Angelical Conjunction: Preacher-Physicians Colonial New England

by Patricia A. Watson

Hardcover in dust jacket. Gray cloth, by Patricia Ann Watson, published 1991 by University of Tennesse Press. Publisher's "The Puritan settlers of New England believed that bodily ills were God's way of punishing individual or collective sin. Ministers, as spiritual leaders of their congregations, often both interpreted and treated parishoners' physical afflictions. This study reveals for the first time the nature, extent and socioeconomic context of the 'angelical conjunction'--the widespread dual practice of medicine and religion by early New England preachers. Several factors encouraged ministers to learn the medical arts. An English precedent existed, as politically dissenting seventeenth-century ministers had found medicine a useful secondary profession. In the New England colonies, there were few trained physicians, and a folk-healing tradition often was linked to witchcraft. In addition, clergymen were frequently dismissed by increasingly contentious congregations and

200 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Aram · Rating 2 out of 5]

nice book on a very niche topic (her dissertation is great as well) but quite poorly written

[Lissa Notreallywolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book because it combined almost all of my interests-history of science, history of ideas, theology. I don't know that others would have the same enthusiasm, pun intended.
In my previous historical studies there has always been the assumption that the colonies were some how cut off from the mother country, and had no influence on England, when in fact there was an enormous impact on European civilization from her colonies. If I think about this colonial influence at all it is usually in the sense of consumerism-cottons from the new world, potatoes to the Irish, tobacco and rum, chocolate and coffee. Or perhaps, diseases-but then I find I am thinking more of the export of European diseases like smallpox, and the plague-- not an entirely fair exchange for syphillis.

This book largely focuses on the cultural inheritance and dialogue between New England and England. Lacking doctors, the colonials were at the edge of contemporary medical practices. They used both herbal and mineral preparations, and seemed less inclined to employ bleeding as a means of healing. the roots of the mind cure and the later burgeoning of homeopathy are found in the particular period of cultural departure unique to New England.
I have only two frustrations with this book-one being that it did not include John Winthrop Jr. as a focal point and two that it was not longer and brader in scope.