Perry County,
Ohio
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Perry County, Ohio |
FolkloreEvery town, village and neighborhood has its folktales that have been passed down from generation to generation. It may be the tale of that so-called haunted house or spooky old Mr. Mason down the street. Folk-lore may also be found in weird experiences or in the supernatural, in legends, oral history, proverbs, and in popular beliefs or customs. Folklore could be about the ghost who is said to haunt the railroad tracks down by the old coal mine. What about the pet cat that warned of a fire or the unseen figure that saved a little girl from drowning. Or it could be how Great Grandma knew how to stop bleeding or cure burns. We urge you to share your stories of folklore. Please Contact Us to submit your tale.
FOLK-MEDICINE IN OHIO. MARCH 1897 - Mrs. George A. Stanbery, writes from Adair Arc Terrace, Zanesville, Ohio, as follows: In Somerset, Perry County, Ohio, lived an old German woman, by the
name of Mrs. Harper, who was said to do wonders in curing diseases; and as I
was a small child at that time, these things, talked about in my presence,
made a great impression on my mind, but when most needed some of the most
important points had fled from my memory. So I wrote to a relative of Mrs.
Harper's, a Mr. Samuel Poorman, now of San Francisco, but formerly of
Somerset, Perry County, Ohio, thinking that he or some of his family might
be able to give me some information. I had also written to a friend in
Somerset, asking her to find out for me about the measurements required in
the cure for the " decay of the flesh in children." The two letters came
together, and both had the desired information. Mrs. Benoni Beckwith, of
Somerset, still keeps up the practice, and she very willingly gave me her
method, which, by the way, is exactly the same as that used by Grandmother
Harper ; and as Mr. Poorman has given me other valuable and (to me) new
cures, I will quote from his letter. I am sorry that I shall be obliged to
wait to hear from him before submitting a very important cure for
relieving persons of pain who have been burned or scalded. He sent me the
secret on a separate paper, because it loses its charm by being too
generally known ; but he did not say whether or not I might send it to you
with the others, so I must wait for permission. A man can give the secret
to a woman, or vice versfr ; but a woman must on no account give it to a
woman. As I am now in possession of the charm I am waiting for some one to
burn himself, when I will try my powers. Grandmother Harper's Cure for the
Decay of the Flesh.— The child must be brought on three successive
mornings, and stripped of all its clothing. Then with a linen string
measure the length of the foot seven times. With this string measure the
length of the body, commencing at the crown of the head and follow down
the back to the tip of the heel. If the length of the child is less than
seven lengths of the foot, the child is affected with decay. In this event
a loop is formed with this string by holding its ends together between the
thumb and forefinger. The loop is then passed overthe child three times
from the head to the feet. The string is wound around the hinge of a door
or gate, and as the string is worn away the child is restored to health.
Mrs. Harper put the string on a wooden hinge. These were much used at that
time on gates and barn doors. I presume an iron hinge would answer the
same purpose. Mrs. John Wisemarfs Cure for the Thrush (Sore Mouth). —
"Three straws were obtained from the barnyard, which were broken or cut
into equal lengths of about three inches. These were bound together in the
middle with a string. The bundle thus formed was then passed between the
lips of the afflicted child three times from right to left. The bundle of
straws was then buried in the manure pile in the barnyard, where it
remained until the next 'trying,' as it was called. In severe cases the
operation, with the same bundle of straws, was repeated three times at
intervals of half an hour. This whole process with the same straws was
repeated in twelve hours, and again in twenty-four hours, making in all
nine ' tryings.1 This would suffice for the most obstinate cases. In
moderate cases there would be three ' tryings ' at intervals of twelve
hours. Whether in the various resurrections of the bundle of straws there
was any cleansing I do not know, but I presume not. " Sallie Jackson, my
sister's oldest child, when an infant, was so badly afflicted with Thrush
that blood oozed from her mouth whenever she opened it. Mrs. Wiseman
operated on her. On the first ' trying ' blood flowed from her mouth in a
stream, on the second ' trying,' in half an hour, a very little blood was
seen, and on the third there was no blood. My sister was directed to
return the following morning (twelve hours later), but when morning came
she found the child's mouth entirely well ! There was no further
treatment, and no more Thrush. " Mrs. Wiseman treated a Mrs. Aumentrout,
of Thornville, Ohio, to whose breasts the disease had been communicated by
her child. They were in such condition that the doctors had decided to
remove them to save her life. The treatment was the same as for the child,
passing the straws over her breasts as they were passed through the lips
of the child. In this case there were three trials, or ' tryings,'at
half-hour intervals, which were repeated in twelve and in twenty-four
hours. At the last of these tryings no signs of Thrush
remained.
Transcribed for Genealogy Trails by Sandra Cummins |
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