Colonial Medicine: Doctors,
Apothecaries, Surgeons, and Stills

SPIRITS Museum is thrilled to present its third virtual exhibition Colonial Medicine: Doctors, Apothecaries, Surgeons, and Stills. Medicine in the colonial period was diverse, from its practitioners to their remedies. It was common for settlements to be established without a doctor present, as was the case with Jamestown, New Amsterdam, Roanoke, Plymouth, and many others. An original passenger on the Mayflower named Samuel Fuller tried to learn some rudimentary medical skills before embarking on the journey, knowing there would be no doctor on board, but a 1637 review of his doctoring by a Plymouth resident categorized Fuller as a “quack.” This exhibition will highlight the different types of healers working in colonial America, their roles and methods, and how distillation was incorporated into colonial medical practices.

Curated by Clanci Jo Conover — Exhibition Design by Caleb Foca

Introduction

Distillation was used in spirits and perfume production, but what about medicine? Doctors, apothecaries, and surgeons would all have used stills to create aqua vitae as well as herbal extractions to treat various illnesses. In the early colonial days of America, healthcare professionals were few and far between, so many people had some knowledge of self-treating. Women were particularly responsible for maintaining the health of her family, community, servants, and slaves; if someone was ill and no doctors were available (or too costly), local women known for healing would be called on. In Native American communities, medicine men and women had the primary task of caring for their tribe and driving out any evil spirits that may be responsible for the affliction. Similarly, root doctors originating in Africa became the go-to for enslaved peoples who needed treatment. Root doctors also dealt with the spiritual in relation to the physical just as native medicine men, and both were sometimes referred to as “Conjurers” by their white counterparts. “Colonial Medicine: Doctors, Apothecaries, Surgeons, and Stills” presents a picture of what medicine looked like in the New World during the 17th and 18th centuries, and the nuances that differentiated the diverse healing styles found throughout the colonies. 

Apothecaries, Surgeons, Doctors

In colonial America, there were many types of people who practiced medicine in some form or another. Doctors, apothecaries, and chirurgians (surgeons) were the primary providers, but midwives, ziekentroosters, root doctors, and medicine men (to name a few) also had varying levels of medical understanding. Apothecaries and surgeons were typically more available and affordable than a full fledged doctor, and many settlements did not have a doctor on-site at all in the early years.    

*Use the arrows at the top of each section to navigate through the exhibition*

Apothecary

Johann Christoph Weigel (1661-1726)
An apothecary is making up a prescription for waiting customers, another takes a jar down from a shelf, 1695
Line engraving and etching
Collection: Welcome Collection, London

Apothecaries would practice like doctors would and sometimes performed surgery or served as midwives. In England, they actually fell into the grocer category until the 1600s when a guild was established, and barber-surgeons (specialists in grooming AND medicine) were one of the most accessible options for medical care in Europe for centuries. This engraving shows the inside of an apothecary shop; in the background, a still is being used to create some new remedy. 

Barber-Surgeons

Wolfgang Kilian, (German, 1581-1662)
Cheirurgia, 1652
Engraving
From: Microcosmus hypochondriacus; sive, De melancholia hypochondriaca tractatus by Malachias Geiger

“Interior view of a barber-surgeon's establishment: two men are receiving minor surgical treatment; bloodletting basins and jars of leeches are hanging from the ceiling. Two pets (dog and cat?) are resting, one under a table, in the foreground.”

Barber-surgeons could often be found on ship’s crews, as they served two purposes and did not demand the high fees a doctor would. Both apothecaries and surgeons would complete apprenticeships to learn their respective crafts.

Doctors

Workshop of Hendrick Goltzius (Dutch, 1558–1617) After Hendrick Goltzius (Dutch, 1558–1617)
But If the Patient Begins to Convalesce, the Physician is Merely an Ordinary Man, 1587
Engraving, 7 5/16 x 9 in.

Doctors in this period would sometimes study at designated institutions (mainly in Europe until schools were established in America) in addition to holding apprenticeships. The “quack” was a relatively common figure in colonial times, as some who claimed to know cures were more akin to snake oil salesmen. Doctors were so scarce in certain areas, that anyone who claimed to have even the slightest knowledge about medicine were oftentimes looked to for treatment. This illustration shows a physician standing before a room of his recovering patients, surrounded by books and tools of the trade; the books showing the figure as an educated man.

Humorism & Aqua Vitae

The Humors

Leonhard Thurneysser (Swiss-German 1531-1596)
Alchemic approach to four humors in relation to the four elements and zodiacal signs, 1574
Woodcut
From: Quinta Essentia by Leonhard Thurneysser

Medical treatment in the medieval and colonial period was based in humorism, the belief that illness was caused by an imbalance of the four humors: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. Each of the humors were sometimes associated with a particular emotion, element, and zodiac sign. Whatever a person was afflicted with, from seizures to cancer, the consensus was that one or more of the humors were out of balance. This belief is why bloodletting was such a common treatment into the 1700s - if someone was sick, it could be that they simply had too much blood in their bodies that needed to be expelled. Most white healthcare providers in America followed the teachings of humorism, at least in the early days of settlement, which were regularly more harmful than helpful. 

Aqua Vitae

Matthaeus Merian (1593-1650)
Alchemical Workshop, 1618
Engraving

From: Opus medico-chymicum: continens tres tractatus siue basilicas…. by  Johann Daniel Mylius

Aqua Vitae, the precursor to whiskey, was a strong alcohol distilled from wine that Florentine alchemist Taddeo Alderotti dubbed:  “the mother and mistress of all medicines,” meaning spirits were initially sought after as a remedy to various illnesses or to promote long life. While alchemists, by trade, searched for a method to transmute simple metals into gold, medical alchemists were in search of cures for diseases. They stressed the importance of distillation to their work, as it was the best way to extract active ingredients from the natural materials. This image shows an alchemist in his workshop, a flower prominently displayed beside him - perhaps the figure was a medical alchemist, himself.  

Making Due

Many of the first settlements established in the New World lacked the presence of a trained physician. In the 1607 voyage to Jamestown, only two surgeons accompanied the group. Dr. Walter Russell was sent the following year in the first supply of 1608. When New Amsterdam (present-day New York City) was founded in 1624, the only person in the settlement with any medical qualifications was a ziekentrooster, or comforter of the sick, and the first physician did not appear until 1636.

Jan Huyck

Apothecary Jar, 1600s
Made in The Netherlands, Europe
Earthenware
Overall: 9 1/4  × 4 1/4 in. 

Collection: New York Historical Society

Jan Huyck was one of the first official caregivers in New Amsterdam, serving as a ziekentrooster or krankenbezoeker. the former meaning a seeker out or visitor of the sick, especially those overtaken suddenly by sickness; while the latter meant a comforter of those who were very sick, especially when nearing their end. Practically the two terms were used synonymously. This was a position that would have been overseen by the church, and his duties would have been two-fold: To care for the body and preach to the spirit. This was a recognized ecclesiastical office in the Reformed Church, permitted to hold church services, lead psalm singing, to perform marriages and baptisms, and read spiritual texts and commentaries to the people, but not allowed to administer Holy Communion.

Cupping Glass

Cupping Glass, c. 1608-1610
Made in Europe, discovered at Jamestown
Glass
Approx. 3 in. diameter

Collection: Historic Jamestowne

Cupping may appear to be a recent health fad, but it was first used in ancient China, eventually trickling into European practice. This cupping instrument was discovered at Jamestown, possibly supplied by the English surgeon John Woodall in a chest of equipment he sent to the settlement in 1609. During its first year, Jamestown had no doctor on hand and many men died from illness. Dr. Walter Russell arrived in 1608, but his presence seemed to do little to improve the situation - by 1610, as recorded in a letter by William Stratchey, 80-90% of the colonists had died from disease or starvation. Russell did, however, save John Smith’s life during an exploratory voyage around the Chesapeake after being stung by a stingray. His men were so sure he was a goner, that they dug a grave for him - without the good doctor, Smith almost certainly would have perished.

George Glover

George Glover (English, active 1634–1652)
Frontispiece for Woodall's Surgeon's Mate, 1617
Woodcut

Eight years after sending the surgeon’s equipment to Jamestown, Woodall published The surgions mate, or, A treatise discouering faithfully and plainely the due contents of the surgions chest. Woodall had spent years in the service of the East India Company as their Surgeon General, and he drew on this experience when writing his book. As those trained in healthcare were few and far between in the early colonies, it was common for settlers to possess their own copies of medical how-to books. The Surgions Mate is one such example, and was found in the collection of many colonial Virginians who self-treated. Planters and their wives must have studied medicine to some degree, as it was commonplace for the lady of the house to tend to sick servants and slaves.

Distillation in Medicine

Before alcohol was consumed for enjoyment, it was used as a medicine. Kleine Destillierbuch (Little Book on Distilling), published by Hieronymus Brunschwig in 1500, featured instructions on how to build a still and what extractions to prepare for which ailments, becoming one of the most popular books of the 16th century. Identifying distillates as remedies for certain illnesses was a crucial step in moving away from humorism, becoming important to new world caregivers in assessing how to survive in the foreign landscape.

Surgeon's Tools

Johann Joachim Becher
Schema Instrumentorum Laboratorio Portatili Inservientium (Schematic of Portable Laboratory Instruments), 1689
Engraving

From: Tripus hermeticus fatidicus, pandens oracula chymica by Johann Joachim Becher

This illustration shows equipment that would have been used by surgeons. In the bottom half of the image, an alembic still head can be found along with other distillation instruments. Some of the first mentions of alcohol in European literature date to the 13th century and are concerned with its medicinal potential, making the name “Aqua Vitae” or “Water of Life” quite fitting. Wine had been employed as a medicine for generations, so the choice to categorize and use alcohol as a medicine was obvious.

Water Distillation

Disstillation: De ratione, 1570
Woodcut
From: Comentarii

Water distillation is recorded in ancient Chinese and Indian civilizations, and the Greeks and Romans used a form of distillation to purify sea water so that it could be safely ingested. It is curious, then, that records of water distillation in the American colonies are sparse. Since natural water sources within settlements were unsafe to drink from, especially in areas with brackish water, one would think the settlers would turn to water distillation as a solution. One Jamestown doctor named John Pott who arrived in 1621 was noted as an “expert… in distillinge of waters,” according to a recommendation given to the London Company. The term “waters” was used somewhat interchangeably for alcohol, perfume, and medicine, so it remains unclear whether or not these doctors were distilling water.

Alternative Healers: Women and People of Color

While the formally trained, Western doctor was a role typically reserved for affluent white men, both women and people of color did work as physicians. Two of those doctors are highlighted in this exhibition: Lucy Meriwether Lewis Marks and Lucas Santomee Peters. Marks did not receive any formal training, but grew up around relatives who were either full fledged doctors or folk healers. She became an important fixture in Virginia’s Albemarle county as a trustworthy yarb doctor. Peters, a Black man, is thought to have been either academically trained or apprenticed to a physician, working and owning land in the Dutch settlement at New Amsterdam. Even after the British took over in the mid-1660s and renamed it to “New York,” Peters continued to practice as a doctor and retained his land.

Believe it or not, white men were not the only doctor-types practicing in colonial America. Medicine men and women were tasked with caring for their tribes, root doctors worked within enslaved communities, and women often filled the role of herbalist, midwife, or folk healer. One thing that European, African, and Native American practitioners had in common was the belief that illness was due to some kind of imbalance (whether spiritual or physical), and that witchcraft or evil spirits could be the cause of the affliction. Sadly, over time, curative practices used by both indigenous and enslaved peoples swere either demonized by their white counterparts who attempted to suppress the knowledge, or outright plagiarized. 

Don Miguel de Castro

Jaspar Beckx  (Dutch, 1547–1647)
Don Miguel de Castro, Emissary of Congo, c. 1643
Oil on canvas
28 1/3 x 24 1/2 in.

Collection of the National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen

While the Dutch did own slaves and participate in the slave trade, African people had overall better prospects and treatment than they did in English colonies, being treated more like indentured servants. After a period of service, it was common for slaves to be freed and offered  land where they could sustain themselves. When looking at Dutch art from the 1600s, like this painting of Don Miguel, it becomes evident that there was some level of mutual respect towards Africans given their regal depictions - a respect that was missing in British culture. Lucas Santomee (b. 1600s), the son of one of the 11 Africans first brought to New Amsterdam, studied medicine and became an important physician in the colony. Much of the information about Santomee has been obscured over the years - some accounts state that he was a barber surgeon, others say he was a doctor. So much of Lucas’ life is hidden, and making reliable inferences has been a challenge because even his years of birth and death are currently unclear. What we do know is that he worked as a type of doctor in New Amsterdam and owned land in the colony. 

Lucy Meriwether Lewis

John Toole (American, 1815 - 1860)
Lucy Meriwether Marks, Early 19th century
Oil on canvas 
21 3/4 x 17 1/8 in.

Collection of the University of Virginia Art Museum

Lucy Meriwether Lewis Marks (1752-1837) was a “yarb” or herb doctor from Albemarle County in Virginia, where Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello is located. Her father was a healer and her brother was formally trained as a physician, so she likely picked up some knowledge through them. She owned a valuable yet small library that pointed to her intelligence, and likely included books on medicine and herbalism.

Marks was known to ride on horseback across the county, tending to the infirmed into her 80s. Her son, Meriwether Lewis, was the famous explorer of the Lewis and Clark expedition. It is noted that Lewis treated members of his party and turned to herbal remedies to cure himself when stores of medicine had been depleted - knowledge he almost certainly picked up from his mother. 

Præstigiator

Theodor de Bry after John White
Præstigiator, 1590
Hand-colored engraving

Collection: The Mariners' Museum, Newport News, VA

Many innovations in health and hygiene we credit white male doctors for were used by Native Americans - pain relievers, oral birth control, sun screen, mouthwash, and suppositories were employed by different tribes. Gold thread, a common plant in the Northeast, for example, was used by the Chippewa and Mohegan as mouthwash for treating canker sores, general hygiene, tooth aches, and teething babies. It was common for men and women to serve as healers, and women were more trusted when it came to herbal knowledge. This engraving depicts a Præstigiator, or “conjurer,” of the Algonquin-speaking tribes from the Outer Banks; medical treatment was inextricably linked with the spirits, leading Europeans to view these healers as types of magicians or conjurers.

Miss Breme Jones

Attributed to John Rose (American, 1752/1753-1820)
Miss Breme Jones, c. 1785-1787
Watercolor and ink on wove paper
7 1/2 x 6 1/8 in. 

Collection of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Williamsburg, VA

Similar to Native American communities, enslaved people relied on Conjurers, or root doctors, for treatment. African-born slave healers were called  “root doctors” because of their deep understanding of medicinal plants. As more people were born into slavery and fewer were transplants from Africa, the root doctor tradition was carried on generationally, and sometimes influenced by Native Americans who shared their knowledge of botanical healing. Horehound, elderberry, echinacea, and okra are examples of plants used by African healers. Enslaved women were particularly respected for their medicinal knowledge, regularly assuming the role of nurse or doctoress on plantations - especially as they aged and could no longer work all day in the field. It is interesting to note that women in all communities were generally trusted over men when it came to medicine. Miss Breme Jones, depicted in this watercolor, was owned by the artist John Rose. He created this portrait in her honor and included an inscription from John Milton’s Paradise Lost: “Grave in her steps/Heaven in her eye's/And all her movement/Dignity and Love." Rose’s wife died in 1787, and this inscription may hint that Jones cared for the “ailing mistress” in her decline, or took charge of rearing the mistress’ two young children. Either way, Rose appears to have thought highly of this woman.

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