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    • Home
    • Hans Mann
    • George Bernard Mann
    • John Mann Sr.
    • Colonel John Mann Jr.
    • Isaac Mann
    • Lewis Jackson Mann
    • Dorsey Virgil Mann
    • John A. Mann Sr.
    • John A. Mann Jr.
    • Timothy A. Mann
    • War in Miami County
    • Local Massacres
    • The Death George Mann
    • The Johnston Family
    • Johnston Lineage
    • The Gueth Family
    • White Woman in Miamis
    • Hunting the Upper Miamis
    • Alcohol on the Frontier
    • Frontier Health&Wellness
  • Home
  • Hans Mann
  • George Bernard Mann
  • John Mann Sr.
  • Colonel John Mann Jr.
  • Isaac Mann
  • Lewis Jackson Mann
  • Dorsey Virgil Mann
  • John A. Mann Sr.
  • John A. Mann Jr.
  • Timothy A. Mann
  • War in Miami County
  • Local Massacres
  • The Death George Mann
  • The Johnston Family
  • Johnston Lineage
  • The Gueth Family
  • White Woman in Miamis
  • Hunting the Upper Miamis
  • Alcohol on the Frontier
  • Frontier Health&Wellness

Your Frontier Health and Wellness Plan

 

So You Wish You Lived When?


Having  a life-long fascination with history, I have participated in numerous  reenactments that spanned the 1750-1820 time period. From the late  1790's thru 1813, the “Upper Miamis” …where I live, (Miami & Shelby  County Ohio) was the edge of civilization.


Often  while participating in a reenactment, a site guest would look at my  camp and say something goofy…. For example, "Is that a real fire" -or- "Is that fire hot", "Is that a real girl?" (my  three year old was also dressed in period clothes) or "Are ya'll  Wiccan?“ (still don’t understand where that came from).  " All reenactors expect such comments.


What  I found more interesting is that inevitably, most visitors looked  closely my accouterments, smile, and would tell me that “they wished  they had lived back then”.  It’s a fun period to study…. but living  then? That’s definitely not the case for me.  I would like to share a little about  the Frontier Health and Wellness Plan. The picture used with this post  was found in the National Archives.   Let’s look at a couple differences  between then and now….


Vital Statistics / Health, Wellness, and Hygiene
The 1810 Census shows 7.2 million people were living in the United States of which 1.1 million were slaves.


The  average woman had over seven live births in 1800.  All too often, a  young wife would die when complications occurred during childbirth.


In  1800, the mean life span was about 25. Diseases such as smallpox,  malaria, tuberculosis, pneumonia, influenza, rickets, and fevers caused  many deaths in children and adults. Mortality rate for infants was  between 43% to 50 %. Before passing on a family name, some people didn’t  name their infant children until they knew child would survive.


Families  circa 1800 tended to have a larger number of children than today’s  families. Midwives, who delivered babies, were extremely important since  all babies were born at home.


Most  people studying this era hear that death by burning followed childbirth  were the leading cause of death among women ...there are some that  believe that to be inaccurate... Burning fires likely caused respiratory  issues as well.


Wells  for drinking water could be contaminated by nearby privies and unpenned  animals, causing many illnesses. Early homes had no bathroom, septic  system, or running water. Chamber pots and privies performed the  function of today’s toilets. People in this period were accustomed to  living with smells that we would consider repugnant…. and if one lived  in a city or town, there was filth ........no plumbing or sewage control  at this time.)


Today  most people bathe or shower daily, a practice that adults and children  of the colonial period would have considered odd. They did not believe  in bathing every day, or even every week. They felt that bathing washed  away the layer of dirt that was their protection against germs and  disease. Most baths consisted of washing with a cloth dipped into a  basin of water. When washing in warm water was desired, water had to be  heated in the fireplace. No chemical deodorants or anti-antiperspirants  masked body odors; however, since nearly everyone shared the same  standard of cleanliness, odors were not as offensive.


Winter meant less bathing –just washing or less cleaning of clothing which leads to  germy environments. It was a common practice at this time not to change  a wet or soiled infant before the diaper dried.


Most  family illnesses were treated at home. Settlers used medicinal herbs  and other simple remedies. In addition, bloodletting endured as a common  medical practice well into the 19th century. Throughout the ages,  bloodletting has been prescribed as a treatment for everything from a  sore throat to the plague.


One  of the potential atrocities that settlers in this area were exposed to  was scalping. The Upper Miami Valley was not exempt from this barbaric  activity. The Dilbone Massacre … and other civilian attacks outside of  Greenville and Urbana during the War of 1812 include elements of  scalping and death.


Scalping  wasn’t just a way to claim a trophy from the body of a dead man. Some  people were still alive and struggling when a warrior would pull back  their head and slice off the skin at the top of their skulls. While  victims of the incidents previously mentioned passed away, there were  instances where a person was scalped and either was not otherwise  wounded or the wound was not mortal. 


This  brutal activity was practiced by both Native Americans and  Frontiersmen.  The problem then becomes how to medically treat a patient  with a scalped head. Frontier medicine was often harsh at best.


A  scalping victim could survive without treatment—but not for long. They  would live for a few months with exposed bone at the top of their heads  until infection set in. Their skulls would get inflamed, and the bone  would become necrotic and start to separate, slowing exposing their  bare, unprotected brains.


The  first treatments for scalped men had doctors pierce the skull to the  bone marrow. Opening up little holes into the bone marrow, the doctors  wrote, would make a “flesh projection” grow over the wound. This was  achieved by taking an awl and boring numerous holes throughout the  damaged area. Again, for the victim, this caused excruciating pain.


Apparently,  the success rate for this treatment, called “pegging” was very good.  The scalped head, would “cure very slowly” and the average recovery  period was two years. Occasionally, some hair would even grow back on  the new scalp. The patient would regain feeling once the new skin grew  sufficiently to attach to the edge of the uninjured part of the original  flesh remaining on the skull. I imagine to some scalping survivors may  have thought that the pain from pegging was equal to or worse than the  pain of being scalped.


Isolation
When  Ohio first opened for settlement, it was oft said that a squirrel could  travel from Cincinnati to Michigan without touching the ground. The  original Miami County ran from Montgomery county to the top of the  state.


There  were just five natural prairies in what is modern Miami County. The  rest of this area was dense forest. Shelby County was also largely  wooded, being a hunting ground for several Native American tribes.
That  having been said, isolation created serious problems. Father Boeke, a  St. Marys, OH native, published his grandmother’s diary titled “Liwwit  Boeke -An American Pioneer.” The diary discusses women going mad from  long term darkness and isolation....The nearest cabins were often  several miles apart. Women were often alone while men went on military  campaigns, hunts or needed to travel.


So you wish you lived when? Comparing then to now, healthcare alone tips the scales for me...


Hans Mann

George Bernard Mann

John Mann Sr.

Colonel John Mann Jr.

Isaac Mann

Lewis Mann

Dorsey Virgil Mann

John A Mann Sr.

John A. Mann Jr.

Timothy A Mann


other links...


The War of 1812 in Miami County OH

Local Massacres During the War of 1812

The Death of George Mann

The Johnston Family

The Gueth Family

The 1st White Woman in the Upper Miami Valley

Hunting in the Upper Miamis

Alcohol on the Frontier

Your Frontier Health and Wellness Plan


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