Historic Pelham

Thursday, August 16, 2018

Statue Based on Portrait from Life of Soldier Who Was With the Marblehead Mariners as a Private During the Battle of Pelham

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The Battle of Pelham fought during the Revolutionary War on October 18, 1776 began early that day as British and German troops landed from barges and ships in Eastchester Bay and came ashore along the western edge of Pelham Neck. Soon the troops began marching along portions of today's City Island Road and onto today's Shore Road. It appears that the first shots fired were from New Rochelle based militia who fired a few warning shots from near today's Glover's Rock. See Fri., Jul. 01, 2016: Evidence the Battle of Pelham May Have Begun at Glover's Rock After All.

The British and German troops proceeded along Shore Road to the entrance of today's Split Rock & Pelham Bay Golf Club and turned onto Split Rock Road that once ran across the area and now follows on (and along) portions of the golf cart path that passes beneath the Branch Line Railroad Overpass near the course. American skirmishers met and temporarily halted the British and German troops on today's Split Rock Golf Course as Colonel John Glover of the famed Marblehead Mariners deployed various regiments behind stone walls to slow the advance of the enemy troops. The British and German troops planned to cut across the mainland and cut off General George Washington and his Continental Army as they escaped from upper Manhattan toward White Plains.

For much of the day, the Americans fought a delaying action as they engaged in a fighting retreat along Split Rock Road toward Boston Post Road. (The retreat followed the Split Rock Road, a section of which no longer exists due to construction of the Split Rock Golf Course and Interstate 95, both of which lie atop portions of the battlefield.) The Americans fought the delaying action as they retreated along Split Rock road and fanned out across Prospect Hill, headed toward (and onto) today's Wolf's Lane toward the old Boston Post Road (today's Colonial Avenue).

When the Americans reached the old Boston Post Road (Colonial Avenue), they turned westward. Because they earlier had torn up the planks of the bridge across today's Hutchinson River, the Americans forded the creek near today's Town of Pelham Public Library where Colonial Avenue crosses the Hutchinson River. The Americans set up cannons on a nearby hill and began shelling the British and German troops who stopped without chasing them across the tiny river. The British and German troops camped for the night along both sides of today's Colonial Avenue and shelled the American cannon emplacement all night with little effect.

One of the 450 or so American Patriots who was with the Marblehead Mariners led by Col. John Glover at the time of the Battle of Pelham was a Private named John Rhodes Russell (occasionally misspelled "Roads"). Russell was a son of Lewis Russel and Mary Savage Russel. He was born in about October 20, 1728 and was christened on December 6, 1730 in Marblehead, Massachusetts.

John Rhodes Russell married Miriam (occasionally spelled "Meriam") Rhodes on October 17, 1751 in Marblehead, Massachusetts. The couple had at least two children, a daughter they named Tabitha Rhodes Russell and a son they named John Rhodes Russell, Jr. (Thus, the father is often referenced, as on his tombstone, as John Rhodes Russell, Sr.)

During the Revolutionary War Russell rose to the rank of Captain. After the War Russell returned to Marblehead where he lived until his death on May 20, 1811. He is buried in the Unitarian Cemetery in Marblehead, Essex County, Massachusetts. An article published in The Boston Globe in 1892 provided details regarding Russell's service during the Revolutionary War. It stated, in part:

"As told by Gen. Stryker, the battle monument which is to be erected at Trenton is to be adorned by a statue of John Roads [sic] Russell, who was a private in Col. Glover's regiment of Marblehead fishermen. The Massachusetts Legislature appropriated $2500 last winter for this purpose.

Private Russell was born at Marblehead in 1754 [sic]. He enlisted in Glover's regiment in 1775. He was with the regiment all through its famous career. He helped ferry the army across the East river on the retreat from Battle Hill in Greenwood.

At Pelham Neck they held the British army at bay during the evacuation of New York. In crossing the Delaware he took a conspicuous part. At Saratoga under Arnold they led in the brilliant charge against the enemy, and convoyed Burgoyne's captured army through Massachusetts.

After the war he entered the foreign merchant service. While he was in France he had his portrait painted on porcelain. This portrait is now in the possession of his only living daughter, Mrs. Lyon, and is probably the only picture in existence of any of Glover's men. . . ."

Source: NATION'S FATE DECIDED -- Anniversary of the Famous Battle at Trenton -- New England Club Celebrates the Event at Christmas Banquet -- Gen. W. S. Stryker of New Jersey Eulogizes Bay State's Sons, The Boston Globe, Dec. 25, 1892, p. 9, cols. 4-7 (Note: Paid subscription required to access via this link).

The "portrait painted on porcelain" of John Rhodes Russell, described in The Boston Globe as "probably the only picture in existence of any of Glover's men" is significant for a rather interesting reason. It was used to create one of the statues unveiled with the Trenton Battle Monument unveiled on October 19, 1893 to commemorate the American victory at the first Battle of Trenton on December 26, 1776.

Just as Private John Rhodes Russell guarded the liberty of Americans during the Battle of Pelham on October 18, 1776, today his statue guards the base of the Trenton Battle Monument and, hopefully, will for eons.

Trenton Battle Monument Located at 348 North Warren Street,

Trenton, New Jersey, 08625. The Life-Size Statue of John Rhodes

Russell May Be Seen at the Lower Left of the Base, Holding a Rifle

That is Resting with the Butt of the Stock Near the Feet. NOTE:

Click on Image to Enlarge.

Magnified View of John Rhodes Russell Statue at

Trenton Battle Monument.

"PRIVATE JOHN RUSSELL. OF GLOVER'S REGIMENT

14TH MASS.). (Portrait from life -- Statue on the Trenton

Battle Monument.)" NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

Tombstone of John Rhodes Russell Erected in the Unitarian

Cemetery in Marblehead, Essex County, Massachusetts.

NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge and Read Inscription.

Labels: 1776, 1811, Battle of Pelham, Battle of Pell's Point, Col. John Glover, John Rhodes Russell, Revolutionary War, Split Rock Road, Trenton Battle Monument

Thursday, April 05, 2018

Report of Use of Skullcap Herb as Folk Remedy to Treat Rabies in Pelham Manor in the Early 19th Century

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During the first years of the 19th century, Pelham was a very rural place. The Town, created by Act of the New York State Legislature in 1788, encompassed not only its present territory, but also all of today's Pelham Bay Park and islands in Long Island Sound including City Island. Its population was a little more than 200 souls. Nearly the entire region consisted of farmland and self-sustaining estates and orchards where produce was grown to sustain families and to sell to the nearby New York City markets.

Physicians, of course, were few and far between. Moreover, the state of medicine at the time was little better than medieval times and nothing like the modern medical industry on which we rely today.

Even in Pelham, folk medicine based on oral traditions rather than rigorous scientific practices (typically using indigenous plants as traditional "cures" or "remedies") was the rule. Additionally, for some ailments there really were not yet effective treatments. That left traditional folk medicine as the only hope for the afflicted.

One of the most horrific and gruesome afflictions for which there was no meaningfully effective remedy at that time was rabies, also known as hydrophobia. In the early 19th century, rabies cases virtually always resulted in death. Indeed, it was not until 1885 that Louis Pasteur and Émile Roux developed the first effective rabies vaccine and used it for the first time on a human to save the life of nine-year-old Joseph Meister who had been mauled by a rabid dog. Indeed, not long after the ground-breaking work of Pasteur and Roux, a Pelham woman bitten by a rabid dog hustled overseas to be treated by Pasteur. See Thu., Aug. 10, 2017: Bitten by a Dog Showing Rabies Symptoms, Pelham Woman Traveled to Europe to See Pasteur.

According to one newspaper account published in 1811, a small "mad dog" infected with rabies rampaged through a home in Pelham Manor (as the region often then was called) in about 1806 and bit twelve members of the same family. The same dog also bit two hogs at the same time. Fearing rabies, the hogs were locked away and, indeed, reportedly died of hydrophobia.

With no meaningful alternative, the twelve Pelham residents reportedly were treated with a folk remedy. They were administered an herb referenced as "scullcap." The herb actually is referenced colloquially as "skullcap," a member the genus "Scutellaria" that includes flowering plants in the mint family Lamiaceae. According to one source: "The generic name is derived from the Latin scutella, meaning "a small dish, tray or platter," or "little dish," referring to the shape of the calyx. The common name [i.e., skullcap] alludes to the resemblance of the same structure to "miniature medieval helmets." Source: Scutellaria in Wikipedia -- The Free Encyclopedia (visited Apr. 1, 2018).

The version of Skullcap used to treat such cases of hydrophobia in the early years of the 19th century in America typically was Scutellaria lateriflora. Although there seems to be no known scientific basis to believe that this Skullcap is the least bit effective in treating rabies, the plant is known to demonstrate "anxiolytic activity" in humans, meaning it can inhibit anxiety -- certainly some small benefit for anyone bitten by a rabid dog and facing likely death at the time.

In 1811, a civic-minded citizen wrote to a New York newspaper to reveal for the benefit of "all who may have the misfortune to be bit by a mad dog" what he believed to be a closely-guarded secret known only to a few physicians in the region. The "secret" was that skullcap was an effective treatment for rabies. In support of his contention, the gentleman claimed:

"Among many others the following deserves special mention. About five years ago, if my memory serves me, a mad dog at Pelham Manor, being a small favourite, and running about the house, bit no less than 12 persons, in one family; to these the scullcap [sic] was administered by Lewis, without delay, and no one ever experienced the least inconvenience; two hogs in the neighborhood, were also bit by the same dog, at the same time, which were shut up, but nothing was administered; both of them went made and died of the hydrophobia."

Research has revealed no account of the mad dog incident that the man claimed occurred in Pelham in about 1806. Either the account was fabricated or twelve members of a single Pelham family experienced a modern miracle and survived the bite of a mad dog . . . . .

An Example of One Plant Referenced as a Skullcap,

Scutellaria Pekinensis. Source: Wikipedia. NOTE:

Click on Image to Enlarge.

* * * * *

"Mad Dogs. -- From the morning papers we learn that several persons have lately been bitten by mad dogs in this city. A number of cows, hogs and horses have been bitten, some of which have died with hydrophobia.

I feel it to be my duty to inform the public on this occasion, and I hesitate not to take upon myself the responsibility of doing so, that all who may have the misfortune to be bit by a mad dog, may be certain of a cure, by application to Mr. Jesse Lewis living in Mamaroneck, county of West Chester. His father, who is now dead, obtained the knowledge of the remedy, from a Dr. Vanderveer, an elderly physician of New Jersey, many years since, and for a trifle made the secret known to Mr. Robert Bowne, of this city: it is the plant commonly called scullcap [sic], if timely administered, that is, any time before the appearance of hydrophobia, has never been known to fail. The editor has the less hesitation in confidently recommending this remedy to the public because striking instances of its success have fallen within his personal knowledge. Among many others the following deserves special mention. About five years ago, if my memory serves me, a mad dog at Pelham Manor, being a small favourite, and running about the house, bit no less than 12 persons, in one family; to these the scullcap [sic] was administered by Lewis, without delay, and no one ever experienced the least inconvenience; two hogs in the neighborhood, were also bit by the same dog, at the same time, which were shut up, but nothing was administered; both of them went made and died of the hydrophobia.

A more particular account of the virtues of the herb called scullcap [sic], with an engraving of the plant, may be found in the Med. Repertory published in February last. -- New York Evening Post."

Source: Mad Dogs, The Raleigh Minerva [Raleigh, NC], Jun. 14, 1811, Vol. 16, No. 793, p. 4, col. 3.

Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.

Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.
Order a Copy of "Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak."

Labels: 1806, 1811, Disease, Dog, Hydrophobia, physician, Rabid Dog, Rabies

Historic Pelham

Thursday, August 16, 2018

Statue Based on Portrait from Life of Soldier Who Was With the Marblehead Mariners as a Private During the Battle of Pelham

Thursday, April 05, 2018

Report of Use of Skullcap Herb as Folk Remedy to Treat Rabies in Pelham Manor in the Early 19th Century

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