Historic Happenings Blog

Sunday, March 15 -- Hunterdon County Hunterdon County Historical Society Program Focuses on History of Early Medicine in New Jersey with Dr. Gary Grover FLEMINGTON -- Cayenne pepper enemas to treat lung diseases? Swallowing ground glass to treat gastro-intestinal disorders? Chewing tree bark to shake the shivers? Each of these treatments was considered legitimate at the time, but did any of them work? Dr. Gary Grover knows the answers and will share with you the results of years of research into early medical treatments and drug discoveries in New Jersey.  The talk will be presented during the Hunterdon County Historical Society’s spring meeting on Sunday, March 15 at 2 p.m. at the Flemington Presbyterian Church, 10 East Main Street. The meeting is free, and everyone is welcome to attend. Light refreshments will be served.     A cardiovascular pharmacologist, Dr. Grover is a professor of pharmacology and toxicology at Rutgers Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy and ...

Sunday, June 9 – Somerset County Save the Date for a visit with an  18th-Century Surgeon-Dentist      Let us be clear: George Washington did not have wooden teeth. However, he did have dental problems through most of his adult life, as did many 18th-century folk of both high and low social class. There were no regular visits to dentists, with tooth brushing and flossing in between at that time.  There weren't even dentists as we know them today. Dentistry was only just evolving as a separate profession through the eighteenth century. Barber-surgeons or surgeon-dentists provided many more services than our modern dentists. Toothbrushes were somewhat new, but rare for most people to use or even own. Germs were an unknown entity.      On Sunday, June 9 at Rockingham, Marjory Wienkop will be in residence in the Dutch barn with a display of colonial-era surgeon-dentist instruments, related objects and much information on the real story of who took...