- TRAVEL "Hot springs 1903 rip c Bowditch Brothersto Virginia of * Charles P. Bauditch. (1242-1921) 1, 0 Henry P. Bowditch (1840-1911) EXPENSES OF TRIP TO VIRGINIA, May 11-27. [1903] Paid by C.P.B. * G.B.D. H.P.B. C.P.B. Washington: dinner and fees, 2.40 1.20 1.20 to station, 1.- .25 .75 to Arlington, 3. 1.50 1.50 Drawing- room car to Charlottesville, 1.50 .50 .50 .50 Tillman,16th, dinner, 2:-- .66 .67 .67 ? 17th, 2.- .67 .66 .67 Oranges, .50 Rope, .22 Fees through 17th, 1.60 2.32 .77 .77 .78 Greenville, 8.50 Fairfield, 2.50 Fees, .50 11.50 3.84 3.83 3.83 Lexington; hotel, 10. horses and driver, 6.75 oranges and fees, .55 17.30 5.76 5.77 5.77 Natural Bridge: hotel, 27.25 shoeing, 1.30 fees, 1.10 29.65 9.89 9.88 9.88 Daggers Springs ; 9. Clifton Forge, 4.50 Fees, .45 13.95 4.65 4.65 4.65 Healing Springs, 10. 11 " fees, .50 10.50 3.50 3.50 3.50 Hot Springs, H. &c C. 8. 4.- 4. horses and boys + Express 14. 4.66 4.67 4.67 Bath Alum, H.& C. 2. 1. 1.-- horses, etc. 3. 1. 1. 1. Millboro Springs, 4. 2. 2. horses, etc. 4. 1.34 1.33 1.33 Z Wilsons, H.& C. 1.- .50 .50 horses, etc 2.25 .75 .75 .75 Presents to boys, 6.-- 2.-- 2.-- 2.-- Fairfield, H.2 C., 2.75 1.37 1.38 horses, etc. 4.-- 1.33 1.33 1.34 Stanton; hotel, .4.-- fees, etc. .70 4.70 2.35 2.35 152.82 42.77 54.03 56.02 Paid by H.P.B. Charlottesville: hotel, (13.50 4.50 4.50 4.50 Afton, 27.75 ( 9.50 3.17 3.16 3.17 0 Fare to Stanton, 1.50 .75 .75 Stanton drive, 3.25 1.63 1.62 180.57 50.44 64.07 66.06 Pd. to C.P.B.b by G.B.D.cash, 20. " " H.P.B.as above, 27.75 " " C.P.B. as above, 152.82 less fr.G.B.D. 20. 132.82 Due C. P. B. 30.44 + 36.32 = 66.76 1/3 C.H. moorshire 127.50 45.06 45.07 1/3 Expenses has have 7.70 135.20 7550 81.39 Acct for Virgini. Trep Pd by check CPB 6/3/1403 2020 . Medicinal Springs of Virginia in the 19th Century I Taking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of VirginiaTaking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of Virginia HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS AT THE CLAUDE MOORE HEALTH SCIENCES LIBRARY MEDICINAL SPRINGS OF VIRGINIA MATERIC Minimula Six us OF WILTERN IN THE 19TH CENTURY made Springs of Virginia in the 19th Century Blue Springs Dauger's Springs (Dibrell's Sprangi WHITA Su phur U.S. Spring Red Sulplur Sprin des See origin Sweet Chatybe The Springs hits.hsl.virginia.edu/springs/introessay/ 1/12 Medicinal Springs of Virginia in the 19th Century I Taking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of VirginiaTaking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of Virginia Edward Beyer's print of Hot Springs from the Merritt T. Cooke Memorial Virginia Print Collection, 1857-1907, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library. This exhibit showcases a number of original nineteenth- Suppur THE century letters and documents, housed in Special MINERAL SPRINGS Collections, University of Virginia Library, that relate to WESTERN VIRGIXIA; the 11 springs (Warm, Hot, Sweet, Red-Sweet, White Sulphur, Red Sulphur, Salt Sulphur, Blue Sulphur, Daggers' or Dibrell's, Rockbridge Alum, and Fauquier White Sulphur) that Dr. William Burke wrote about in the second edition of his book, The Mineral Springs of Western Virginia. Dr. Burke's book was entered into the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York in 1842 and published in 1846, four years after the first edition. This is the first book purchased with the Weaver Family Endowed Rare Book and Medical Materials Fund, created in honor and The title page to Burke's 1846 edition of memory of Edgar Newman Weaver, M.D., Evelyn The Mineral Springs of Western Virginia Richards Weaver, and David Delmar Weaver, M.D., by which has been scanned in its entirety Margaret Carr Weaver Crosson, Evelyn Dabney Weaver and is part of the University of Virginia Dwyer, and Edgar Newman "Wink" Weaver, Jr., M.D. digital text collection. {1} The book is housed in Historical Collections, The Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, University of Virginia. William Burke, whose book provides the starting point for this exhibit, was the owner of Red Sulphur Springs in what is now Monroe County, West Virginia. He first visited these springs in 1829 as an invalid. He purchased them in 1832 and transformed the property both by replacing the small, windowless cabins with spacious and conveniently arranged buildings and also by removing trees to permit the sun to reach what had previously been a gloomy gorge. According to Henry Huntt who recorded his visit to the Red Sulphur in 1837, the servants were "prompt and obedient," and the ginia.edu/springs/introessay/ 2/12 Medicinal Springs of Virginia in the 19th Century I Taking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of VirginiaTaking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of Virginia dining table was "abundantly supplied with every variety of viands that can tempt the appetite." {Huntt, 19} In The Mineral Springs of Western Virginia, Burke writes that he "surrendered possession of the property by a deed or contract recorded in the County Court of Monroe," moved to Richmond, and in early 1842 divested himself "of every residuary interest in the estate." {Burke, 169} While no longer an owner by the time his second edition was published in 1846, it is clear that he continued to have ties to these springs, and he gave precedence to the Red Sulphur in his book, devoting more than one third of The Mineral Springs of Western Virginia to this particular spring. Dr. Burke also wrote The Mineral Springs of Virginia. The preface to his first edition, published in 1851, states that he chose to re-write his first book and issue VIRGINIA MINERAL it as a new work. He admits, "In the course of the REMARKS 0% THE former publications, I became involved in controversies DISEASES to WHICH TEET BE APPLICABLE and personalities, as foreign from my taste and disposition as they were uninteresting to the public. ABLE These and other irrelevant matters I have discarded or ROUTES AND DISTANCES NEW from the present work." Indeed, his main antagonist in Brian Chican, walls enlarged his first book is Dr. J. J. Moorman, a fellow author and resident physician at the White Sulphur Springs. Ten percent of Dr. Burke's 1846 volume, The Mineral Springs of Western Virginia, is devoted to his disagreement with Dr. Moorman concerning the effectiveness of White Sulphur Springs' water that no longer contained "sulphuretted hydrogen gas." The title of Burke's 1853 edition, The Inflammatory statements present in Burke's first book Virginia Mineral Springs, allowed him to are removed from his reworked 1851 volume. For include springs from all of Virginia not example, this caustic 1846 assessment of Dr. Moorman just the western part. {2} is excised: "His facts are without foundation in truth; his arguments puerile and shallow; his theories untenable; his absurdities ridiculous; his motives palpable and culpable; and his efforts to bolster up a selfish practice, a gross imposition." {Burke, 172} With a second edition of The Mineral Springs of Virginia, newly titled The Virginia Mineral ledu/springs/introessay/ 3/12 2020 Medicinal Springs of Virginia in the 19th Century I Taking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of VirginiaTaking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of Virginia Springs, in 1853, Burke was able to do what he had hoped to do in the first edition. He visited the eastern group of the Virginia springs and included chapters on Jordan's White Sulphur, Shannondale, Berkeley, Orrick's Sulphur, and Capon Springs as well as inserted additional information on springs written about earlier. Dr. Burke was married and had at least one daughter and one son. Grace Fenton Hunter visited the Red Sulphur Springs for over a month in 1838 and mentioned Dr. B., presumably Dr. Burke, and Mrs. Burke a number of times in her diary. Hunter described Mrs. Burke, with whom she exchanged numerous visits, as a "kind" and "sensible woman, talkative, and more agreeable than the generality of persons." She also wrote that Mrs. Burke and her daughter played music and sang. In the introduction to his small book, Red Sulphur Springs, Monroe County, Virginia, published in 1860, Dr. Burke stated that the professional experience at the Red Sulphur of his son, Thomas J. Burke, totaled 18 years. William Burke was still visiting the establishment in the late 1850s as Red Sulphur Springs has several testimonial letters that placed the writers and Dr. Burke at these springs in the summer of 1859. As William Burke makes clear, the Virginia springs were a destination for both the invalid and the vigorous. Some sought healing from an array of diseases. Every malady from indigestion and bronchitis to consumption, paralysis, and "diseases peculiar to females" had its sufferers seeking a cure by "taking the waters. Dr. Burke expounds on the incongruity of the juxtaposition of those desperately seeking a restoration of health and those at the springs for the sake of entertainment or socializing. "The invalid, pale, emaciated, and wretched, may be seen there at almost every hour, waiting till the giddy dance of the gay and volatile, who came there merely to gratify 'a truant disposition," shall leave the waters free for him to drink and be healed. The feverish flush, the hectic of consumption, the tottering gait of rheumatism, the wasted form of the dyspeptic, may all be observed in contrast with the ruddy glow of manly health, the free elastic step of youthful vigor, the gay smile of unpained hearts, and the loud laugh of mirth that knows not even the check of another's sufferings." {Burke, 1846, p. 133} Reputable physicians attested to the healing aspects of the various mineral waters. Thomas D. Mütter, Chairman of the Department of Surgery at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia called the Salt Sulphur "one of the most valuable of our remedial agents" in a range of diseases {Mutter, jits.hsl.virginia.edu/springs/introessay/ 4/12 2020 Medicinal Springs of Virginia in the 19th Century I Taking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of VirginiaTaking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of Virginia 19} Henry Huntt, a personal physician to Presidents James Monroe, John Q. Adams, and Andrew Jackson, extolled the virtues of Dr. Burke's Red Sulphur Springs. SALT SULPHUR SPRINGS, Drs. James L. Cabell and John S. Davis, both Professors in the medical school at the University of Virginia, gave OSUEVE The an endorsement for the mineral water from Rockbridge Alum Springs as useful in myriad diseases. Cabell, also a resident physician at the Hot Springs, authored a treatise on the value of the thermal baths on disorders as varied as deafness and rheumatism. Dr. William Beverly Towles, Professor of Anatomy at the University of Virginia, cared for patients at the Hot Springs as evidenced by his Case Book for 1885. The letters from Special Collections reflect a range of Dr. Mütter's book was written after he spring experiences and expectations. Written to family visited the Salt Sulphur for health and friends they probably give a more truthful reasons. {3} assessment of the waters than the resident physicians and property owners or the testimonials they solicited. Some of the letters are very encouraging. Burl Fretwell writes that he brought a woman, probably his wife, home from the Alum Springs, and a cough of two years duration had finally cleared up. John McLaughlin attests to the benefits of the springs and says his health is better than it had been for many months. James D. Wood, writing from his third spring in three weeks, declares that his general health is "greatly improved." Other writers are hopeful but describe mixed results in terms of their health at the springs. Randolph Harrison thought he was recovering at the Alum Springs, but then came down with a fever that "took all the starch out of me." After spending a month at the Red Sulphur, Grace Fenton Hunter writes in a letter that she has "gained flesh, and also strength," but her diary entry for the same day states that she "read and worked as usual, but feeling badly did little of either." R. T. Hubard at the White Sulphur corresponds with his wife indecisively, "I spent one week at the Sweet Springs and returned here yesterday morning. The Sweet Spring water & bath improved my health, I think, a little, tho not pits.hsl.virginia.edu/springs/introessay/ 5/12 2020 Medicinal Springs of Virginia in the 19th Century I Taking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of VirginiaTaking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of Virginia much. Indeed I fear that my health will not be greatly improved by my trip." J. S. Martin writes, "I had perceived no benefit (or very little) from the Water here." His letter from White Sulphur mentions hope four times, including, "I feel that I shall improve now & hope my next [letter] may be more cheerful." Some correspondents realize their health has definitely not improved at the springs. John Minor feels worse at the Hot Springs and considers himself to be "much weaker & more reduced than I ever was before." Edmund Randolph tries the Warm Springs for his paralysis to no avail. Till enjoys the baths at the Warm Springs but asks a granddaughter of Thomas Jefferson about the pain in her breast, says she herself suffers from it, and declares, "I was not improved by my excursion, I have been sick almost constantly since I came home and my cough is worse than it ever has been. Sometimes I think, at least I am afraid that I am quite in bad health." Thomas Jefferson's visit to the Warm Springs in August 1818 covers a wide range of experiences. He describes the bath as "delicious" and within a week calls the spring with the Hot and Warm "of the first merit." He also presumes that the "seeds of his rheumatism" are "eradicated." But the passing of another week brings an alarming occurrence. He tells his daughter, "I do not know what may be the effect of this course of bathing on my constitution; but I am under great threats that it will work it's effect thro' a system of boils." Indeed, he claims that he suffers "prostrated health from the use of the waters" with abscesses, fever, sweats, and extreme debility. In December his summer visit still finds its way into a letter, "my trial of the Warm springs was certainly ill advised. for I went to them in perfect health, and ought to have reflected that remedies of their potency must have effect some way or other. if they find disease they remove it; if none, they make it." Many who went to the baths were not seeking improvement in their health but visited to enjoy various amusements that included gaming, drinking, dancing, carriage rides, horseback riding, and ten-pin alleys. This is reflected in the receipts for White Sulphur Springs in 1860 showing substantial sums collected for the bar and the shooting gallery. Some hoped to meet their future spouse while enjoying the waters R. T. Hubard upon seeing Randolph Harrison at the White Sulphur Springs suspects Harrison is "in pursuit of a wife." This birds-eye view of the White Sulphur, published in 1859, shows the location of the bath house and several springs, but also the winding paths through the grove of trees south of the creek with names hits.hsl.virginia.edu/springs/introessay/ 6/12 Medicinal Springs of Virginia in the 19th Century I Taking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of VirginiaTaking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of Virginia such as Lovers Walk, Lovers Leap, Lovers Rest, Way to Paradise, Courtship Maze, Acceptance, Rejection, and Hesitancy. Elizabeth Noel attests to the flaunting display of the guests at the White Sulphur when she writes her daughter, "I was in the parlor one night, it gave me the ache to see so much promenading, & so much finery The bell[e] of the place is a Mrs. Vivian from the south, she dresses very fine, but dont wear hoops, there is every kind of dress & ever[y] kind of fashion here. James D. Wood declares in a letter that the Red Sweet Springs is an "exceedingly pleasant place" where his Dr. Moorman's birds-eye view of White party has "made many pleasant acquaintances" and Sulphur shows the romantically named "had an agreable trip." Other visitors found the social walking paths and lists the names of 20 scene at the springs less than satisfactory. John Minor people who had their own cottage. {4} writes from the Hot Springs about suffering "solitary & alone cooped up in a little room 10 feet square." In her private diary, Grace Fenton Hunter declares, "Nothing could be more monotonous than the time spent here," and indicates she is bored at the Red Sulphur with the "same routine of walking to the spring, working a little, talking a little, or rather a great deal, frequently reading a little, and speaking to passing acquaintances." R. T. Hubard informs his wife from the White Sulphur that in spite of the presence of the President [Martin Van Buren] of the United States and other eminent men, he finds the place "as dull and uninteresting to me as possible." Hubard describes the Virginia springs as not only dull, but also offensive and perilous. He calls the White Sulphur "that sink hole of extravagance, gambling & vice for many young & unmarried men." He hopes his sons will only go the springs for their health and that "Heaven in its mercy" will "guard & defend them from all the evil, the seductive & corrupting influences of those dull, disagreeable and dangerous places." Thomas Jefferson was disappointed to find "little gay company" at Warm Springs in 1818 and expected to "pass a dull time." When he decided to yield to the general advice irginia.edu/springs/introessay/ 7/12 2020 Medicinal Springs of Virginia in the 19th Century I Taking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of VirginiaTaking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of Virginia of a three week course, it was not because he was enjoying himself. Rather, he wanted "to prevent the necessity of ever coming here a 2d time," because "so dull a place, and distressing an ennui I never before knew." Proprietors of the springs realized that the difficulty of travel to remote locations hampered their business. In 1818 Thomas Jefferson described being "aggravated by the torment of long & rough roads." Twenty years later Grace Fenton Hunter wrote that her companion, "is just getting over the fatigue of the journey, which was enough to make a well person sick, much more invalids." In the first half of the nineteenth century, dirt roads or trails were replaced by plank roads and paved roads. Carriages and stage coaches supplanted the necessity of arriving on foot or horseback. By mid century railroad lines headed west with the result that many springs could be reached by rail and then a short journey by stage. Like other mid-nineteenth-century books about the MAP springs, Dr. Burke's second edition of The Mineral MINERAL SPRINGS Springs of Western Virginia includes a map of routes and distances to the various establishments from other parts of Virginia as well as between the various springs themselves. It was important to show how one would get from one spring to another as visitors often went to more than one, seeking a change in venue or eager to try waters credited with different advantages, depending on temperature and chemical Map of Routes & Distances to the Mineral analysis. John McLaughlin's letter written in the Springs of Western Virginia {5} summer of 1814, when travel would have been difficult, mentions his time at the White Sulphur, Hot, and Warm Springs, and declares his intention to visit the Sweet Springs. Grace Fenton Hunter spends six weeks at the Red Sulphur after making stops at the White Sulphur, Warm, Hot, and Salt Sulphur Springs. Dr. J. J. Moorman's book, The Virginia Springs, gives a synopsis of travel routes within Virginia and slightly beyond. He includes not only distances but also the methods of conveyance: railroad, stage, jits.hsl.virginia.edu/springs/introessay/ 8/12 020 Medicinal Springs of Virginia in the 19th Century I Taking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of Virginia Taking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of Virginia canal boat, and steamboat. Thomas Jefferson also compiled his own personal mileage chart from Staunton to Warm Springs and rated taverns and inns along the OF way as very good, middling, or very bad. Several received a very good ranking with the caveat "if sober." The Civil War had a devastating effect on the springs. Instead of being locations for a summer retreat in the mountains, they were often sites of destruction. Dr. J. H. Hunter was appointed Inspector of Hospital Property at The Hot, Warm and Healing Springs in December 1861 and was instructed to report on damaged, missing, and stolen property. Occupied by both armies, some of the buildings at Fauquier White Sulphur Springs were damaged or destroyed by shelling. Pell Manning writes Synopsis of Routes {6} about fighting around those Springs and states that the hotel once able to accommodate 3000 people was "one mass of ruins 'from turret to foundation stone. All that was left of the Blue Sulphur Springs after the conflict was the pavilion over the springs. Some of the resorts never recovered from the war while others took years to wade through the resultant financial upheaval. The Hot Springs was the subject of a case in the Circuit Court of Albemarle a decade after the 1858 death of the owner, Dr. Thomas Goode. Being "unproductive, deserted, far off from the world and the military centres, in a valley open to military raiders, deserters and stragglers" the property was sold by Goode's executors for less than its debts. The University of Virginia Library has numerous White Sulphur Springs documents concerning liens, debts, creditors, and failed Confederate bonds. G. W. Lewis wrote about the insolvent condition of White Sulphur in February 1867 and its deleterious effect on the estate of Robert Wormeley Carter. Jeremiah Morton, a Director of the White Sulphur Springs Company, solicited help from the federal court in October 1873 as the property had nine liens on it and had sold all its furniture and stock on hand in 1861 for confederate bonds which proved a total loss. However, the White Sulpher Springs was the beneficiary of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway as it was the only spring that could claim s.hsl.virginia.edu/springs/introessay/ 9/12 Medicinal Springs of Virginia in the 19th Century I Taking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of VirginiaTaking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of Virginia direct rail service with the first train arriving in 1869. The THE GREAT CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO RAILROAD! OPENED BETWEEN NICHMOND AND HUNTINGTON The Only Direct Line from RICHMOND to CINCINNATI and the WEST! Epiport Hist Time Lating these and the Filmmi Scripto in the Warm Springs, Men's Bathhouse, Photo by Janet Pearson, 2009. with emil the WEST by the CONNEOTIONS twenty-first century finds the eleven springs written about by Dr. Burke in vastly different conditions. The White Sulphur Springs and the Hot Springs are the The Great Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad! Greenbrier and Homestead resorts respectively. Both This 1873 pronouncement shows the White are luxury vacation destinations with three Sulphur Springs' depot. Its places of interest include six more springs in Burke's championship golf courses and elegant book reachable by stage coach. {7} accommodations. The Warm Springs, now called the Jefferson Pools, are part of the Homestead and offer the same rustic bathing that Thomas Jefferson experienced in 1818. The men's bath house is the oldest spa structure in Virginia and the one Jefferson used. The Rockbridge Alum Springs complex is a Young Life summer camp. The Red Sweet, Salt Sulphur, and Sweet Springs all have structures that have survived in various states of repair. Plans to restore the buildings at Sweet Springs and reopen as a resort have been halted. One guest house can be rented at Salt Sulphur. Of the Blue Sulphur, only the Grecian temple pavilion remains. The structures associated with the eight springs just mentioned are on the National Register of Historic Places. The Fauquier Springs irginia.edu/springs/introessay/ 10/12 Medicinal Springs of Virginia in the 19th Century I Taking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of VirginiaTaking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of Virginia Country Club is located on the site of the old Fauquier White Sulphur Springs. No buildings are left at Dagger's Spring. This is also true of Dr. Burke's beloved Red Sulphur whose buildings were torn down during or after World War I. See the Springs in a Google map with recent photos. Blue Sulphur Springs Pavilion, Photo by Janet Pearson, 2009. IMAGE CREDITS: {1} William Burke, The Mineral Springs of Western Virginia, New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1846: title page. Historical Collections & Services, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, University of Virginia. {2} William Burke, The Virginia Mineral Springs, Richmond: Ritchies & Dunnavant, 1853: title page. Historical Collections & Services, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, University of Virginia. {3} Thomas D. Mütter, The Salt Sulphur Springs, Monroe County, Virginia, Philadelphia: T.K. & P.G. Collins, 1840: title page. Historical Collections & Services, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, University of Virginia. {4} John J. Moorman, The Virginia Springs, and Springs of the South and West, Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1859: facing title page. Historical Collections & Services, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, University of Virginia. {5} William Burke, The Mineral Springs of Western Virginia, New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1846: facing title page. Historical Collections & Services, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, University of Virginia. {6} John J. Moorman, The Virginia Springs, Richmond, Va.: J. W. Randolph, 1857: p. XV. Historical Collections & Services, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, University of Virginia. {7} N. J. Watkins, ed., The Pine and the Palm Greeting, Baltimore : J. D. Ehlers' & Co.'s Engraving and Printing House, 1873: fold out between pages 52 and 53, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library. SOURCES: William Burke, The Mineral Springs of Western Virginia, New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1846. William Burke, The Mineral Springs of Virginia, Richmond: Morris & Brother, 1851. edu/springs/introessay/ 11 020 . Medicinal Springs of Virginia in the 19th Century I Taking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of VirginiaTaking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of Virginia William Burke, Red Sulphur Springs, Monroe County, Virginia, Wytheville: D. A. St. Clair, Printer, 1860. William Burke, The Virginia Mineral Springs, Richmond: Ritchies & Dunnavant, 1853. Henry Huntt, A Visit to the Red Sulphur Spring of Virginia, during the Summer of 1837, Boston: Dutton and Wentworth, 1839. Thomas D. Mütter, The Salt Sulphur Springs, Monroe County, Virginia, Philadelphia: T.K. & P.G. Collins, 1840. Previous: Home / Next: Blue Sulphur Springs © 2007 Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia ADMIN I LOG IN its.hsl.virginia.edu/springs/introessay/ 12/12 2020 Warm Springs I Taking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of VirginiaTaking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of Virginia HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS AT THE CLAUDE MOORE HEALTH SCIENCES LIBRARY WARM SPRINGS BATH COUNTY, VIRGINIA 300 Erginia III the 19.1 All who have described this noble fountain, write with enthusiasm; nor is it indeed to be wondered at, for the world may well be challenged for its equal. Its Blue Sulphur Springs temperature, buoyancy, refractive power, transparency - all invest it with Dagger's Springs (Dibrell's Springs indescribable luxury to the feelings and to the sight. William Burke Fauquier White Sulphur HOL Springs Reg Sulphur Springs Per Sweet Spring> tweet its.hsl.virginia.edu/springs/warm/ 1/9 Warm Springs I Taking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of Virginia Taking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of Virginia Edward Beyer's print of Warm Springs published in 1857. {1} WILLIAM BURKE ON THE WARM SPRINGS. The Warm Springs, later called the Jefferson Pools, are only five miles from Hot Springs and located in the aptly named Bath County of Virginia. Legend has it that a young Indian traveling more than 200 years before the printing of Burke's book happened on the spring when he was weary and dispirited. Coming upon the narrow valley filled with water, he first tasted, and then plunged into, the warm waters. Refreshed and invigorated, he continued his trek the next day successfully reaching his destination. Whether this tale is true is debatable, but it is accepted that the waters were used both for bathing and therapy in the later part of the eighteenth century. In the western area of Virginia, Warm Springs and Sweet Springs were the first two springs to be visited by great multitudes. The brick hotel associated with the springs had accommodations for about 100 people and offered good fare. Burke found the establishment clean and neat with "servants among the best in Virginia." The octagonal bath house was forty feet from angle to opposite angle and five to six feet deep with a gravelly bottom. The day was divided into two hour periods with men and women alternately inia.edu/springs/warm/ 2/9 Warm Springs I Taking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of VirginiaTaking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of Virginia occupying the pool. A white flag flew when women were taking the bath. The 96 degree water was plentiful enough that if the bath was drained, it could be replenished in 15 minutes to an hour. Nearby springs, one also warm and another cold, were used for drinking. Children and the "more aged and infirm" used another smaller bath. BURKE'S RECOMMENDATIONS FOR USING THE WATERS AT WARM SPRINGS. Burke included a lengthy article about Warm Springs published in the Southern Literary Messenger in 1838. The article indicated that the analysis of the water by Professor William Rogers from the University of Virginia showed that the gas bubbling up was mainly nitrogen with small amounts of sulphuretted hydrogen (hydrogen sulfide) and carbonic acid These same gases were found within the water as well as salts including magnesium sulfate or Epsom Salts. These salts and gases worked as gentle diuretics and THE WASK ####### laxatives. The Messenger paper indicated that the waters were not a panacea in all cases and that the The Warm Springs as drawn by Porte baths were best avoided by those with a high fever or Crayon in 1857. {2} a full stomach, but had been effective in dyspepsia of long standing, chronic rheumatism, and paralytic afflictions especially if the patient bathed in the water and drank the water for a period of time. Calling the Warm Spring bath "one of the greatest subjects of curiosity in Western Virginia, Burke also cautioned about the "sunny side of the picture" and wrote, "... it is necessary that the traveller should know there is danger in the indulgence. Experience, fatal in some cases, has taught this fact." He proceeded to explain that the nitrogen in the lovely bubbles rising to the surface of the spring had the potential to cause "great distress in the pulmonary apparatus." Burke was careful to write springs/warm/ Warm Springs I Taking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of VirginiaTakir the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of Virginia that most people could enjoy and benefit from the bath and included the Messenger paper so that readers could judge for themselves the various merits and dangers. THOMAS JEFFERSON AND WARM SPRINGS. Thomas Jefferson was at Warm Springs in August 1817 and saw the need for a resident physician to attend those seeking healing at the various springs. Anticipating men like Dr. Burke at Red Sulphur Springs, Dr. Moorman at White Sulphur Springs, and Dr. Goode at Hot Springs, he wrote, "it would be money well bestowed could the public employ a well educated and experienced physician to attend at each of the medicinal springs, to observe, record, and publish the cases which recieve benefit, those recieving none, and those rendered worse by the use of their respective waters." {Jefferson} With the hope of helping his rheumatism, " tried once to-day the delicious bath and shall do it Thomas Jefferson revisited Warm Springs in twice a day hereafter but little gay company here at 1818. His initial assessment of the effect of the this time, and / rather expect to pass a dull time." spring water was positive but his visit led to near-disastrous results. On August 4, he wrote his daughter, Martha Jefferson Randolph, "Every body tells me the time I allot to the Springs is too short. That 2. or 3. weeks bathing will be essential. I shall know better when I get there." {Betts and Bear, 423} Three days later Jefferson wrote Martha that he had journeyed by horseback to the springs and had "tried once to-day the delicious bath and shall do it twice a day hereafter." He described the table as well kept and the other guests numbering about 45, "but little gay company here at this time, and I rather expect to pass a dull time." {Betts and Bear, 424} One week later on August 14, 1818, Jefferson wrote his daughter that he continued to bathe so dull a place, and distressing an ennui / never for 15 minutes three times a day and presumed before knew. the spring with the Hot and Warm are that the seeds of his rheumatism were those of the first merit. The sweet springs retain esteem, but in limited cases." eradicated. He decided to yield to the general advice of a three week course. He wanted "to prevent the necessity of ever coming here a 2d time" because, "so dull a place, and distressing an ennui I never before knew." While he found little to enliven his time, he did write, "the spring with nia.edu/springs/warm/ 020 Warm Springs I Taking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of Virginia Taking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of Virginia the Hot and Warm are those of the first merit. The sweet springs retain esteem, but in limited cases." {Betts and Bear, 425} The tone of his letter on August 21st changed "A large swelling on my seat, increasing for several substantially. He wrote his daughter, "I do not days past in size and hardness disables me from sitting know what may be the effect of this course of but on the corner of a chair." bathing on my constitution; but I am under great threats that it will work it's effect thro' a system of boils. A large swelling on my seat, increasing for several days past in size and hardness disables me from sitting but on the corner of a chair. Another swelling begins to manifest itself to- day on the other seat." {Betts and Bear, 426} Jefferson's letter of September 12, 1818 to Dr. Thomas Cooper stated that he had returned from the Warm Springs several days earlier though not in the condition he had hoped but instead "in prostrated health, from the use of the waters. Their effect, and the journey back reduced me to the last stage of exhaustion; but I am recovering." He explained his brevity in writing as a result of not being able to sit erect due to pain. Library of Congress, 3 On October 6, 1818, Jefferson wrote to Colonel William Alston who must have its.hsl.virginia.edu/springs/warm/ 5/9 2020 Warm Springs I Taking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of VirginiaTaking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of Virginia provided some "gay company" to Jefferson during his visit to the springs as he was sending Alston wine and hoping for him to visit Monticello. He tells the colonel, "I became seriously affected afterwards by the continuance of the use of the waters. They produced imposthume [abscess], eruption, with fever, colliquative [profuse] sweats and extreme debility. These sufferings, aggravated by the torment of long & rough roads, reduced me to the lowest stage of exhaustion by the time I got home. I have been on the recovery some time, & still am so; but not yet able to sit erect for writing." Library of Congress, 3 On December 27, 1818, Jefferson wrote John Jackson that he appreciated the kind interest Jackson had concerning Jefferson's health and claimed, "my trial of the Warm springs was certainly ill advised. for I went to them in perfect health, and ought to have reflected that remedies of their potency must have effect some way or other. if they find disease they remove it; if none, they make it. altho' I was reduced very low, I may be said to have been rather on the road to danger, than in actual danger." its.hsl.virginia.edu/springs/warm/ 6/9 0 Warm Springs I Taking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of VirginiaTaking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of Virginia Library of Congress, 3 Thomas Jefferson was not the only member of his family to visit the springs in western Virginia. On July 31st, 1795 Jefferson wrote his daughter, Martha Jefferson Randolph, "We have no letter from you since your arrival at the Warm-springs, but are told you are gone on to the sweet springs." {Betts and Bear, 134} Presumably Martha's spring visits had happier results than her father's later visit. Thomas Jefferson's table of mileages from Warm Springs, Virginia, to Staunton, Virginia, rates taverns and inns as very good, middling, or very bad. Several are ranked very good with the caveat "if sober." {4} DOCUMENTS FROM THE SMALL SPECIAL COLLECTIONS LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Diary by John Baylor, 1805: Baylor's diary includes visits to various springs and notations of mileage, expenses, and lodging. isl.virginia.edu/springs/warm/ 7/9 2020 Warm Springs I Taking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of VirginiaTaking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of Virginia Letter from John Baylor, 1805: Baylor describes his physical condition and his visit to the "Sulphur Springs" the day before. Probably referring to White Sulphur Springs, he writes that the springs' buildings are constructed of logs and the offensive smell of the water is like "a dirty Barrel of a gun." Diary of Alexander Dick, 1806: Dick mentions log huts; the smell of the copious spring; 50 to 60 people with attendant servants, horses, and carriages; one man who slept in the springs at night; and a near drowning. Letter from Edmund Randolph to Doctor Joshua E. R. Birch, October 10, 1810: This former governor of Virginia seeks advice for help with his paralysis which his trip to the Warm Springs did not alleviate. Letter from Till [Matilda Palmer]? 1833: Till writes Thomas Jefferson's granddaughter that she was initially alarmed at Warm Springs' strong sulphur smell, smoke, and rumbling noise, but became accustomed to it and enjoyed the bathing. The excursion did not improve her health which she fears is quite bad. Letter from Wm. W. Harvie, 1853: As guardian of the children of the recently deceased Dr. Brockenbrough, Harvie wants to buy the Warm Springs stock not already owned by the Brockenbrough estate. Diary of Philip St. George Cocke, 1853: Cocke mentions people he has met at Warm Springs in a diary that also discusses the early history of the Warm Springs Company. Letter from the Medical Director of the Army of West Virginia, 1861: Dr. Hunter is instructed to inspect and inventory hospital property at the Healing, Hot and Warm Springs. Letter from Robert E. Lee, 1866: Lee writes Professor Venable that he is taking his wife to the Rockbridge Baths and possibly to Warm Springs. Commissioners' sale of the Warm Springs, 1871: This broadside advertises the Warm Springs as the "Paradise of watering places." Charter of the Warm Springs Valley Company, [1890]: The Charter states the purposes of the Company is to include acquiring, improving, and operating the Warm, Hot, and Healing Springs. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form: This form for the Warm Springs is dated April 23, 1969. It includes the history and significance of the springs, a description of the two bath houses, one map, and a bibliography. National Register of Historic Places, Warm Springs bath houses: The National Register has a brief summary of places in Bath County, Virginia. National Register of Historic Places bath house photo: View a photo of the men's bath house. "Springs Time" by Lisa Provence: This Washington Post article describes the delights of the pools at Warm Springs. Jefferson Pools Warm Springs Bath County Virginia: View interior and exterior photos of the baths. Jefferson Pools: The current owner's official Web site gives a history of the Jefferson pools (Warm Springs). bits.hsl.virginia.edu/springs/warm/ 8/9 020 Warm Springs I Taking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of VirginiaTaking the Waters: 19th Century Medicinal Springs of Virginia Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia: In Jefferson's section titled "Productions mineral, vegetable and animal," he includes information about medicinal springs, one of which is Warm Springs. IMAGE CREDITS: {1} Merritt T. Cooke Memorial Virginia Print Collection, 1857-1907, Accession #9408, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library. {2} David HunterStrother, Virginia Illustrated: Containing a Visit to the Virginian Canaan, and the Adventures of Porte Crayon [pseud.] and His Cousins, New York, Harper & Brothers, 1857: p. 135. {3} Library of Congress American Memory: The Thomas Jefferson Papers. Search by date of the letter to see a higher resolution image. Accessed July 21, 2009. {4} Papers of Thomas Jefferson and other noted Revolutionary War figures, 1770-1822, Tracy W. McGregor Library, Accession #3620, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library. SOURCES: Edwin Morris Betts and James Adam Bear, editors, The Family Letters of Thomas Jefferson, Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press, 1966. William Burke, The Mineral Springs of Western Virginia, New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1846. Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Thomas Ritchie, Article for the Richmond Enquirer "Central College, A letter from a correspondent of the Editor of the Enquirer," Warm Springs, August 1817. 68 Letters to and from Jefferson, 1805-1817. Accessed July 19, 2009. Previous: Sweet Springs / Next: White Sulphur Springs © 2007 Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia ADMIN I LOG IN ts.hsl.virginia.edu/springs/warm/ 9/9 Jackson Ferry Shot Tower - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 1 of 2 Jackson Ferry Shot Tower From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Jackson Ferry Shot Tower, located in Wythe County, Virginia, is one of only a handful remaining in the United States. The shot tower was built by Thomas Jackson shortly after the Revolutionary War, and was completed in 1807 after around 7 years of construction. This shot tower is unique because of its construction and location. Purpose Shot Towers were often referred to as Shot Factories during the industry's heyday. Today they stand as testaments to ingenious yet antiquated technology. The purpose of the shot tower was to produce lead shot to be used in firearms. Firewood and lead were taken to the top of the tower, where a furnace was fired to melt the lead. The molten lead was then poured through a sieve, which would form individual drops of lead of a specific size. Different sieves were used to produce shot of varying size. The molten drops would then free-fall 150 feet, during which they would become spherical in shape, and cool enough to become rigid. A large kettle full of water at the bottom would finish the cooling process, and provide a soft enough landing to keep the shot The Jackson Ferry shot tower. from deforming. The finished shot was then sold to hunters, traders and merchants. The actual construction dates concerning the Shot Tower located in Wythe County Virginia are in dispute as Thomas Jackson located from England to Wythe County (then Fincastle) Virginia by 1790. Thomas Jackson eventually acquired the land on which the Shot Tower stands, but it is unclear as to his involvement with the actual construction of the tower. Moses Austin and his brother Stephen may have been responsible for the construction of the Shot Tower. Moses Austin (father of Stephen F. Austin) and his brother Stephen Austin owned the lead mines and surrounding operations during the 1790s. Within the Austin Papers (a collection of writings, letters, and business ledgers by Moses and descendants) the manufacturing of shot in Wythe County is referenced on several occasions. Shot is itemized in a 1794 business ledger. Shot is also referenced in a desperate letter from Stephen Austin to James Austin in Austinville dated 12th September, 1798. "as in paying part cash and goods should sopose you may imploy waggon and I want all the shot rushd on to Linchbourgh (Lynchburg, Virginia) possible that it may be ready at Richmond to ship before the river closes". In 1798, James Austin was superintendent of the Lead Mines operation in Austinville VA, just 3.5 miles from the Shot Tower. An advertisement in the August 30, 1791 edition of the Virginia Chronicle detailing the manufacturing of Shot at the Shot Factory in Southwest Virginia may suggest that the tower dates back to before 1800. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Ferry_Shot_Tower 11/2/2008 Jackson Ferry Shot Tower - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 2 of 2 Design The Wythe County Shot Tower is unique for several reasons. Unlike most other shot towers, which were constructed of brick, this shot tower was built of limestone with walls 2.5 feet thick. The thick, solid stone walls not only made the Shot Tower an extremely strong structure, but kept its interior temperature cool and consistent, improving the quality of the shot it produced. Since the lead needed to free-fall around 150 feet to form proper shaped shot, the designers decided to use the natural terrain to reduce the height of the tower they had to construct. They decided to build the tower on the edge of a cliff, and dig a vertical shaft 75 feet deep, which reduced the height required of the actual tower to 75 feet. Access to the bottom of the shaft was made by a horizontal adit that opened up near the shore of the New River. In a series of writings, letters, and business ledgers collectively known as the Austin Papers, Moses Austin refers to the necessary design elements of Shot Factory. The following quote is from hand written remarks by Moses Austin concerning the English patent for drop shot, dated August 1st 1791, "by experience I have found a much better mode to introduce arsnic and find the white much preferable to the yellow from it[s] purity in strength. And that a material difference of the height is required in the Climate of America in the different seasons of the year". External links Shot Tower Historic State Park Brochure Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Ferry Tower" Categories: 1807 architecture | Wythe County, Virginia I Virginia state parks I Towers in Virginia Hidden categories: Articles lacking sources from September 2008 I All articles lacking sources All articles needing style editing I Wikipedia articles needing style editing from September 2008 All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 This page was last modified on 26 September 2008, at 16:05. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.) Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c) (3) tax-deductible nonprofit charity. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Ferry_Shot_Tower 11/2/2008 1/15/2020 Thermal Springs in Virginia 1. Thermal Springs in Virginia o o Hot Front Arlington a Annandale W Warm Royal 66 Burke Ale: Franklin 211 29 73°F 75°F 70% 8 95°F Waynesboro 106°F o 86°F 207 72°F 72°F77 F O OO 64 73°F75°F Q Richmond 221 Lynchburg 288 85°F Roanoke 72°F Petersburg 360 460 85 all thermal springs in Virginia are located in the Valley and Ridge physiographic province Source: NOAA National Geophysical Data Center, Thermal Springs The earth gets hotter at depth. In the core and mantle surrounding the core, there is residual heat from the earth's formation 4.5 billion years ago, and the great pressures so far underground also generate heat. Much of the heat near the surface is caused by continuing decay of radioactive materials that are concentrated within the Earth's crust, such as uranium. Magma chambers intermittently rise up to the surface and fuel volcanic eruptions. The molten rock cools as it escapes high pressure underground and encounters the atmosphere. Other igneous rock forms when magma cools just below the surface, without erupting. There were volcanic eruptions 48-35 million years ago in Virginia; Mole Hill west of Harrisonburg is an old volcanic remnant. In Iceland, Yellowstone National Park, and Northern California, magma chambers near the surface still heat underground water and create geysers. Nots Did the 1903 trip C the bowditas establish has the emotional + enter for 1909 (?) effort to secree Revide Monta Spenj? 1/15/2020 Thermal Springs in Virginia The water travels deep underground through sandstone and limestone formations, with 2. fractures and solution channels. The 20 thermal springs that are most clearly recognized include some where seepages next to each other are combined to form one named spring:3 The group at Warm Springs is made up of three springs within about 30 meters of each other and a fourth about 250 meters to the southwest. At Hot Springs, eight warm springs occur over an area of about 4,000m ². Healing Springs consists of three separate springs less than three meters apart. Falling Springs are made up of a number of flows and seepages at a much lower temperature the other warm springs in the Warm Springs anticline, and with a greater discharge than any other warm springs in the region. Major Thermal Springs in Virginia Name Temperature Alum Springs 72°F Blue Ridge Springs (Buford's Gap) 66-75°F Bolar Springs 73°F Bragg Spring 75°F Dice's Spring 65°F Falling Spring 77°F Fitzgerald Spring 61°F Healing Springs (Rubino Healing, Sweet Alum) 86°F Hot Springs 106°F Hunter's Pulaski Alum Springs 72°F Layton Springs (Keyser's) 63°F, 72°F Limestone Springs 61-6°F Lithia Spring (Wilson Thermal) 65°F McHenry Spring 68°F, 65°F, 66°F Mill Mountain Springs 60°F, 65°F, 66°F New River White Sulphur Springs 85°F Rockbridge Baths (Rockbridge Alum, Strickler's) 72°F Sweet Chalybeate Springs 63-76°F Warm Spring (Rockingham County) 64°F Warm Springs (Bath County) 95°F Source: National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Service (NOAA), National Geophysical Data Center, Thermal Springs in the United States; US Geological Survey (UGS), Thermal Springs Of The United States And Other Countries Of The World The Ordivicial limestone and Cambrian sandstone bedrock formations through which the thermal spring water travels were deposited 450-550 million years ago, but the water in the springs is recent rainfall. It seeps underground, is heated by the warmer rock 2,000-5,000 1/15/2020 Thermal Springs in Virginia 3. feet underground, then returns to the surface quickly enough to retain that geothermal heat. The Warm Springs resort advertised that it had 98° water in its public baths 4 LADIES' BATH, WARM SPRINGS, BATH COUNTY, VIRGINIA. 50 feet in Diameter. Warm Sulphur Water, 98° temperature. THE WARM SPRINGS ARE NOW OPEN AND WILL BE KEPT OPEN EACH YEAR UNTIL AFTER OCTOBER 15th the Ladies Bath at Warm Springs advertised 98° water Source: "The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Directory, Containing an Illustrated History and Description of the Road," Ladies' Bath, Warm Springs, Bath County, Virginia (p.331) At Hot Springs and Warm Springs, the water has been underground at least 20 years before re-emerging at the surface. At the many, many other springs in Virginia, groundwater moves to the surface slowly enough that the water temperature adjusts to match the average temperature at that location. As a result, in the summertime most springs offer cool water. Springhouses were built by early settlers and used until electricity reached rural areas, so the cool spring water could be used to chill milk/butter as frontier refrigerators At Warm Springs, the surface water percolates one mile below the surface. It flows down through the sedimentary rock layers until it reaches a resistant layer and is pushed upwards, 4. emerging in a valley quickly enough to retain some of its geothermal heat aquired at depth. Warm Springs was a gathering spot for the Virginia wealthy, prior to the Civil War Source: Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Virginia Illustrated (February 1855) Cool groundwater closer to the surface may mix with warmer water from greater depth. The temperature of Bolar Spring drops as the flow increases, suggesting that warm water from greater depth dominates during dry periods but cooler water from near the surface is mixed in after rains.5 8/28/2021 Natural Bridge State Park I Natural Bridge, VA 24578 Natural Bridge State Park 6477 South Lee Highway Natural Bridge, VA 24578 Phone: (540) 291-1324 Phone: (540) 291-1324 Send Email Visit Website Details Once owned by Thomas Jefferson and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the 215-foot tall Natural Bridge is a limestone gorge carved out by Cedar Creek. The newest Virginia State Park is more than just the bridge. Beautiful forests, open, rolling meadows showcase the area's karst terrain, and vistas of surrounding mountains and the James River valley display nature's splendor. Access these via 6 miles of hiking trails, including the accessible Cedar Creek Trail that leads from the bridge to the Monacan Indian Village and Lace Falls with its 30-foot cascade. Living history programs connect you to the past and cover how people once used the area's resources for survival and inspiration. Start at the Rockbridge Center where you will find exhibits and a gift shop. Visit Virginia's Blue Ridge 101 Shenandoah Avenue NE Roanoke, VA 24016 (540) 342-6025 https://www.visitroanokeva.com/listings/natural-bridge-state-park/8998/ 1/2