Boy! there sure are some I've never heard of. Interesting though. I remember now, as a child being scalded by a pan of hot grease that fell off the stove. My entire shoulder, part of my chest and back areas were burnt! Ow! My mother did something that today, they tell you not to do. She immediately rubbed butter over the entire areas and wrapped it with a cotton cloth. I do remember the pain somewhat. To this day there is no visible scarring from the incident, believe it or not! e.g.boggs

Scorch flour in an iron skillet for diaper rash. Rub leaves of jewel weed on poison ivy rash. Bathe in oatmeal water for rash. Rub feet with wood ashes for athlete's foot. Rub mint leaves on exposed skin to repel mosquitos and gnats. Scrape a potato and place on splinter to draw it out. The membrane inside an egg shell for boils. Pork fat works on boils too. Peppermint tea for colic or indigestion. Powdered sulphur mixed with lard or itch. Wash in water from a stump to cure freckles. Rub on cow dung to cure baldness. Steal a dishrag and bury it to get rid of a wart. My grandmother (1874-1958) had a rock with a groove in it. She burned pine knots on the rock and caught the tar in the groove. She made a cough remedy with this, but I've forgotten how. I've forgotten a few more of her herbal remedies too, but maybe someone else will be able to tell me about them. She used boneset tea, coltsfoot tea and sassafras root tea, but I don't remember what they were for. She did something with a little wildflower called hepatica. It was for the liver. She said her Indian grandmother taught her to read plants. The hepatica leaves were liver shaped and that was how they knew to use it for that. There was an herb that was smoked for asthma, but what was it? Thanks, Pam, for the flux cure. I hadn't heard that one. According to the Mortality Schedules a lot of people died from bloody flux. Sue McN.

For ear aches daddy always blew smoke from his corn cob pipe into our ears. I'm just mentioning corn cob pipe as that was all he smoked. He passed away in 1950 and I will always remember those pipes. Thank you for mentioning ear aches. Antoinette waughtel@oz.net Kathy Bemisdarfer wrote: > For Ear Aches our family used to take sweet oil warm it and put a few drops > in the ear and a piece of > cotton to keep the oil in. > > Tobacco was suppose to be able to draw out the poison from Copperhead > bites. > > ==== SW_VA Mailing List ==== > #7 "Roll Calls" or such by other names are to be called > by the SYSOP ONLY. NO WARNINGS!! Each member is free to post their > SURNAMES anytime they please. -- Researching: Alkire, Breckenridge, Burton, Cann, Claypool(e), Denton, Daugherty, Dunbar, Evans, Gorrell, Hagan, Jimenez, Keel, Keith, Kern/es, Ladner, Lawler, Leffler, Littell, Merrifield, Norris, Pettyjohn, Ponsler, Robertson, Robinson, Rogers, Sinex, Sinnickson, Stiddem/Stidham, Tossawa/Tussey, Vantreese, Wachtel/Waughtel, Walker, White, Wilcox, Winfield

-----Original Message----- From: Bill and Sue McNaught [SMTP:pp02570@email.kcc.edu] Sent: Friday, February 26, 1999 6:39 PM To: SW_VA-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Old Home Remedies Oh, Eddie. I'm almost sorry you brought this one up. Some of them were so horrible I shudder at the thought of them. But, you asked. A spoonful of sugar soaked in kerosene for a cough. A spoonful of sugar soaked in turpentine for worms. A poultice of onions fried in lard for pneumonia. Vinegar for burns. Buds from a Balm of Gilead tree (also known as cottonwood) heated in lard for an all-purpose salve. Spider webs to stop bleeding. Willow leaf tea for fever. Ginger tea for upset stomach. Rock candy dissolved in whiskey for chest congestion. All of the above work and have some scientific basis. I can't say that about the next one, though. When my grandmother delivered babies she always put a butcher knife under the bed to cut the pain. I know a lot more, but don't want to take up too much time or space. Sue McN. ==== SW_VA Mailing List ==== #7 "Roll Calls" or such by other names are to be called by the SYSOP ONLY. NO WARNINGS!! Each member is free to post their SURNAMES anytime they please. [Pam Moehling] Hi Sue, I couldn't hardly believe it when I read the Rocky Candy desolved in whiskey for chest congestion... My father suffered with asthma almost all of his life and he would make this and keep it in the medicine chest...sometimes when he made a new batch he let me have some of the candy..I'll never forget how sweet it was and it was pieces of white looking hard sugar about he size of a dime or smaller spaced so far apart on a white string...you placed the string of candy into a jar and let the string hang over the rim..when you put the lid on it kept the candy from falling down into the whiskey... When my mother was a young teenager she got what they called the "Flux" and if you couldn't get it "checked" (stopped) you would die because you just kept going to the bathroom until you got so weak you couldn't even function...My grandfather, Will PATRICK ,worked in the coal mines (Mingo County, WVA) and one of his miner "buddies" told him to stop on his way home from work and get some really good whiskey.. take a tablespoon of it and burn it and when it cooled a little he was supposed to let my mother takes sips of that burnt whiskey... three or four times..and you know by morning my Mom was up and about and it cured her. Pam

I recall my stepdad always planted potatoes on Good Friday. Mom always made a cough syrup out of sliced onions & honey - baked until syrupy. I did this for my own kids in the 60s and it worked. If we stepped on or got cut by a rusty nail it was always salved down with lard. I never could figure out how some of those things were supposed to work. She raised 12 of us and we're all alive and well <grin> Antoinette waughtel@oz.net Pat Oneal wrote: > For those of you who plant small vegetable gardens, this might be of > interest: > > Signs were used for home remedies as well as planting crops. > The family farm was one of bounty. My grandfather provided produce for the > wholesale market in Middlesboro, KY, in the early 1900s. Legend has it that > a local tongue-wagger remarked that he would "miss the day of resurrection > because he'd be off and gone to the market in Middlesboro." > Crops were planted according to the astrological signs. According to Mama, > in early spring a layer of manure was spread over the potato bed and a layer > of rich dirt was spread over the manure. The time to plant potatoes was > half way between the old and new moon. If they were planted at the > beginning of the new moon, farmers discovered the potatoes would grow to the > surface of the ground and sunburn. If planted during the old moon, they > burrowed deep in the ground, making it difficult to dig them when harvesting > the crop. Sweet corn was planted when the signs were in the arms and during > the new moon. Signs had to be in the head when planting cabbage, and > cucumbers were planted when the signs were in the arms and feet, otherwise > called the Twins. My grandmother planted her bed of beets when the signs > were in the heart, thus, producing the best beets in the valley. Pap > planted sugarcane in white sandy loam during the full of the moon, and he > was credited with producing top quality molasses from the cane. (There's > More!) This aught to tell the younger readers that there was a time when > the Moon was used for something besides romancing and for astronauts to land > on! > Although I am involved in genealogy, these stories certainly have been > enlightening to me in that I am learning how our ancestors had to use their > ingenuity to survive. Pat > > ==== SW_VA Mailing List ==== > #2 A large database of SURNAMES and the researcher's email address can be found at > http://www.fortunecity.com/millennium/quarrybank/194/swabc.htm > You may have your SURNAMES included by posting them and your address to the > LIST and NOT to the sysop/owner. -- Researching: Alkire, Breckenridge, Burton, Cann, Claypool(e), Denton, Daugherty, Dunbar, Evans, Gorrell, Hagan, Jimenez, Keel, Keith, Kern/es, Ladner, Lawler, Leffler, Littell, Merrifield, Norris, Pettyjohn, Ponsler, Robertson, Robinson, Rogers, Sinex, Sinnickson, Stiddem/Stidham, Tossawa/Tussey, Vantreese, Wachtel/Waughtel, Walker, White, Wilcox, Winfield

My Great Grandfather Campbell Horn used to tell me when I would listen to his pocket watch that there were little men in there chopping wood. I can't tell you how many clocks I tore up looking for those little men. They also told me that the radio had little men singing in there as well as on the TV set. My Grandmother had a large brown plastic radio, guess what I tore the back off of that too. No men were ever found. I was always afraid to dress in front of the TV because I was afraid that those little men, would see me. Kathy

For Ear Aches our family used to take sweet oil warm it and put a few drops in the ear and a piece of cotton to keep the oil in. Tobacco was suppose to be able to draw out the poison from Copperhead bites.

Ok I have waited long enough. My Granny was a midwife, she used to ride horse back and stay for days, It was said that she could stop bleeding. My Grandfather would remove Warts by taking 2 bean leaves and rubbing them on the Wart, Believe it or not what ever he said while doing this worked. It removed mine. We also had to have 2 or 3 drops of turpentine tine in a spoonful of sugar to make worms go away. It must have worked!!! No Worms Here!!!! Would always Plant and Can by the signs or the moon. Women were never allowed in the Garden during that time! Putting salt pork on a boil to draw out the poison. One remedy was to take sheep dropping tie them in a rag, boil them put sugar in it, then they would drink the tea to make the measles come out on you. ( I think I would have rather died first). (this old remedy was written about in the David Vance and Family Book) If you had a bad cough, they made you lick salt. Also for cough medicine, mixed equal parts of raw honey, whiskey and lemon juice. Banning Babies belly buttons, so they would not rupture. This was done by putting a bandage all the way around the babies middle. Mountain Tea or Sassafras tea. Would always rub your chest with Menthaladioum, or Vicks, then put a hot cloth on your chest, to relieve stuffy noses.

For those of you who plant small vegetable gardens, this might be of interest: Signs were used for home remedies as well as planting crops. The family farm was one of bounty. My grandfather provided produce for the wholesale market in Middlesboro, KY, in the early 1900s. Legend has it that a local tongue-wagger remarked that he would "miss the day of resurrection because he'd be off and gone to the market in Middlesboro." Crops were planted according to the astrological signs. According to Mama, in early spring a layer of manure was spread over the potato bed and a layer of rich dirt was spread over the manure. The time to plant potatoes was half way between the old and new moon. If they were planted at the beginning of the new moon, farmers discovered the potatoes would grow to the surface of the ground and sunburn. If planted during the old moon, they burrowed deep in the ground, making it difficult to dig them when harvesting the crop. Sweet corn was planted when the signs were in the arms and during the new moon. Signs had to be in the head when planting cabbage, and cucumbers were planted when the signs were in the arms and feet, otherwise called the Twins. My grandmother planted her bed of beets when the signs were in the heart, thus, producing the best beets in the valley. Pap planted sugarcane in white sandy loam during the full of the moon, and he was credited with producing top quality molasses from the cane. (There's More!) This aught to tell the younger readers that there was a time when the Moon was used for something besides romancing and for astronauts to land on! Although I am involved in genealogy, these stories certainly have been enlightening to me in that I am learning how our ancestors had to use their ingenuity to survive. Pat

I really wasn't going to reveal this, but -----Original Message----- From: Pat Oneal <peon@icx.net> To: Pam Moehling <moehling@mc.net> Date: Friday, February 26, 1999 7:44 PM Subject: Re: Old-time Remedies >Pam, When I was a child I was the 7th daughter (but not of the 7th daughter). Anyway, a neighbor's little boy had the Thrush (are you familiar?). Learning that I was the '7th daughter', the neighbor asked my mother if I would come and breathe in the child's mouth to see if I could heal him. WELL!! Can you imagine how I felt about that? Mama insisted, so I went! The child had purple medicine all over his mouth and inside as well. Remember that?? I did the breathing, holding my mouth over his. Don't recall how many times, but I want you to know that I went the long way round the block after that to keep from passing the neighbor's house. I was never so embarrassed in my life. And, boy, was I teased by my six sisters! To this day, I don't know if the little boy was healed. I hesitate to put this on the SW-VA list because it still embarrasses me to think about it. My sisters still laugh. I'll never outgrow that one! > Pat >-----Original Message----- >From: Pam Moehling <moehling@mc.net> >To: 'Pat Oneal' <peon@icx.net>; SW_VA-L@rootsweb.com <SW_VA-L@rootsweb.com> >Date: Friday, February 26, 1999 6:44 PM >Subject: RE: Old-time Remedies > > >> >> >>-----Original Message----- >>From: Pat Oneal [SMTP:peon@icx.net] >>Sent: Friday, February 26, 1999 5:37 PM >>To: SW_VA-L@rootsweb.com >>Subject: Old-time Remedies >> >> Here's a remedy my mother used to cure my older sister who was born >>during the flu epidemic of 1918-19. Baby was born with the flu. She had >>struggled for about six weeks. One day Mama took the baby to her own >>mother's house. A lady was visiting, heard the strong rattle when the baby >>breathed. She told Mama when she dressed the baby for bed that night to >rub >>her back, chest, and feet with a mixture of coal oil, turpentine, and hog's >>lard, then wrap her in warm flannel. >> Mama did just that. The following morning the baby's breathing was >>normal. >>(I found that one hard to believe, but if my mother said it was so, it was >>so!) >> She also believed in astrological signs. Wouldn't let me have a wisdom >>tooth pulled one time because the signs were in the head. She was afraid I >>would have excessive bleeding. By chance, we had a heavy snow and I had to >>postpone my dental appointment. Never found out if her beliefs were true. >> Does anyone recall the "seventh son of the seventh son"? I can't >>remember how it goes. Pat >> >> >> >> >>==== SW_VA Mailing List ==== >>#2 A large database of SURNAMES and the researcher's email address can be >found at >>http://www.fortunecity.com/millennium/quarrybank/194/swabc.htm >>You may have your SURNAMES included by posting them and your address to the >>LIST and NOT to the sysop/owner. >> >> >> >>[Pam Moehling] Hi, >> >>Pat, I just love reading your entries...there just about as strange as mine ><g>.. >>no offense in any way meant.. >> >>Isn't the 7th son of a 7th son supposed to be a real "bugger"..I mean kinda >labeled a nasty guy.. >>loser...outcast..whatever??? I have no idea where this is coming from folks >but I thought I heard >>it somewhere once...any I certainly mean no offense to anyone who might be >one of these "sons".. >>Maybe I'm dreaming..can someone help here... >> >>Pam >> > >

It has finally arrived. The BENGE book by Dr. Lawerence Fleenor of Big Stone Gap, VA is back from the printer. He has said, " I have decided to sell it with tax and packaging and mailing fees included, all for $14.95." I think it is paperback and he will tell me the number of pages and how to purchase it soon. I'm going to get one, maybe the first one. <g> It is a great story and I have never read anything like it. I got a lump in my throat just reading the first few pages. It is a balanced book and non-PC. (politically correct, not personal computer <g> ) I would like to see post of reviews of good books on the List subject that others might enjoy. I'm looking for someone to write a book on the German immigrant contribution to SW VA, KY, etc. -eddie -eddie . . . get a life. Eternal Life!

The seventh son of a seventh son was supposed to have the gift of healing. Along this line, a child whose father died before it was born was supposed to be able to cure "thrush" by blowing in the baby's mouth. My cousin is one of these and, to this day, some mothers bring their babies to her to cure. She is not a believer, but won't turn anyone down. Sue McN.

Oh, Eddie. I'm almost sorry you brought this one up. Some of them were so horrible I shudder at the thought of them. But, you asked. A spoonful of sugar soaked in kerosene for a cough. A spoonful of sugar soaked in turpentine for worms. A poultice of onions fried in lard for pneumonia. Vinegar for burns. Buds from a Balm of Gilead tree (also known as cottonwood) heated in lard for an all-purpose salve. Spider webs to stop bleeding. Willow leaf tea for fever. Ginger tea for upset stomach. Rock candy dissolved in whiskey for chest congestion. All of the above work and have some scientific basis. I can't say that about the next one, though. When my grandmother delivered babies she always put a butcher knife under the bed to cut the pain. I know a lot more, but don't want to take up too much time or space. Sue McN.

Pam, I think the 7th son of the 7th son is supposed to have special powers. Pat -----Original Message----- From: Pam Moehling <moehling@mc.net> To: 'Pat Oneal' <peon@icx.net>; SW_VA-L@rootsweb.com <SW_VA-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Friday, February 26, 1999 6:44 PM Subject: RE: Old-time Remedies > > >-----Original Message----- >From: Pat Oneal [SMTP:peon@icx.net] >Sent: Friday, February 26, 1999 5:37 PM >To: SW_VA-L@rootsweb.com >Subject: Old-time Remedies > > Here's a remedy my mother used to cure my older sister who was born >during the flu epidemic of 1918-19. Baby was born with the flu. She had >struggled for about six weeks. One day Mama took the baby to her own >mother's house. A lady was visiting, heard the strong rattle when the baby >breathed. She told Mama when she dressed the baby for bed that night to rub >her back, chest, and feet with a mixture of coal oil, turpentine, and hog's >lard, then wrap her in warm flannel. > Mama did just that. The following morning the baby's breathing was >normal. >(I found that one hard to believe, but if my mother said it was so, it was >so!) > She also believed in astrological signs. Wouldn't let me have a wisdom >tooth pulled one time because the signs were in the head. She was afraid I >would have excessive bleeding. By chance, we had a heavy snow and I had to >postpone my dental appointment. Never found out if her beliefs were true. > Does anyone recall the "seventh son of the seventh son"? I can't >remember how it goes. Pat > > > > >==== SW_VA Mailing List ==== >#2 A large database of SURNAMES and the researcher's email address can be found at >http://www.fortunecity.com/millennium/quarrybank/194/swabc.htm >You may have your SURNAMES included by posting them and your address to the >LIST and NOT to the sysop/owner. > > > >[Pam Moehling] Hi, > >Pat, I just love reading your entries...there just about as strange as mine <g>.. >no offense in any way meant.. > >Isn't the 7th son of a 7th son supposed to be a real "bugger"..I mean kinda labeled a nasty guy.. >loser...outcast..whatever??? I have no idea where this is coming from folks but I thought I heard >it somewhere once...any I certainly mean no offense to anyone who might be one of these "sons".. >Maybe I'm dreaming..can someone help here... > >Pam >

Dear List, I am so grateful to the folks that wrote about ancestors wearing winter clothes year round. My great grandmother did that too with the comment that what would keep out cold would keep out heat. I had concluded that she was senile or at least a little strange. She had another habit that I now wonder about. I've heard that when she visited anywhere she took her own beans tied in a piece of cloth. When the hostess put on a pot to cook, Grandma would put her little "passel" in to cook with the rest. Has anyone else heard of that practice? Sue McN.

Reading some of these stories reminded me of some of my mothers own cures when growing up in Big Stone Gap in the middle 50s. A cold spoon on the back of the neck for a nose bleed. Three of four drops of your own urine in your ear for an ear ache. Tobacco from a cigarette chewed and moistened to be applied for a bee sting. I don't know what all was in her "mustard plaster" that was wrapped around my foot when I stepped on a large nail. Elderberry tea made from the boiling of Elderberry bark for arthritis and rheumatism. Probably could think of a few more if I really thought about it long enough. Cecil

-----Original Message----- From: Pat Oneal [SMTP:peon@icx.net] Sent: Friday, February 26, 1999 5:37 PM To: SW_VA-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Old-time Remedies Here's a remedy my mother used to cure my older sister who was born during the flu epidemic of 1918-19. Baby was born with the flu. She had struggled for about six weeks. One day Mama took the baby to her own mother's house. A lady was visiting, heard the strong rattle when the baby breathed. She told Mama when she dressed the baby for bed that night to rub her back, chest, and feet with a mixture of coal oil, turpentine, and hog's lard, then wrap her in warm flannel. Mama did just that. The following morning the baby's breathing was normal. (I found that one hard to believe, but if my mother said it was so, it was so!) She also believed in astrological signs. Wouldn't let me have a wisdom tooth pulled one time because the signs were in the head. She was afraid I would have excessive bleeding. By chance, we had a heavy snow and I had to postpone my dental appointment. Never found out if her beliefs were true. Does anyone recall the "seventh son of the seventh son"? I can't remember how it goes. Pat ==== SW_VA Mailing List ==== #2 A large database of SURNAMES and the researcher's email address can be found at http://www.fortunecity.com/millennium/quarrybank/194/swabc.htm You may have your SURNAMES included by posting them and your address to the LIST and NOT to the sysop/owner. [Pam Moehling] Hi, Pat, I just love reading your entries...there just about as strange as mine <g>.. no offense in any way meant.. Isn't the 7th son of a 7th son supposed to be a real "bugger"..I mean kinda labeled a nasty guy.. loser...outcast..whatever??? I have no idea where this is coming from folks but I thought I heard it somewhere once...any I certainly mean no offense to anyone who might be one of these "sons".. Maybe I'm dreaming..can someone help here... Pam

Here's a remedy my mother used to cure my older sister who was born during the flu epidemic of 1918-19. Baby was born with the flu. She had struggled for about six weeks. One day Mama took the baby to her own mother's house. A lady was visiting, heard the strong rattle when the baby breathed. She told Mama when she dressed the baby for bed that night to rub her back, chest, and feet with a mixture of coal oil, turpentine, and hog's lard, then wrap her in warm flannel. Mama did just that. The following morning the baby's breathing was normal. (I found that one hard to believe, but if my mother said it was so, it was so!) She also believed in astrological signs. Wouldn't let me have a wisdom tooth pulled one time because the signs were in the head. She was afraid I would have excessive bleeding. By chance, we had a heavy snow and I had to postpone my dental appointment. Never found out if her beliefs were true. Does anyone recall the "seventh son of the seventh son"? I can't remember how it goes. Pat

I am looking for the names of my ggrandparents.I have no information on them except, my grandfather, their son,Archibald Calvin BLANKENBECKLER was b 9 June 1877 Scott Co Va.At some point Archie left Va and traveled Springfield MO, married Minnie Cordelia Wright between 1895 & 1890, had three children,moved his family to Shawnee OK where he d 23 Jan 1968 Minnie d 9 Feb 1950 Thanks for any information hcast@shore.intercom.net

I mailed about half the maps today and should get the rest tomorrow. I mailed those first half of orders and all those who ordered just the Wash. Co. map. I will mail the rest tomorrow except those that had special considerations. Thanks. -eddie . . . get a life. Eternal Life!