Russell Thacher Trall (August 5, 1812 – September 23, 1877) was an American

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and proponent of hydrotherapy,

natural hygiene Orthopathy (from the Ancient Greek, Greek ὀρθός ''orthos'' 'right' and πάθος ''pathos'' 'suffering') or natural hygiene (NH) is a set of alternative medicine, alternative medical beliefs and practices originating from the ''Nature Cure ...

and

vegetarianism 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 may ...

. Trall authored the first American

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. Di ...

cookbook in 1874.

Biography

Trall was born in Vernon, Connecticut. He trained in medicine and obtained his

M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...

in 1835 from

Albany Medical College Albany Medical College (AMC) is a private medical school in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1839 by Alden March and James H. Armsby and is one of the oldest medical schools in the nation. The college is part of the Albany Medical Center, which ...

but broke away from conventional medical methods.Whorton, James C. (2002). ''Nature Cures: The History of Alternative Medicine in America''.

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. pp. 90-91. Trall practiced alternative medicine 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 ...

from 1840. He was influenced by the water cure movement and established his own water-cure institution in New York in 1844. In 1849, Trall founded the American Hydropathic Society with Joel Shew and Samuel R. Wells.Nissenbaum, Stephen. (1980). ''Sex, Diet, and Debility in Jacksonian America: Sylvester Graham and Health Reform''. Greenwood Press. pp. 149-150. Trall and Wells also established the American Anti-Tobacco Society in 1849.Brodie, Janet Farrell. (1994). ''Contraception and Abortion in Nineteenth-century America''. Cornell University Press. pp. 147-148. In 1850, he organized a convention for the American Hydropathic Society in New York City and during this year the Society became the American Hygienic and Hydropathic Association of Physicians and Surgeons. Trall authored the two volume ''Hydropathic Encyclopedia'' in 1851.Agnew, Jeremy. (2019). ''Healing Waters: A History of Victorian Spas''. McFarland. pp. 71-72. He recommended daily bathing and using cool or cold water. In 1853, Trall founded the New York Hydropathic and Physiological School that issued diplomas. It became known as the New York Hygeio-Therapeutic College in 1857. He transferred operations to

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

in 1867, with his Hygeian Home. He edited ''The Water-Cure'' journal, which he later renamed ''The Herald of Health''. Trall was an advocate of a system known as "hygeiotherapy", a mixture of hydrotherapy with diet and exercise treatment regimes that included fresh air, hygiene and massage.Baer, Hans A. (2001). ''Biomedicine and Alternative Healing Systems in America: Issues of Class, Race, Ethnicity and Gender''.

University of Wisconsin Press The University of Wisconsin Press (sometimes abbreviated as UW Press) is a non-profit university press publishing peer-reviewed books and journals. It publishes work by scholars from the global academic community; works of fiction, memoir and po ...

. p. 86. It almost disappeared by his death in 1877 but was revived by

Sebastian Kneipp Sebastian Kneipp (17 May 1821 – 17 June 1897) was a German Catholic priest and one of the forefathers of the Naturopathy, naturopathic medicine movement. He is most commonly associated with the "Kneipp Cure" form of hydrotherapy (often called ...

in the 1890s.

Relationship with the Seventh-day Adventist church

One of Trall's students was

Merritt Kellogg Merritt Gardner Kellogg (28 March 1832 – December 20 1921) was a Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) carpenter, missionary, pastor and doctor who worked in Northern California, the South Pacific, and Australia. He designed and built several medical faci ...

a Seventh-day Adventist who obtained an M.D. degree from his college.Number, Ronald L. (1976). ''Prophetess of Health: A Study of Ellen G. White''. New York: Harper & Row. pp. 117-121 Kellogg formed a union with Trall and he later received approval from James Springer White. Trall was invited to teach a course of health lectures in Battle Creek at the close of annual general conference meetings in 1868.

Ellen G. White Ellen Gould White (née Harmon; November 26, 1827 – July 16, 1915) was an American woman author and co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Along with other Adventist leaders such as Joseph Bates and her husband James White, she wa ...

did not attend Trall's lectures but she spoke with him on daily carriage rides around the streets of Battle Creek and they exchanged ideas of disease, health and hygiene. Trall earned the Whites trust and he was asked to become a regular contributor to ''The Health Reformer'' magazine. The former editor, Horatio S. Lay was removed and James White re-organized the magazine with an "Editorial Committee of Twelve" with Trall's "Special Department" of articles. Trall disbanded his own monthly ''Gospel of Health'' magazine and turned its subscription list to ''The Health Reformer''. The newly re-organized magazine had high hopes but problems soon emerged. The readers of the magazine resented Trall's extreme dietary strictures against the use of butter, eggs, milk, oil, salt and sugar.Land, Gary. (2014). ''Historical Dictionary of the Seventh-Day Adventists''. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 147. Trall's opinions on diet were regarded by readers as "radical and fanatical" and many gave up becoming subscribers. The Whites were disappointed that readers were cancelling their subscription. In 1871, James White took over editorship of ''The Health Reformer'' and pledged to take away the extreme dietary ideas, however, Trall continued to write for the magazine. Trall's department remained in the magazine but James had Ellen start a second "Special Department" which clarified in the March 1871 issue that readers "should not feel disturbed on seeing some things in these departments which do not agree with their ideas of matters and things". The magazine soon became a White family production with advertisements, articles by James and Ellen's monthly department. Within two years, White had successfully raised subscriptions of ''The Health Reformer'' from 3000 to 11,000. Trall remained on good terms with James and Ellen White but resigned from their magazine in 1874. However, John Harvey Kellogg blamed Trall for the magazine's early difficulties. Kellogg became its editor in 1874 and changed the magazine's name to ''Good Health'' in 1878.

Vegetarianism

He was an influential promoter of vegetarianism and was Vice-President of the

American Vegetarian Society Sylvester Graham (July 5, 1794 – September 11, 1851) was an American Presbyterian minister and dietary reformer known for his emphasis on vegetarianism, the temperance movement, and eating whole-grain bread. His preaching inspired the graham ...

. Trall's ''The Hygeian Home Cook-Book'' published in 1874 is the first known

cookbook in America.Smith, Andrew F. (2015). ''Savoring Gotham: A Food Lover's Companion to New York City''.

. p. 617. The book contains recipes "without the employment of milk, sugar, salt, yeast, acids, alkalies, grease, or condiments of any kind." Trall opposed the consumption 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 ...

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

meat Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as chic ...

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...

and the use of

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

pepper Pepper or peppers may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ** Bell pepper ** Chili ...

and

vinegar Vinegar is an aqueous solution of acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains 5–8% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting simple sugars to et ...

. He believed that

spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices a ...

s were dangerous to health. In 1910, physician David Allyn Gorton noted that Trall's diet was "most simple and abstemious, consisting chiefly of

Graham bread Graham bread is a name for whole wheat bread that was inspired by the teachings of famous health reformer Sylvester Graham. History Sylvester Graham was a 19th-century health reformer who argued that a vegetarian diet, anchored by bread that w ...

, hard Graham crackers, fruits, and nuts—two meals a day, without salt."Gorton, David Allyn. (1910)
''The History of Medicine: Philosophical and Critical, From Its Origin to the Twentieth Century, Volume 2''
G. P. Putnam's Sons. p. 192

Selected publications

''The Hydropathic Encyclopedia''
(two volumes, 1851) * ''Tobacco: Its History, Nature, and Effects, with Facts and Figures for Tobacco-Users'' (1854)
''Fruits and Farinacea: The Proper Food of Man''
(John Smith, with notes and illustrations by R. T. Trall, 1856)
''The New Hydropathic Cook-Book''
(1857)
''Water-Cure for the Million''
(1860) *''The Scientific Basis of Vegetarianism'' (1860)
''Hand-Book of Hygienic Practice''
(1864)
''The True Healing Art: Hygienic vs. Drug Medication''
(1872)
''The Hygienic Hand-Book'' (1873)''The Hygeian Home Cook-Book''
(1874)
''Popular Physiology''
(1875)

Gallery

New York Hygeio-Therapeutic College.png, New York Hygeio-Therapeutic College, 1857 The Hygeian Home Cook-Book.png, ''The Hygeian Home Cook-Book'', 1874 Russell Thacher Trall.png, Sketch of Trall

References

External links

The First Vegan Cookbook - New York 1874
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trall, Russell Thacher 1812 births 1877 deaths 19th-century American physicians Albany Medical College alumni American cookbook writers American health and wellness writers American male non-fiction writers American nutritionists American vegetarianism activists Hydrotherapists Naturopaths Orthopaths Pseudoscientific diet advocates Tea critics Vegan cookbook writers