John Snow (1813-1858) - vegan

This week I attended York Philosophical Society's commemorative lecture about John Snow, the physician and 'father of epidemiology', given by Dr Steven Oliver. Much of the content I covered in 2012 on the Open University excellent course, 'Infectious Diseases and Public Health' - SK320.

However, what was new, and relevant more to this blog history of veganism, was that Dr Oliver portrayed John Snow as a fairly strict vegan who distilled his own water from an early age (thus perhaps displaying his disposition to seeing health problems stemming from impurities in water itself).  I am not sure if this means he followed the Temperance movement, as he was known to drink a little bit... So, following this discovery, I thought I would have a search through some archives for more information about or mention of Snow's diet...

The Temperance Movement began around the 1830s (or before in different guises), possibly as a backlash against the use of alcohol in the early 19th century.. the rise in Gin Houses, &c, which boasted that you could be “drunk for a penny, dead drunk for tuppence”. (Rise of Temperance)... this would be about the time that John Snow became a vegetarian... at the age of 17 (1830), John Snow became a vegetarian whilst in his 3rd year as a medical apprentice in Newcastle and, according to a UCLA page, remained vegetarian until he was 25 (1838) (John Snow on UCLA's Public Health website).  This is slightly different to the impression I got from the lecture - that he remained a vegan for the rest of his life.  There appears to be an error somewhere.  There is also a link on the UCLA page to a 'diet' section:

DIET  

The link between John Snow's diet and his state of health has been the subject of much speculation. At the age of seventeen [Z- 1830], John Snow became a vegetarian and continued to abstain from meat for eight years.  He had, however, supplemented his vegetarian diet with butter and milk.  When others pointed out that he was not adhering to the regime of an absolute vegetarian, he proceeded to eliminate all animal products from his diet. He also had been a strong advocate of temperance, and was a total abstainer from alcohol.  In 1836 he had joined the York Temperance Society, and remained a member of this organization until his death.  He also in 1845 became the Honorary Secretary of the Medical Temperance Society of London, reflecting the strength and persistence of his views. 

It is also mentioned on the UCLA page that the eldest of his younger brothers, William Snow (1815-?), ran a temperance hotel in York; and his youngest brother, Thomas Snow (1821-1893), who entered the clergy, also strongly supported the temperance movement, was a teetotaller, and stayed by John's side throughout his life and at his death.

In the section 'Ill Health' below the diet section it is stated: "In 1845 he had an acute attack of renal disease. His physician told him to abandon his strict vegetarian diet and to take wine in small quantities. He complied and thereafter his health was reported to have improved."  This is confusing - since the website says he remained a vegetarian until 1838.

There is short mention of Snow's vegetarianism in a biography by Benjamin Ward Richardson "John Snow M.D. - A Representative of Medical Science and Art of the Victorian Era" (first published in The Asclepiad (London) 6:274-300, 1887).

"..... During the third year of his apprenticeship, when he was seventeen years old, he formed an idea that the vegetarian system of feeding was the true and the old; and with a consistency which throughout life attended him, tried the system rigidly for more than eight years. He was a noted swimmer at this time, and could make head against the tide longer than any of his omnivorous friends.

"At or about the same time that he adopted his vegetarian views, he also took up the temperance cause. He not only joined the ranks of the total abstinence reformers, but became a powerful advocate of their principles for many succeeding years. In the latter part of his life he occasionally drank a little wine, but his views on the subject remained to the end unchanged. He retained a strong faith in total abstinence, and a belief that it must ultimately become universal."

I think perhaps someone misread or mistyped that on the other page as "for eight years".

Further along in Richardson' biography there is a little snippet about John Snow and animal experimentation:

"There is yet another trait in his character which I cannot but notice, and which I would respectfully commend to all physiological inquirers.  While he held it as a necessity to use inferior animals for the purpose of experiment, he never touched living thing with the physiologist's finger without having before him some definite object; and never performed experiment on any animal without providing with scrupulous care against the infliction of all unnecessary suffering. The interests of humanity were, he thought, best advanced by the universal practice of humanity."

The John Snow Archive and Research Companion's short biography expands on Snow's conversion in Newcastle in 1827:

During his apprenticeship, he converted to vegetarianism. The book that influenced him toward adopting that diet stressed the disease–causing properties of impure drinking water, which may partly explain his attraction to a water–borne theory of cholera transmission almost two decades later. At this time, he also made a pledge to advance temperance, a cause in which he was joined by several family members and which he would support for the rest of his life.

So, he was influenced by a book about diets... one that was written in or before 1827...?

Reading one of John Snow's papers in the London Medical Journal I discover that he is yet another drug taker (one of many in the medical/psychiatry professions in the history of medicine - referring to Freud's 'On Cocaine').  He may have been well-known for his work in anaesthesia - but perhaps less proclaimed is that he tended to test every substance on himself first.  In his paper "On the inhalation of various medical substances" there is even a picture (right) of an apparatus he designed for burning opium/morphia and inhaling it.

He abstained (mostly) from drinking alcohol and eating animal products... This is perhaps one way to reduce the necessity to test on animals... test on yourself...

Back to the topic... I have found a list of works on Snow on the John Snow Matrix website at Michigan State University.

I found a better biography by Stephanie J Snow - "John Snow M.D. (1813-1858). Part II:  Becoming a doctor - his medical training and early years of practice." published in the Journal of Medical Biography (8 (2000) 71-77).  Here is the section on vegetarianism (I have highlighted any names of people):

Temperance and vegetarianism

During these years, Snow became committed to two causes which were to remain with him all his life: vegetarianism and temperance.  He formed views on vegetarianism after reading several scientific works, one of which was written by John Frank Newton. Newton advocated the diet for its health-giving qualities and its potential for relieving certain types of disease.  The most famous of Newton's converts to the regime was Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Snow initially included milk, eggs and butter in his vegetarian diet. However, after arguing the point with Joshua Parsons, a medical student he shared digs with in London, he converted to a vegan diet. Richardson later commented that:

I have heard him tell that so long as he continued to qualify his vegetables with milk and butter, the vegetarian plan supported him fairly. But on one unfortunate morning, when taking his milk breakfast, some quizzical friend, learned in botany, cross-examined him as to the vegetable on which he was then feeding. The joke went home; and the use of milk, as food for a pure vegetarian, became too absurd  for consistency... although in after life he maintained that an approach to the vegetarian practice was commendable, in that it, kept the body in better tone for the exercise of the mind, he admitted that in his own case his health paid the forfeit of his extreme adherence to an hypothesis.

In 1845 Snow suffered symptoms of renal disorder which were attributed to this diet and during a recuperation visit to his friend, Joshua Parsons, by then general practitioner at Beckington, Bath, Snow admitted that he had been obliged to return to eating animal products.

The temperance movement began in 1828. Temperance was deemed an appropriate partner for vegetarianism and Snow became teetotal in the early 1830s. His belief in the evil of alcohol was so strong that, while a medical apprentice, he refused to use brandy as a curative for cholera, despite medical acclaim for its powers. In 1836 he and his brother Thomas joined the York Temperance Society and Snow's commitment to the principle of temperance continued throughout his life. However, for health reasons, he was forced to include a little wine in his diet from 1845 onwards. He paid an annual subscription to the York Temperance Society until his death, and became Honorary Secretary of the Medical Temperance Society in London in 1845.

So John Snow was a convert from reading John Frank Newton's "Return to Nature: A Defence of the Vegetable Regime" (dedicated to Dr William Lambe).  [Newton's well-known convert to vegetarianism was the poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and husband of Mary Shelley (author of Frankenstein and daughter of Mary Wollstencraft).]  It was published in 1811 and re-published in 1822, which is perhaps the version that John Snow discovered.  The book recommended the vegetable regime for healthy intestines and also suggested that water should be purified (by distillation) - an idea that perhaps influenced Snow's growing theory of the transmission of cholera.

Joshua Parsons is also fairly interesting... he was educated near Abingdon (in the 1820s) (I grew up near Abingdon also), studied and lodged with John Snow in London... and then moved out to Beckington, a small village where one branch of my Slay family have lived since 1904.  And then to Frome.  My grandmother's friend, Raye Young, nee Parsons lived in Frome and passed away recently... I don't know if she moved there because of a family connection or not.. or if they are connected in any way... just pure coincidence perhaps...

(from: "Dr Joshua Parsons (1814-1892) of Beckington Somerset General Practitioner" by Spence Galbraith)

Joshua also wrote that John Snow was at that time a strict vegetarian and recalled a long walk they made  together -

'At the period of our co-residence he was a strict vegetarian, and many and great were the controversies held between us on the subject. These led to trials of our comparative strength and endurance, in one of which, on Easter Monday 1837, we walked to St Alban's, and back to town through Harrow, - a distance, I believe, of rather more than fifty miles. On reaching the Edgware Road, my companion was fairly beaten, and obliged to reach home in an omnibus.'

I will find a copy of Newton's "Return to Nature" and post separately another time.

Roger Crab (1620-1680): Philadelphian

See my previous post for details about Roger Crab.

Found in "A survey of the cities of London and Westminster: containing the original, antiquity, increase, modern estate and government of those cities." by John Stow (1720) via JISC Historic Books.  Roger Crab's grave is at St Dunstan's Church, Stepney, London (in the 'church-yard, south side'):

This Crab, they say, was a Philadelphian, or Sweet Singer.

It is not clear what the cultural reference to 'Philadelphian' or 'Sweet Singer' is. Does anybody know?  Perhaps as simple as that he came from Philadelphia (home of the Quakers?)

I think the answer is not too far off...  Charles Leslie (1721) in The Theological Works of the Reverend Charles Leslie. In two volumes (accessed via JISC Historic Books) says:

As the Preface to the Snake in the Grafs [grass - s is sometimes 'f'] was employ'd upon the late vile Herefy of Bourignonifm, fent to us from Holland, and a parallel made betwixt that and our Quakerifm, both branches of the fame wild Enthufiafm;  fo I thought to have put a Preface to this, upon the fubject of our new Sect of Philedelphians, ftarted up in London fince this Revolution; which is another Graff upon the fame Enthufiaftical Stock, and fo like the Quakers, the fome of them go to the Philadelphian Meetings, and can hardly diftinguifh them from their own. 

As the original Philadelphian he names Jane Leade (1624–1704).  Another leading name is John Pordage (1607-1681) from Berkshire (where my family lived at that time - who may have changed their name to avoid persecution - but the name change would have been around 1770 ish not as early as the Quaker problem).

I had to ask.. who was Penn in Pennsylvania...  William Penn, a Quaker.  He saw the disagreement that Charles Leslie expresses in the late 17th Century grow bigger and bigger.  The rift between the Quakers and the Anglicans grew.  The Quakers were persecuted more and more.  William Penn managed to get King Charles II to pay for a mass of land in repayment of a debt in the New Land (America).  Originally he called this large piece of land, New Wales.  He then changed it to 'Sylvania' (woods and trees)... but Charles changed it to 'Pennsylvania'.  William Penn was owner of one of the largest estates in the world (and occupied by a few native Americans and some Dutch).  Now had the task of convincing the Quakers of London and Europe to move away from their persecution to the new land...  Apparently he convinced the Quakers, Huguenots, Amish, Catholics, Lutherans, Jews (and possibly the Philadelphians).  In 1682 he announced the beginning of Philadelphia.  Philadelphia comes from Greek, philos (love) and adelphos (brother) to mean Brotherly Love.  Penn issued a Charter in 1701 which establish Philadelphia as a city.

I suspected he had taken the name from the 'Philadelphian Society' above... but the Society was apparently named in 1694 'inspired by the Philadelphians in the Book of Revelations.

A bit of a ramble... I cannot find proof that Roger Crab was actually a Philadelphian or Sweet Singer (of Israel) ... perhaps he simply finds himself tarred with the same brush because he is deemed odd.

Vegetarian - etymology

The etymology of the word 'Vegetarian' ... is from vegetāre the Latin present active infinitive of vegeto
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/vegeto#Latin
I arouse, enliven, quicken, animate, invigorate

The idea was that, on a diet of vegetables, once feels more alive, quickened, animated and invigorated.

The word 'Vegetable' is also derived from vegeto and -ābilis ... something that is "able to live and grow".

Rose Hill Chapel, Bolton: The Dumplingites

Rose Hill, Oldham, was the meeting-place of a vegetarian society, who were nicknamed the Dumplingites.  They were regarded as Socialists.  The building was then used by Wesleyans, and in 1841 was acquired by the Mawdsley Street congregation for a Sunday school; in 1864 a school chapel was erected, and in 1870 a separate church was constituted; Nightingale, op. cit. 41.

Townships: Great Bolton, A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 5 (1911), pp. 243-251. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=53037&strquery=vegetarian  Date accessed: 13 January 2011.]

Sir Richard Phillips (1767-1840)

Sir Richard Phillips (1767-1840) was a London publisher, proprietor of the Monthly Magazine, and a confirmed vegetarian.

Here's a bit you won't yet find in wikipedia - from "The Northern Heights of London: Or Historical associations of Hampstead, Highgate, Muswell Hill, Hornsey and Islington" by William Howitt in 1869....  (roughly my own summary)

As a boy he was brought up by his uncle, a brewer in Oxford Street.  He had a dislike for the trade and was determined to make his own tracks.  He became an usher at a school in Chester.  Then he was a schoolmaster in Leicester - and owned a small hosiery shop there.  He wanted to run a newspaper however... and thought of ways to achieve this.  As a result he began the 'Leicester Herald' - with republican principles - via which he met his chief writer, Dr Priestley.  He also became a bookseller, and the paper was printed at the bookshop.

This was the time of "Rights of Man" by Thomas Paine.. and magistrates went from town to town hunting out the book in bookshops for its radicalism... they collected the books and burned them.  Richard Phillips was condemned for selling the book and was sent to Leicester Gaol for 12 months.

His experiences with his local townsfolk disgusted him... he felt his ideas were too liberal... and so he moved to London and started the 'Monthly Magazine' - which he edited for many years.  In 1807 he was elected on of the Sheriffs of London, and when presenting an address to the corporation of London he was knighted.

Sir Richard Phillips was convinced once that he had disproved the laws of Sir Isaac Newton.  He delved deeply into the laws of the universe than most philosophers and theologians.  His ideas were not popular... he drew on ideas of Euler (from Letters to a Princess (1763)).

He was also vegetarian... the author Howitt met him and asked him to stay for dinner - on which Sir Richard announced he never ate meat:

"'Don't make any alteration in your arrangements for me, ' said the vegetarian knight, 'I see a very good first course before me.'  There was a roast goose on the table, and a sauce-tureen of apple sauce.  With the greatest coolness in the world, Sir Richard took up the sauce, turned it all out upon his plate, and quickly dispatched it, pronouncing it very good.  With equal appetite and equal disregard of the wants of others, he made a vigorous attack on the rest of the vegetables, and raised our wonder at the digestive capacity of a then, to us, new animal of the granivorous order.  After dinner, Sir Richard  preferred his literary inquiries, and on certain books being named as the best sources, he begged to know whether we had them, and then to borrow them....  ... We had discovered that as he had, soi-disant, discovered new laws of nature, he had equally discovered new laws of morals and social intercourse.  Sir Richard was one of the 'Curiosities of Literature'."

-(Howitt, William - "Northern Height of London" 1869)

"In Park Row (renamed Hyde Park Row in 1939) the houses were larger than those in Mills's Buildings, with segmental bays facing the park.  They probably always had a higher social status, and the first occupants included a doctor of divinity, the Rev. John Trotter. Two notable occupants in the 1820s were the author, publisher and vegetarian Sir Richard Phillips, and Olive Wilmot, who styled herself 'Princess Olive' and claimed to be married to the Duke of Cumberland. According to the writer John Timbs (author of unrelated excerpt below), Phillips and Princess Olive were next-door neighbours, but in fact they both seem to have lived at No. 4, Phillips moving in after Olive's departure in 1829.

-'Knightsbridge North Side: Parkside to Albert Gate Court: High Row', Survey of London: volume 45: Knightsbridge (2000), pp. 42-46. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45901

According to the above, John Timbs has written more on Phillips than the below...

"Among the Pythagoreans of our time should be mentioned Sir Richard Phillips, who from his twelfth year conceived an abhorrence of the slaughter of animals for food ; and from that period to his death, at the age of 72, he lived entirely on vegetable products, enjoying such robust health that no stranger could have suspected his studious and sedentary habits.  Sometimes this Pythagorean principle was strongly enunciated ; as, when about to take his seat at a supper-party, perceiving a lobster on the table, he loudly denounced the cruelty of his friends' sitting down to eat a creature which had been boiled alive! and the offensive dish had to be removed.  Sir Richard often published his Reasons for not eating Animal Food ; his abstinence drew upon him the harmless ridicule of a writer in the Quarterly Review, observing that, although he would not eat meat, he was addicted to gravy over his potatoes."

-John Timbs, F.S.A. 'Things to be remembered in daily life' , publ: W. Kent & Co, London (1863) pg.94 (Accessed via: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=6tABAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA94)

From "Noctes ambrosianæ" (Vol. 2) - some quite amusing some words and spellings...

"North: I have some thoughts, James, of relinquishing animal food, and confining myself,.like Sir Richard Phillips, to vegetable matter.
"Shepherd: Ma troth, sir, there are mony millions o' Sir Richard Phillipses in the world, if a' that's necessary to make ane be abstinent frae animal food.  It's my belief, that no aboon ane in ten o' mankind at large pree animal food frae week's end to week's end.  Sir Richard Phillips, on that question, is in a great majority.
"Tickler: North, accustomed, James, all his life, to three courses - to fish, flesh, and fowl - would think himself an absolute phenomenon, or miracle of man, were he to devote the remainder of his meals to potatoes and barley bannocks, pease-soup, macaroni, and the rest of the range of bloodless but sappy nature.  How he would be laughed at for his heroic resolution, if overheard by three million strapping Irish beggars, with their bowels yearning for potatoes and potheen!
"North: No quizzing, boys, of the old gentleman.  Talking of Sir Richard Phillips, I am sorry he is no longer - to my knowledge at least - the editor of a magazine.  In his hands the Monthly was a valuable periodical.  One met with information there, now-a-days I, at least, know not where to look for - and though the Knight's own scientific speculations were sometimes sufficiently absurd, they, for the most part, exhibited the working of a powerful and even original mind.
"Shepherd: I agree wi' him in thinkin' Sir Isaac Newton out o' his reckon' entirely about gravitation!  There's na sic things as a law o' gravitation.  What would be the use o't?  Wull ony body tell me, that an apple or a stane wudna fa' to the grun' without sic a law?  Sumphs that say sae!  They fa' to the grun' because they're heavy.
"North: I also liked Sir Richard's politics.
"Shepherd: Haw!!
"North: He was consistent, James - and my mind is so constituted as always to connect together the ideas of consistency and conscientiousness.  In his criticisms of literature and the fine arts, he appeared to me generally to say what he thought the truth - and although sometimes manifestly swayed in his judgment on such matters, like almost all other men, by his political predilections, his pages were seldom if ever tainted with malignity, and on the whole, Dick was a fair foe.
"Tickler: He was the only editor, sir, that ever clearly saw the real faults and defects of Maga, and therefore, although he sometimes blamed, he never abused her."

-John Wilson (ed) - Noctes ambrosianæ (1854) - via Google Books

[Note: Sir Richard Phillips writings against the ideas of Sir Isaac Newton appear in the following:]
Phillips, Sir Richard, Twelve Essays on the Proximate Causes of the Phenomena of Nature developing new principles of Universal Causation, J&C Adlard, 1821
Phillips, Sir Richard, Four dialogues between an Oxford tutor and a disciple of the common-sense philosophy:relative to the proximate causes of material phenomena, Sherwood Jones & Co, 1824

Emanuel Swedenborg: Coldbath Fields and Spa Fields

This has been taken from "Coldbath Fields and Spa Fields" (see reference at bottom of post)

Great Bath Street, Coldbath Fields, where Topham, the Strong Man of Islington, exhibited his feats of strength in 1741, was built about 1725. 

At No. 26 in this street that extraordinary man of science and dreamer, Emanuel Swedenborg, resided towards the end of his life, and died there in 1772. A short sketch of this philosopher will not be uninteresting, as his works are still read but by few.

This great "seer" was the son of a Swedish bishop, and was born in 1688. As a child his thoughts turned chiefly on religion. At the University of Upsala the lad steadily studied the classical languages, mathematics and natural philosophy, and at the age of twenty-two took his degree as a doctor of philosophy, and published his first essay. In 1710 the young student came to London, when the plague prevailed in Sweden, and narrowly escaped being hung for breaking the quarantine laws. 

He spent some time at Oxford, and then went abroad for three years, living chiefly in Utrecht, Paris, and Griefswalde. He returned to Sweden in 1714 through Stralsund, which that valiant madman, Charles XII., was just then besieging. 

Introduced to the chivalrous king in 1716, he was made Assessor to the Board of Mines. During the siege of Frederickshall, Swedenborg "rendered important service by transporting over mountains and valleys, on rolling machines of his own invention, two galleys, five large boats, and a sloop, from Strömstadt to Iderfjol, a distance of fourteen miles. Under cover of these vessels the king brought his artillery (which it would have been impossible to have conveyed by land) under the very walls of Frederickshall." 

He now devoted years to the production of works on mathematics, astronomy, chemistry, and mineralogy. He retired from his office of assessor in 1747, and probably then returned to his theological contemplations, and became again a spiritualistic dreamer. He came from Amsterdam to London in 1771, and resided at Shearsmith's, a peruke-maker's, No. 26, Great Bath Street, Coldbath Fields, where he finished his "True Christian Religion." Towards the end of the year Dr. Hartley and Mr. Cookworthy visited him in Clerkenwell. "The details of the the interview, are not given, but we gather enough to show his innocence and simplicity, for on their inviting him to dine with them he politely excused himself, adding that his dinner was already prepared, which dinner proved to be a meal of bread and milk. 

On Christmas Eve, 1771, a stroke of apoplexy deprived him for a time of speech. Towards the end of February, 1772, the Rev. John Wesley was in conclave with some of his preachers, when a Latin note was put into his hand. It caused him evident astonishment, for the substance of it was as follows:

'Great Bath Street, Coldbath Fields, 1772.
'Sir,—I have been informed in the world of spirits that you have a desire to converse with me. I shall be happy to see you if you will favour me with a visit.
'I am, Sir, your humble servant, 'E. Swedenborg.'

"Wesley frankly acknowledged that he had been strongly impressed with a desire to see him, but that he had not mentioned that desire to any one. He wrote an answer that he was then preparing for a six-months' journey, but he would wait upon Swedenborg on his return to London. Swedenborg wrote in reply that he should go into the world of spirits on the 29th of the then next month, never more to return. The consequence was that these two remarkable persons never met."

Swedenborg professed to the last the entire truth of all his strange revelations of heaven and hell, and died on the day he had predicted to Wesley. After lying in state for several days at the undertaker's, he was buried in the Lutheran Chapel, Princes' Square, Ratcliff Highway, and his coffin lies by the side of that of Captain Cook's friend, Dr. Solander, the naturalist.  "In person, Swedenborg was about five feet nine inches in height, rather thin, and of brown complexion; his eyes were of a brownishgrey, nearly hazel, and rather small; he had always a cheerful smile upon his countenance. His suit, according to Shearsmith, was made after an old fashion; he wore a full-bottomed wig, a pair of long ruffles, and a curious-hilted sword and he carried a gold-headed cane. In diet he was a vegetarian, and he abstained from alcoholic liquors. He paid little attention to times and seasons for sleep, and he often laboured through the night, and sometimes continued in bed several days together, while enjoying his spiritual trances. He desired Shearsmith never to disturb him at such times, an injunction which was necessary, for the look of his face was so peculiar on those occasions, that Shearsmith thought he was dead."

['Coldbath Fields and Spa Fields', Old and New London: Volume 2 (1878), pp. 298-306. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45101&strquery=vegetarian Date accessed: 13 January 2011.]

Charles H De Wolfe

Notes from: "History of the press of Maine" edited by Joseph Griffin - (Brunswick):

The Oldtown Index was the only newspaper ever published in Oldtown, Maine. It was issued occasionally between 1848-49... It was managed mainly by Charles H. De Wolfe, an Englishman by birth.... "a man of peculiar notions in vegetarianism, free-love, etc..."

He didn't last long .. next he turned up in Oregon... where he carried on with a woman out of wedlock.. in front of the judge, Wolfe said he would get married to her and she to him... the judge married them there and then...

Wolfe died in California.

Notes from: The Bengal Catholic Herald (Calcutta, India), Saturday, October 25, 1851; pg. 236; Issue 17.

"The company (Vegetarian Society in London) were addressed by Charles H De Wolfe and Rev Metcalfe who have travelled 3000 miles from America to be present on this occasion."

see Meeting of the Vegetarians (in 1851)

Notes from: "Proceedings of the [Temperance] convention, held in New York, Sept 6 1853":

Charles H De Wolfe is a delegate from Old Town Temperance Society, Maine.

Dr Russell Thacher Trall also in attendance

Notes from: "The battle cry of freedom" by Samuel A Johnson:

"The Vegetarian Settlement Company was formed in the summer of 1855 with Charles H. De Wolfe of Philadelphia as president, Dr. John McLaurin as secretary, and Henry S. Clubb as treasurer.  It was proposed to form a settlement of vegetarians on the fantastic 'octagon plan,' whereby tracts two miles square were to be cut up into sixteen triangular farms, forming an octagon, with a village in the centre, and the corner triangles used as common pasture and timber land.  The Octagon Settlement Company formed..."

[Dr Russell Thacher Trall and Dr John McLaurin wrote a book together about potatoes. "The model potato: an exposition of the proper cultivation of the potato; the causes of its diseases, or "rotting"; the remedy therefor; its renewal, preservation, productiveness, and cooking", Times Print & Pub Co. 1872]

Notes from "The Water Cure Journal" - July 1855:

Vegetarian Company - Kansas

"This is the first instance on record of a spot on the earth's surface being consecrated to the "Vegetarian Principle" (the next memorable being Magna Grecia created by Pythagoras, the author adds... plus he mentions Epicureans, Brahmins...)

In England, Rev. William Cowherd adopted a vegetarian diet, and founded a denomination called the 'Bible Christians;' and that church has continued in the practice to this day.  There are 2 Societies in England and one in Philadelphia belonging to this church.

In 1840, James Pierrepont Greaves (a man of philanthropy), disciple of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (Swiss education reformer) founded the "Concordium" in Ham, Surrey (now Richmond) conducted strictly on the vegetarian diet.  "Many of the present Vegetarians in England received their dietetic instructions from this institution."  It was situated on a garden of 4 acres.  It was conducted for some years by Mr William Oldham - and broken up during his absence in 1847.  The difficulty was the cost of land...

The Kansas Vegetarian Company proposes to locate land in entirely new territory.  16 sq miles amongst 64 people.  160 acres to each settler.   Settlers initially live together in a boarding house whilst the houses are built.

By June there were 22 members of the company including (with 25 relatives):

James Adams (Blacksmith, Rahway, NJ); Henry S. Clubb (Reporter, Secretary, NY City)

William H Colt (Horticulturist, Hopkinton, NY); John Cooke (Farmer, Huron Co, Canada?)

Israel France (Farmer, Enterprise, Pa); Thomas Gibson (Shoemaker, Brookville, IN)

J. Milton Hadley (Teacher, Friends Mission KT); A. B. Hicks (Teacher/Farmer, Jelloway, O)

George Hobbs (Nurseryman, Hicksville, O); Jane Holloway (Marcellus, NY)

Samuel A Kingsbury (Baker, Providence, RI); William J McCown (Merchant, Richmond, IN)

J. McLaurin (Physician, Treasurer, Bytown, CW, WC); Charles Morley (Colporteur, Topeka KT)

William H Orr (Printer, NY City); W. W. Parminter, Jr (Farmer, Mt Vernon, OR)

Joseph Small (Shoemaker, Fergus, Wellington CO. CW); William Somerville (Weaver, Lonsdale RI)

J. H. Smith (Builder, Cerro Gordo, IN); Henry Voorhus (Farmer, Lodi, NY)

Lyman Wheeler (House Painter, Villenova, NY); Charles H De Wolfe (Gentleman, President, Philly)

Also... in this issue - it is the 6th Anniversary of the American Vegetarian Society - May 16th 1855

Meeting held in New York. (at rooms of Dr Trall's Hydropathic & Hygienic Institute)

President of the Association - Dr William A Alcott of Massachusetts in the chair.

Corresponding Secretary - Rev. William Metcalfe, M.D. 

Recording Secreary - Metcalfe .. in absence of Joseph Wright, A.M. of Penn.

Appointed as Committee on officers and other business:

  Charles H. De Wolfe, Esq; Dr John Grimes; Dr R. T. Trall.

Officers for following yr:   Vice Presidents:

Dr R. D. Mussey - Cincinatti, OH

Dr John Grimes - Boonton, NJ

Dr R T Trall - NY City

Rev David Lott - Lottsville, Penn

Rev Peter H Shaw - Greenfield CO

Charles H De Wolfe - Philly, PA

Dr J H Hansford - Nantucket, MA

Dr A W Scales - Harrodsburg, KY

Jonathan Wright, Esq - Philly, PA

Treasurer: James Horrocks, Esq - Frankford, PA

Recording Secretary: Joseph Wright, A.M., PA

Corresponding Sec.: Rev. William Metcalfe M.D., Kensington, PA

Letters read by Alcott and Metcalfe

Resolved: "That Vegetarianism is the 'Archimedian Lever' by which to move the world"

Resolved: "That we hail with pleasure the fact that there has formed, and is now existing a 'Vegetarian Kansas Emigration Company'"

Resolved: Corresponding Secretary should collect $1 annual membership per member.

Evening:... speeches... by

Shaw, Alcott, Mr Henry M. Parkhurst, Metcalfe, De Wolfe, Rev Mr Avery, Dr Trall, Clubb.

From "Went to Kansas: being a thrilling account of an ill-fated expedition to that fairy land, and its sad results : together with a sketch of the life of the author, and how the world goes with her" by Miriam Davis Colt - 1862

Jan 5th 1856 - We're off to Kansas!

"The Vegetarian Company that has been forming for many months, has finally organized, formed its constitution, elected its directors, and is making all necessary preparations for the spring settlement.

The directors of the company are : Charles H. DeWolfe, President; John McLaurin, Treasurer; Henry S. Clubb, Secretary.


Clubb says in his circular: "In September last, Dr John McLaurin, as one of the directors, proceeded to explore Kansas Territory, and after spending several weeks in travelling along the Kansas, Osage, and other rivers, he came to the conclusion that a fine site on the Neosho river, between latitude 38 deg and the boundary line of the Osage Indian lands, and between 18 and 19 deg longitude west from Washington, would be the best location for the Vegetarian Settlement."


Clubb writes - Mar 26th 1856 - W. H. Colt. Dear Sir, come now.. bring little luggage...


They arrive but nothing has been built up... there is no shelter - they have to make do as best they can... for months whilst they sow the crops and build the houses.

Nothing more for now on De Wolfe...

Joseph Brotherton M.P. for Salford - Vegetarian Society 1847

Joseph Brotherton created a Vegetarian Society in 1847 in Ramsgate by popular demand.  He was a Member of Parliament for Salford and a vegetarian for 42 years (in 1851).

[Fact: Joseph Brotherton was born in Whittington, nr Chesterfield, Derbyshire in 1783;
he married Miss H Harvey in Whittington in March 1806; 

William Harvey is his brother-in-law and partner in Brotherton, Harvey and Co. ]

The following are notes from an French article that appears in: The International Magazine of literature, art, and science - Vol. 4, Aug-Dec 1851  (The article itself is from the Paris Journal des Debats - so bear in mind the tone is from a Frenchman in the 19th century observing vegetarians... :-) ...)

The Meeting of the Vegetarians in 1851

Joseph Brotherton is the president of the society.  There were about 400 people present.  Equal numbers of men and women.  Many children.  Many Quakers.  There was a banquet of Vegetarians.

Banquet included:    Little pies of mushrooms, Toasted bread and parsley, Rice cakes, blanc mange, cheese tarts, and all sorts of pastry.
Desert composed of raspberries, cherries, and preserves.
With Tea, milk, coffee, and iced water.

After dinner.. speeches.

The president of the Vegetarians, then, quoted Genesis ("and god said - Behold I have given you every fruit-bearing seed.." and so on ... which can be countered by following verse 28... anyway)...

Then on to Economy and Health... politics... according to the 'Vegetarians', society will not be regenerated until all men shall live on parsley and tapioca : "a reform in eating and drinking shall precede all others.  For", said Brotherton, "a man who, from conscientious motives, shall abstain from the slaughter of animals, will not be guilty of murder of his fellow creatures."

Economy... the Vegetarians are decided free-traders - decided partisans of direct exchange... (umbrella schemes alive in 1851...)  The Vegetarians call for the abolition of intermediaries and for direct consumption.

As for health... the advantages of the Vegetable System [related to Sir John Hill's book of the same name?, z] are presented to us under the most encouraging colours.

The chairman of the Vegetarians, Mr Brotherton... is a living proof of the healthiness of vegetarianism "and he affirms that it suits him."  There was also in the meeting an American [I know this is Charles H De Wolfe, z]... from Philadelphia and who had belonged to the fraternity for 40 years - who had 21 grandchildren none of whom could be made to eat meat...  There is a magistrate, there is an alderman, there are 21 medical men (there for the sake of experiment), 10 members of the clergy, ... and 50 lawyers, 26 merchants, 11 fundholders, 371 workmen, .. in all 718 ... 512 men and 205 women...

The Vegetarian Guest

By Alfred Fellows

from Macmillan's Magazine, 1:9 July 1906, pg. 670

11 pages about how to deal with a vegetarian guest in the early 1900s - things have not changed that much in 100 years!

Classification that Alfred proposed (although he admits a person may fall under two headings) - 

Vegetarian - abstains from poultry, fish, game, butchers meat .. for humanitarian motives

Inclusive (or Simple) Vegetarian - may eat cheese, milk, butter, maybe eggs.

Eggs-clusive (his spelling) Vegetarian - the above but no eggs

Non-Purin Vegetarian - A patient at Dr Alexander Haig's school of medicine - eats peas, lentils, mushrooms, eggs, and asparagus.

Literal (or Strict) Vegetarians - no animal products (nor let themselves be bullied into eating meat or products from animals.

Fruitarians - (this word existed in 1906?) - do not eat garden root vegetables - only fruit, nuts, cereals - some include milk, butter and cheese (call them Mixed Fruitarians? he wonders)

Occultists and Mystics - (jokingly?) those who only eat fruit and nuts and refuse food over which the fire has passed.  (raw foods)

Food Suggestions:

• Make the guest's food look as close to other guests' food as possible, so as to not draw attention to his diet.
• If serving fish, butterbean fritters could be made to look like fried sole.
• Haricot chop - lentil steak
• Savouries of peas, beans, or lentils
• A chestnut dressing
• use Cocoa-nut butter in puddings for fruitarians

"Another urgent counsel, - and once more, against preconceived notions -- rather give the vegetarian too little than too much of his special dishes.  The very foolish error that a vegetarian requires a sloppy diet of four times the bulk that a 'sensible person' takes dies hard, and leaves as a legacy the impression that he requires at least four times more food than the unconverted.  If he was so ill-advised as to try subsisting on potatoes and cabbages, probably he would; but on diet judiciously chosen he requires not more, but usually less than other people.  The old mistake lingers even in vegetarian restaurants."

Roger Crab (1620-1680) - the vegetarian hermit from Stepney

I have found a few books written by Roger Crab on Google Books... regarding his diet of roots and herbs...  I cannot see the content...

Some of his story has been reprinted in 1813 by E.F. Mengel... and later by James Caulfield and James Granger...

ROGER CRAB

The account of this singular character is chiefly comprised in the title to his life, which is reprinted in "Morgan's Phoenix Brittannicus," and runs thus.

The English Hermit, or the Wonder of this Age; being a Relation of the Life of Roger Crab, living near Uxbridge, taken from his own mouth, shewing his strange, reserved, and unparalleled kind of Life, who counteth it a Sin against his Body and Soul, to eat any sort of Flesh, Fish, or living Creature, or to drink any Wine, Ale, or Beer. He can live with Three Farthings a Week. His constant Food is Roots and Herbs; as Cabbage, Turnips, Carrots, Dock-Leaves, and Grass; also Bread and Bran, without Butter or Cheese. His cloathing Sack-cloth. He left the Army, and kept a Shop at Chesham, and hath now left off that, and sold a considerable Estate to give to the Poor; shewing his Reasons from the Scripture: Mar. x. 21. Jer. xxxv.—Wherefore if Meat make my Brother to offend, I will eat no Flesh while the World standeth," &c. 1 Cor. viii. 18.

For while 'twas flesh it held a guest,
With universal love possest;
A soul that stemm'd opinion's tide,
Did over sects in triumph ride;
Yet separate from the giddy crowd,
And paths tradition had allow'd.
Through good and ill report he past
Oft censur'd, yet approv'd at last-;
Wouldst thou his religion know,
In brief 'twas this: to all to do
Just as he would be done unto.
So in kind Nature's laws he stood,
A temple undefiled with blood,
A friend for ev'rything was good.
The rest angels alone can fitly tell,
Haste then to them, and him, and so.

Dr. Cheyne, who was an advocate for the vegetable diet, and mentions the longevity of some of the ancient ascetics of the desert, who lived on that kind of food, probably never heard of this strange humourist or if he did has passed him over in silence as a madman, who seems to have destroyed himself by eating bran, grass, dockleaves, and such other trash as was comprehended within his pious plan of living for three farthings a week. If Crab had resided in France or Italy, he would indubitably have retired to the monastery of La Trappe.

He probably died in London, as the following memorial of him is preserved in the church-yard of St. Dunstan, Stepney:

"Here remains all that was mortal of Mr. Roger Crab, who entered into eternity the 11th day of Septemb. 1680, in the 60 year of his age.

Tread gently, reader, near the dust

Committed to this tomb-stone's trust"