Joel Shew

Joel Shew
Joel Shew
Born	November 13, 1816; Providence, New York
Died	October 6, 1855; Oyster Bay, Long Island
Occupation(s)	Hydrotherapist, writer

Joel Shew (November 13, 1816 - October 6, 1855)^[1] was an American physician, hydrotherapist and natural hygiene advocate.

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Shew was born in Providence, Saratoga County. He worked in a daguerreotype shop in Philadelphia and obtained his medical degree in 1843.^[2] Shew took interest in hydrotherapy and visited Gräfenberg to study Vincenz Priessnitz's techniques.^[3]^[4] His wife, Marie Louise Shew was also a hydrotherapist. They were friends of Mary Gove Nichols who had temporarily lodged at their house. The Shews operated a hydrotherapy "water-cure" house and opened it to patients.^[2]

In 1844, Shew established the first water-cure institution in New York City.^[3] In May 1845, he opened the New Lebanon Springs Water-Cure Establishment, which cost about US$3,000.^[5] He was the co-owner and advising physician. David Campbell was its manager for ten years.^[5] 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 and tobacco.^[3] Historian Stephen Nissenbaum has noted "it is clear that Shew was a Grahamite before he discovered the water-cure".^[6] Shew and his wife were vegetarian.^[7]

In 1850, Shew wrote notes and additions for the American edition of William Lambe's Water and Vegetable Diet.^[8] He died at Oyster Bay, Long Island.^[1] An autopsy revealed an enlarged liver and internal lesions. This may have been caused by the chemicals he was exposed to during his earlier career as a photographer.^[9]

In 1845, Shew launched The Water-Cure Journal. After 1850, it had a subscription list of 50,000.^[3] Russell Trall edited the journal from 1849 and it was later renamed, The Herald of Health.^[10]^[11]^[12]

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)

[1]
Kelly, Howard A; Burrage, Walter L. (1920). American Medical Biographies. Baltimore: The Norman, Remington company. p. 1045
[2]
Silver-Isenstadt, Jean L. (2002). Shameless: The Visionary Life of Mary Gove Nichols. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 76. ISBN 0-8018-6848-3
[3]
Engs, Ruth Clifford. (2000). Clean Living Movements: American Cycles of Health Reform. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 96. ISBN 0-275-97541-X
[4]
Schwarz, Richard W. (2006). John Harvey Kellogg, M.D.: Pioneering Health Reformer. Review and Herald Publishing Association. pp. 25-26. ISBN 0-8280-1039-8, 0-8280-1939-8
[5]
Marchese, Allison Guertin. (2014). Hidden History of Columbia County, New York. The History Press. p. 94. ISBN 978-1626193956
[6]
Nissenbaum, Stephen. (1980). Sex, Diet, and Debility in Jacksonian America: Sylvester Graham and Health Reform. Greenwood Press. p. 156. ISBN 978-0313214158
[7]
Shprintzen, Adam D. (2013). The Vegetarian Crusade: The Rise of an American Reform Movement, 1817-1921. University of North Carolina Press. p. 55. ISBN 978-1-4696-0891-4
[8]
Hoolihan, Christopher. (2001). An Annotated Catalogue of the Edward C. Atwater Collection of American Popular Medicine and Health Reform, Volume 1. University of Rochester Press. p. 603. ISBN 1-58046-098-4
[9]
Wrobel, Arthur. (1987). Pseudo-Science and Society in 19th-Century America. p. 81. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-5544-9
[10]
Whorton, James C. (2002). Nature Cures: The History of Alternative Medicine in America. Oxford University Press. pp. 90-91. ISBN 0-19-514071-0
[11]
Hoolihan, Christopher. (2008). An Annotated Catalogue of the Edward C. Atwater Collection of American Popular Medicine and Health Reform, Volume 3. University of Rochester Press. p. 344. ISBN 978-1-58046-284-6
[12]
Smith, Andrew F. (2009). Eating History: Thirty Turning Points in the Making of American Cuisine. Columbia University Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-231-14092-8

[Medical-1] [1]
Kelly, Howard A; Burrage, Walter L. (1920). American Medical Biographies. Baltimore: The Norman, Remington company. p. 1045

[Silver-Isenstadt_2002-2] [2]
Silver-Isenstadt, Jean L. (2002). Shameless: The Visionary Life of Mary Gove Nichols. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 76. ISBN 0-8018-6848-3

[Engs_2000-3] [3]
Engs, Ruth Clifford. (2000). Clean Living Movements: American Cycles of Health Reform. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 96. ISBN 0-275-97541-X

[4] [4]
Schwarz, Richard W. (2006). John Harvey Kellogg, M.D.: Pioneering Health Reformer. Review and Herald Publishing Association. pp. 25-26. ISBN 0-8280-1039-8, 0-8280-1939-8

[Marchese_2014-5] [5]
Marchese, Allison Guertin. (2014). Hidden History of Columbia County, New York. The History Press. p. 94. ISBN 978-1626193956

[6] [6]
Nissenbaum, Stephen. (1980). Sex, Diet, and Debility in Jacksonian America: Sylvester Graham and Health Reform. Greenwood Press. p. 156. ISBN 978-0313214158

[7] [7]
Shprintzen, Adam D. (2013). The Vegetarian Crusade: The Rise of an American Reform Movement, 1817-1921. University of North Carolina Press. p. 55. ISBN 978-1-4696-0891-4

[8] [8]
Hoolihan, Christopher. (2001). An Annotated Catalogue of the Edward C. Atwater Collection of American Popular Medicine and Health Reform, Volume 1. University of Rochester Press. p. 603. ISBN 1-58046-098-4

[9] [9]
Wrobel, Arthur. (1987). Pseudo-Science and Society in 19th-Century America. p. 81. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-5544-9

[10] [10]
Whorton, James C. (2002). Nature Cures: The History of Alternative Medicine in America. Oxford University Press. pp. 90-91. ISBN 0-19-514071-0

[11] [11]
Hoolihan, Christopher. (2008). An Annotated Catalogue of the Edward C. Atwater Collection of American Popular Medicine and Health Reform, Volume 3. University of Rochester Press. p. 344. ISBN 978-1-58046-284-6

[12] [12]
Smith, Andrew F. (2009). Eating History: Thirty Turning Points in the Making of American Cuisine. Columbia University Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-231-14092-8

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Joel Shew

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Biography

The Water-Cure Journal

Selected publications

References

External links

Joel Shew

Born	November 13, 1816 Providence, New York
Died	October 6, 1855 Oyster Bay, Long Island
Occupation(s)	Hydrotherapist, writer