States—History—19th century. 3. Traditional medicine— United States—History—19th century. 4. Herbs—Therapeutic use—United States—History—19th century. 5. African Americans—Medicine—United States—History—19th century. I. Title. [DNLM: 1. African Americans—history—United States. 2. Medicine, African Traditional—history—United States. 3. History, 19th Century—United States. 4. Phytotherapy—history—United States. 5. Social Problems—history—United States. WZ 80.5.B5 C873a 2007] R149.C76 2007 615'.3210808996073—dc22 2006035166 ISBN-13: 978-0-7391-1644-9 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-7391-1644-4 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-13: 978-0-7391-1645-6 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-7391-1645-2 (pbk. : alk. paper) eISBN-13: 978-0-7391-3127-5 eISBN-10: 0-7391-3127-3 Printed in the United States of America �™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Acknowledgments vii 1 Introduction: Medical Care and Slaves 1 2 White Medical Care of Slaves 19 3 Slave Folk Practitioners 41 4 Conjuring and Hoodoo 55 5 Slave Herbal and Plant Treatments 73 6 Enslaved African American Non-Herbal Treatments and Materia Medica 125 7 Closing Observations 147 Appendix A Plant and Herb Treatments 151 Appendix B Unknown Plant / Herbal Treatments 181 Appendix C Non-Plant or Herbal Treatments 183 References 195 Index 201 About the Author 207 v Contents I want to thank all of the friends and colleagues whose interest in the topic motivated me to complete this book. A special word of appreciation goes to Mr. Dwight Eisnach, who provided me with important editorial suggestions and insights during the early and late stages of writing this manuscript. I also want to thank T. J. MacDuff Stewart and the staff at Lexington Books for their assistance. Finally, thanks to my significant other, Marty Covey, for all of the library help and emotional support she provided throughout the preparation of this manuscript. I have an advantage of being married to a librarian. vii Acknowledgments When the slave became sick we most time had the best of care take of us. Maser let our old mammy doctor us and she used herbs from the woods, such as: cami weeds, peach tree leaves, red oak bark, for fever, chills and malaria and yes one more weed, privet weed for T.B. or things that way that the white doctor could not cure. Yes if we got a leg or arm broken Maser would have the white doctor with us, but that was about all for our old negro mammy was one of the best doctors in the world with her herb teas. When she gives you some tea made from herbs you could just bet it would sure do you good. —John Mosley, born in 1851 in Texas Scholars have viewed the study of health and medical care as an important avenue to understanding the complex social relationships of people living under slavery. The medical practices of a society provide valuable insight into the nature of human and economic relationships. This is true of all eras including the time of slavery in the United States. The nature of medical care experienced by Whites and those they enslaved is rich with economic, social, and cultural insights. However, historians have encountered difficul- ties in studying the health status and medical care experienced by slaves. Reasons for this are numerous and include a paucity of data, poor medical records, and illiteracy during the time. This book looks at the medical care provided to and administered by slaves during the antebellum and Civil War years. It focuses on plant (herbal) and alternative medical practices employed by African Ameri- cans, enslaved and free, to address illness and injury. By studying these folk medical practices and the corresponding materia medica, one can 1 1 Introduction Medical Care and Slaves