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I have a story in my family from my ancestors in Lee Co, VA. My great grandfather was the local herbalist and once he got a skin cancer on his temple. He went to a local Indian woman who gave him a concoction of seven local tree barks to apply as a poultice on the cancer. After using the barks, the cancer soon turned a black color and eventually was able to be pulled off his temple, roots and all, according to my grandmother. My gr. grandfather owned a “general store” and some years later a salesman stopped in with the same kind of cancer that my gr. grandfather had years before. He asked the salesman about it and he was told the doctors couldn’t treat it. My gr.grandfather gave him the potion that the Indian woman gave him years before and the man left. Some months later the salesman came by and said the cancer was totally cured and the doctors wanted to know what was in the potion. My grandmother told me that it contained seven barks from local trees in the Cumberland Mountain region. That’s all I know. Has anyone heard of anything like this? I’ve been casually searching for years. This weekend I was in Gatlinburg and bought two books on Cherokee medicine. I haven’t read them yet but hope there might be some clue as to the ingredients in the potion. Thanks.
Sincerely,
Jim
Jim, I know of a similar treatment but by some traveling “Quack” or at least this is what the locals had called him. The lady was a Mrs. Roland Owen who died at the age of 93 when I was pastoring the church she attended. Soon after her marriage as a very young woman she developed a cancer on the side of her nose. This “Quack” came through the community and mixed a potion to be applied to the area. Whatever he mixed not only cured the cancer it took off that side of her nose. She wore a clean white gauze bandage and ahesive tape on that side of her nose the rest of her life. Her children never remembered her without the bandage and her daughters dressed her nose every morning. Wouldn’t you like to know what was in that potion? My GGrandmother died with a similar cancer but on a different place on her body that literaly rotted her flesh. This lady lived to be almost 94 years of age and I know because I was blessed to be her pastor. Ed
Thanks Ed and very interesting. Sounds like the potion worked a little too well maybe. Although I guess half a nose is better than being dead. This reminds me of an unrelated story. My first wife had an uncle, Uncle Bob, that had a skin cancer on his nose and went to the doctor. They decided to do surgery to remove the cancer. When he came out, they had removed his whole nose! He also wore a gauze bandage across where his nose had been. He always seemed like a happy guy though. But I think he drank a lot.
My grandmother assured me that the story was true though about the seven barks. Unfortunately, she didn’t know what tree barks were used. Thanks for the story.
Jim
My Great-Grandmother Eliza Jane Collins Johnson was cured of skin cancer by an old Johnson/Collins salve recipe. The main ingredient was Wake-Robin also called Low-John, a wild lily. Collins also remembers his Johnson/Collins talking about this skin cancer cure.
tarcarion;
My cousin came to live with us when i was a young boy and had a bunch of warts that she wanted to be removed, a quack mixed up a salve and when she used it, it also removed more than the warts and left scars.
A lot of these quacks used Carbolic Acid as an ingredient for such and some did not know how much to put in and thereby caused a lot of people harm.
Maybe Collins will share the the treatment with us.
as always
Aubrey G Cole
Aubrey, Collins & BillieLee,
I’ve heard of carbolic acid but I’m not familiar with it’s uses. Sounds like potent stuff! I’ve heard of an Amish guy who would buy your warts for a penny!
Collins … If you feel like sharing, we’d love to hear the recipe. I’ve never heard of Wake-Robin/Low-John. Is it an Eastern native lilly? I’ll have to research this one! Thanks.
Jim
I don’t have the recipe, I also hope that Collins will share it.
This is what I found about Wake Robin/Low-John/Birthroot/Indian Balm/Stinking Benjamin/Trillium Lily family. Habitat: Shady, moist woodlands with rich soil.
Uses: remains a popular folk cure for bleeding, snakebite, and skin irritations. It acts as an external astringent.
I do know that the skin cancer salve works, and have not heard of any ill effects.
A Johnson/Collins cousin in MO told me that she had been told of this family cure, but did not have the recipe handed down to her. She has Low-John growning in her yard. It wasn’t handed down to Mama because Low-John didn’t grow where she was raised.
I wouldn’t be surprised to find that faith in the cure had a lot to do with its success. My Grandmother told my 5 years old daughter how to make her warts go away and I believe that her absolute faith in anything her great-grandmother told her had a lot to do with them going away.
BillieLee,
I did a Google search on “trillium lilly” and found this picture. It mentions the name Wake Robin and Stinking Benjamin. I haven’t had time yet to look it up in my herbal books. I agree that one’s belief system has plenty to do with any “cure”, even medical doctors’ treatments. It might possibly be the “secret ingredient” in any successful treatment program. The mind is a powerful tool, in healing as well as anything else.
Jim
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