Joel Shew (November 13, 1816 - October 6, 1855)Kelly, Howard A; Burrage, Walter L. (1920)
''American Medical Biographies''
Baltimore: The Norman, Remington company. p. 1045 was an American physician,

hydrotherapist Hydrotherapy, formerly called hydropathy and also called water cure, is a branch of alternative medicine (particularly naturopathy), occupational therapy, and Physical therapy, physiotherapy, that involves the use of water for pain relief and tr ...

and natural hygiene advocate.

Biography

Shew was born in Providence, Saratoga County. He worked in a

daguerreotype Daguerreotype (; french: daguerréotype) was the first publicly available photographic process; it was widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. "Daguerreotype" also refers to an image created through this process. Invented by Louis Daguerre an ...

shop in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and obtained his medical degree in 1843.Silver-Isenstadt, Jean L. (2002). ''Shameless: The Visionary Life of Mary Gove Nichols''. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 76. Shew took interest in hydrotherapy and visited Gräfenberg to study

Vincenz Priessnitz Vincenz Priessnitz, also written Prießnitz (sometimes in German ''Vinzenz'', in English ''Vincent'', in Czech ''Vincenc''; 4 October 1799 – 26 November 1851) was a peasant farmer in Gräfenberg, Austrian Silesia, who is generally considered ...

's techniques. His wife, Marie Louise Shew was also a hydrotherapist. They were friends of

Mary Gove Nichols Mary Sargeant Gove Nichols (; August 10, 1810 – May 30, 1884), also known by her pen name Mary Orme, was an American women's rights and health reform advocate, hydrotherapist, vegetarian and writer.Iacobbo, Karen; Iacobbo, Michael. (2004). ''Ve ...

who had temporary lodged at their house. The Shews operated a "water-cure" house and opened it to patients. In 1844, Shew established the first water-cure institution in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

.Engs, Ruth Clifford. (2000). ''Clean Living Movements: American Cycles of Health Reform''. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 96. In May 1845, he opened the New Lebanon Springs Water-Cure Establishment which cost about $3,000.Marchese, Allison Guertin. (2014). ''Hidden History of Columbia County, New York''. The History Press. p. 94. He was the co-owner and advising physician. David Campbell was its manager for ten years. Shew was influenced by the dieting ideas of Sylvester Graham and promoted natural hygiene practices such as bathing, exercise and massage as well as the elimination of

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

and

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

. Historian

Stephen Nissenbaum Stephen Nissenbaum (A.B. Harvard College, 1961; M.A. Columbia University, 1963; Ph.D., University of Wisconsin–Madison, 1968 ), is an American scholar, a Professor Emeritus of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst's History Department speci ...

has noted "it is clear that Shew was a Grahamite before he discovered the water-cure". Shew and his wife were

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism m ...

. In 1850, Shew wrote notes and additions for the American edition of William Lambe's ''Water and Vegetable Diet''. He died at

Oyster Bay, Long Island Oyster Bay is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) on the North Shore of Long Island in Nassau County in the state of New York, United States. The hamlet is also the site of a station on the Oyster Bay Branch of the Long Island Rail R ...

. An

autopsy An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any di ...

revealed an enlarged liver and internal lesions. This may have been the result of Shew's exposure to chemicals during his earlier career as a photographer.

''The Water-Cure Journal''

In 1845, Shew launched ''The Water-Cure Journal''. After 1850, it had a subscription list of 50,000. Russell Trall edited the journal from 1849 and it was later renamed, ''The Herald of Health''.Smith, Andrew F. (2009). ''Eating History: Thirty Turning Points in the Making of American Cuisine''. Columbia University Press. p. 34.

Selected publications

''Facts in Hydropathy or Water Cure''
(1844)
''Water-Cure for Ladies''
(Marie Louise Shew, revised by Joel Shew, 1844)
''Hydropathy, Or, The Water-Cure''
(1845)
''The Water-Cure Manual''
(1847)
''Tobacco: Its History, Nature, and Effects on the Body and Mind''
(1849)
''Water and Vegetable Diet''
( William Lambe, notes and additions by Joel Shew, 1850)
''Consumption: Its Prevention and Cure by the Water Treatment''
(1851)
''The Hydropathic Family Physician''
(1854)

References

External links

Works by Joel Shew
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shew, Joel 1816 births 1855 deaths American health and wellness writers American vegetarianism activists Hydrotherapists Orthopaths People from Saratoga County, New York