Dr. Hale’s Home Remedy and Recipe Book

Dr. Hale’s Home Remedy and Recipe Book

This unique handwritten book was found in a collection of books left to me by my grandmother.  The book refers to J. H. Hale, Lucy H. Hale in Cass County, Michigan, and also Wallace A. Hale, Fannie E. Hale and B. F. Hale, Ann Arbor Michigan. There is a date in it of Aug. 17, 1846 concerning a rental agreement of $35.00 per year between Philip Wears and B. F. Hale. Also there was a date of 1848 for Housel’s Washing Solution, and another 1863. Like many script books of this era, it reflected the life of the individuals who used this book for their livelihood. An archivist from Michigan State University told me that because this book would have been almost used daily by this doctor, it is rare to find one in this condition. It is likely this book came from the lumberman’s house in Lewiston my grandmother owned years ago, inherited from her uncle Elmer Thompson. 

It would be interesting to have a doctor evaluate some of these cures. Some of them seem quite nasty, poisonous, or painful. 

After 25 years of searching, I found a reference to the Hale family. Lucy Hale’s father Nathaniel Wallace was an aide to George Washington during the Revolutionary War. This is from a history of Calhoun County published in 1913. It is apparent that Walter F. Hale, son of the authors of this book, owned a farm near my great-great uncle Elmer Thompson in Clarence Township near Albion, Michigan. I have speculated how this book came into the possession of grandma’s uncle Elmer. Since they were neighbors, I suspect that he borrowed the book and never returned it, just like one of the “little cusses” Wallace referred to in the beginning of the book.  Here are the references to the book: Hale Family History A  Hale Family History B

I have had an opportunity to meet one of the descendants of the Hale family, Lois Reid, and she has another book like it. Her book is referenced on page 16 of this book. Wallace Hale was a doctor in Ashley, Michigan, and she said that she had Wallace’s doctor’s bag until someone in her family accidentally got rid of it.

This book was donated to the Archives of Michigan on November 28, 2018, and is available for the public to view there. We have now published a print version of this book where we have transcribed each handwritten page onto a facing page. We have also indexed the ingredients and diseases listed in this book.

NOTE: The spelling below is the way it appears in the book. Recipes of particular interest are highlighted in bold

Dr. Hale Book

Poison for Rats…Steal Not This Book, You Little Cusses… Genuine Whigs; Cookies; Another;
Wafers; Jumbles
This Book is full of Usefull Knowledge to the Oner Cookies; Nut Cake; Muffins; Number Cake, Rusks
This Book contains 361 Receipts Measure Cake; Little Cake; Sponge Cake; Plum Cake
Mr. Book: If thou art Borrowed by a friend… Crockers; Ginger Bread; Fruit Cake; Puff Paste; York Bisket
Read slowly, pause frequently, Think seriously… Whip Sillabub; Common Loaf Cake; Icing for Cake
Cure for the Canker; Vegetable Powder
Note: The code at the bottom of the page is used elsewhere in the book!
The Real John Bull Pudding; Cookies Again; Harrison Cake
Wallis Cough Med Cream Cake; Sunderland Pudding; Pound Cake; Kings Cake; Indelable Inke
Vegetable Bitters To Colour Green; Pound Cake (will keep 1 year); Pudding
Vegetable Ointment; Vegetable Syrup for Disentary Bird’s Nest Pudding; Gingerbread; Cider Cake
Worm Syrup; Dysentary Bread; To Cure Warts; Soft Gingerbread; Cookies; French Loaf
Cough Emulsion; Sore Eyes Imitation Oysters; To Clean Gloves; Good Custard
Lee’s Pill; Quick Pill No. 1; Ague Pill; Ague Pill
Note: Coded ingredient translates to Arsenic
To Clean Bed Ticks
For Cornes; Palmonary Mixture To Extract Greace Spots
Venerial, Alias Clap; Spruce Beer To Make Sweet Cider; To make Paper Liquid Blacking
Diarhoea; Hiera Picra; Cough Drops Mead; To Make Cream Nectar
Spruce Beer; Itch Ointment; Compound Balsam Housel’s Washing Solution Patented July 7, 1848
g o x Medicine; Cure for Gravel; Good for the Itch; Ague Bitters Medicated Indian Oil
For bots & Belly ache in Horses; Itch Ointment; Medicinal or Root Beer Shure cure for stifle in horses
Rhumatic Liniment; Black Salve To take Mildew out of linen; To set fart colours in calico and other goods; To perfume clothes & prevent moths; Cheap Paint; To cure hams
Best Adhesive Plaster; Rx Fever & Ague Water Proof for Leather; Valuable Eye Water; ChillBlains; To Banish Mosquitous
Ammenagogue; For Gonorrhoea or Clap How to cut an aquaintance; Brandy Rect; Adhesive Plaster; Cough Med.
My Emetic Eye Matter; For the Croup; Staining Guns
Diarrhoea or Bowel Disease; Carbonated Beer; Ginger Beer For the Croup; Dropsy; Gran Salve
Pill Pargantia; Ice Cream Note this Ice Cream Recipe! Mather’s Stomach Bitters or Cordial; My Bathing Drops
Ice Cream (continued); Corn Meal Cakes Phloridzine; To remove pimpels from the face

Hale’s best linement; Eye Matter Gonnorhoea
Tooth Ache; My best linament; Neuralgia For Tape Worm; Plaster for Tape Worm; Excellent Cologne Watter; Carminature or Infant Cordial
Cancer Plaster Worms – a good vermafuge; Cough Med
Diptheria; Rheumatic Liniament Lip Salve; For Cough; Eye Wash; To remove films; Sticking Salve
Itch Ointment; Fit Drops for Epilepsy; Healing Salve Dr. Hale’s Cholera Syrup; Black Linneament
Blue Cohush – its properties and uses; Cough Balsam; Fir Balsam Pomade for restoring the hair; Nervine and Carminitive Balsam
Linneament; Cough Powders Conklins Salve; Lord’s Salve; Cholera drops; For infection in Leucorrhoea Gonnorrhea
Worm Lozenges Pain Killer
Rheumatic Linneament; For the lungs Cough Colyrium or Eye Matter; Diarrhoea Colera morbus
Cholera Med; Grand Ague Med; Cornes Salt-Rhume Ointment; Emmenagogue
Black Salve; Cologn Water Spice Bitters; Cutaneuous Cancers; Comp tinct Camphor
Green Salve – Good; Sweet tinct Rheubarb; Lucys last cough med Pery Davises Pain Killer; Kitridge nerve Ointment; Bone Linneament
Hydrophobia; Diarrhoea; Annother Scrofula Pill; Com tinct Camphor Rheumatic Drops or Pain Killer
Allerative for C Harts little child; Dr. Hale’s stomach bitters or cordial Chill Blains; Dr. Allens Cholera Suryp
Dr. Hale’s Sameritan Lineament Comp Ointment Phamonium; Compound Wine of Comfry
Mother’s very exelent med for pain in bowels and stomach; Discutient Ointment Flowers benzian jr Syrup; Nerve and Bone Linneament
Spasmodic Hackts; Syrup for the lungs Dyspeptic Powders; Cutaneous Ointment
Dysmenorrhea or painful Menstration Lavendar Matter; Rosemary Mix; Palpitations
Dr. Hale’s best and last liver pills; Cough Medicine Bitters; Ointment for the eye; Cough Drops
Dysenteric Med Cordial; Ague Pills, My Last Cough Drops; Cough Powders
White Liquid Physic; Powerful nerveine;Gonerrhoea Infection For Cholera, Cholera Morbouse; Plaster; Linneament for People
Gonorrhoea; Bleeding of the lungs; Fever Sores Sure cure for Hydrophobia; Cornes; For Piles
Stomach Cordial; Eruption on the face Hellenium Balsam; For Neuralgia
Liver Powders; Liver Drops Cholera Med; Keitridge Nerve Ointment;To Prepare Soap; Female Weakness
Simple Cerate; Rheumatic Tinet Salve; Rheumatism Tinct
Rheumatism;
Linneament for Sprains, Bruses Strains, Rheumatism, Neuralgia and for all
the cases where a linneament can be useful; Vermafuge
Kitredge’s Ointment; For dysintery Dyarrehoea 
Cement for Cistens; Godrey’s Cordial; Wallace’s Cough Medicine
Quinzy; Cologne;
Remedy called Cureall

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