THROUGH
MOUNTAIN MISTS
Early Settlers of
Their
Descendants...Their Stories...Their Achievements
Lifting the
Mists of History on Their Way of Life
By: Ethelene Dyer Jones
Sarah Evaline
Souther Dyer and some old-fashioned
remedies
My grandmother, Sarah Evaline
Souther Dyer
(1857-1959) was considered a "Granny Woman." Among other things, she
had a knowledge of herbal medicine, she was a mid-wife, and she
compounded
formularies that could relieve some of the illnesses that beset her own
large
family and others in the surrounding Choestoe community where she
lived.
Some of my cousins and I have
often
wondered what happened to her hand-written remedies that she referred
to
faithfully as she boiled up soothing teas and recommended old-fashioned
remedies to the country folk living round about her. Then, sending for
a doctor
was not always an option in the years in the 19th and early 20th
centuries when
she lived and practiced her folk knowledge.
Did she get the knowledge from
her mother
or grandmother and aunts who got their information from the Cherokee
Indians
who once lived on the land these early settlers occupied? Maybe so. Or
perhaps
the remedies were passed down, generation to generation, from their
European
roots as early American settlers with names like Collins, Souther,
Hunter,
Dyer,
I can remember as a child when
we visited
Grandma Sarah's house that faced Brasstown Bald Mountain, we children
would be
warned not to "touch or play with" Grandma's roots that hung on pegs
to dry on the back porch of her house. These were drying in order to
make her
medicines to help sick people. I often wondered how the strange,
twisted roots
could possibly aid people. Did they have to swallow portions of them in
order
to become well? My best plan, I thought, was to stay well and healthy
so I
could avoid such monstrous-looking roots being crushed up and forced
into my
body in dark, bitter teas. Little did I know then that the teas Grandma
knew
how to make were the antidotes for many an ailment, and highly welcomed
by her
neighbors.
Take, for example, ginseng,
known better to
our mountain forebears as 'sang. The ginseng root was harvested from
the
mountains where it grew wild in the olden days. How it got from its
native
Nowadays, because the plant is
still in
great demand, growers are cultivating it. The plant takes about six
years to
mature and grows up to two and one-half feet in height. It has a yellow
taproot, resembling a carrot but with more prongs. It is the root that
is
beneficial for medicinal purposes, and was one of the roots I saw as a
child
drying on pegs on my Grandmother's porch.
Ginseng as a tonic is believed
to aid the
heart and circulatory system. It also is a balm for the brain and aids
in
concentration, even among the aged with dementia or what we currently
call
Alzheimer's disease. Ginseng boosts the immune system and is held by
many to be
an aphrodisiac (sexual stimulant). Ginseng in various forms can be
found
nowadays in health food stores.
This is not my Grandmother's
formulary for
Ginseng Tea but one I found by researching folk remedies. I might urge,
"use with caution." If ginseng tonics are taken for more than three
months or in higher dosages than recommended, sleep disturbances,
restlessness
or anxiety can result.
Ginseng Tea: Pour 1 cup boiling
water over
1 teaspoon of grated ginseng. Steep for 10 minutes and strain. This tea
will
sharpen concentration, even in the elderly.
Ginseng Tonic: Take 20 to 30
drops of
ginseng tonic (from a health food store) daily to prevent heart
disease. If you
have low blood pressure, this tonic can stimulate blood flow. Beware of
using
it if your blood pressure is high already.
Ginseng for the
Ginseng as a Food Supplement:
Sprinkle a
pinch of grated ginseng over your soup or food. This is as effective as
buying
the more expensive commercial ginseng soup.
As the familiar saying goes,
"We've
come a long way." But with Medicare, Medicaid, and the more recent
Medicare D for prescription drugs that give us a headache when we
present our
"non-approved" on the "formulary" prescriptions for
filling, we could wish we knew what our grand and great-grandparents
knew about
making do with what they had. It must have worked then. My Grandmother
Sarah
lived to be within two months of 102 years of age.
[Ethelene Dyer
Jones is a retired educator,
freelance writer, poet, and historian. She may be reached at
e-mail edj0513@windstream.net;
phone 478-453-8751; or mail 1708 Cedarwood Road, Milledgeville, GA
31061-2411.]
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