The Black Doctor
Another interesting tale is The Black Doctor, or the ghost of an African American man known as James Still. According to legend, in the 19th Century, James was not permitted to practice medicine because of his race. Undiscouraged, however, James went into seclusion in the Pine Barrens to study medicine from his textbooks (in some variations, James also learns herbal remedies from the local Indians.) There are different versions of his death. Some say that he was unjustly lynched when local Pineys found he was studying medicine. Others stories state that he was a hero to the Piney community and died of natural causes. James Still's ghost, known as the Black Doctor, is said to come to the aid of injured or stranded travelers in the Pine Barrens. In fact, Dr. James Still was the brother of William Still, noted abolitionist who wrote the book, The Underground Railroad. Dr. Still wrote a book (currently out of print) title Early Recollections, The Life of Dr. James Still. He had an office in Medford, and was the third large largest landowner in town. He was self taught in the manners of medical botany and used many herbal remedies for cures.
Read more about this topic: Legends And Tales Of The Pine Barrens
Famous quotes containing the words black and/or doctor:
“We are all androgynous, not only because we are all born of a woman impregnated by the seed of a man but because each of us, helplessly and forever, contains the other—male in female, female in male, white in black and black in white. We are a part of each other. Many of my countrymen appear to find this fact exceedingly inconvenient and even unfair, and so, very often, do I. But none of us can do anything about it.”
—James Baldwin (1924–1987)
“Every doctor will allow a colleague to decimate a whole countryside sooner than violate the bond of professional etiquet by giving him away.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)