Wisconsin 101

Williams Bay, WI

Captain Israel Williams founded Williams Bay, Wisconsin, in 1835. Williams and his two sons originally traveled to Wisconsin from their Massachusetts home to look for good farmland. Williams Bay was later named in honor of Captain Williams.Until 1890, only a few families…

0 Comments

May 9, 2018

Pre-1600 / 1600-1800 / Related Stories / Cupping Kit / 1800-1820 / 1820-1840 / 1840-1860 / 1860-1880 / Science & Medicine / 1880-1900

What is Cupping?

Until the late nineteenth century, cupping was widely used for the treatment of inflammation and deep-seated pain believed to be due to an imbalance of the humors. A physician or barber surgeon would begin cupping by selecting the appropriate cup based on the amount…

0 Comments

May 3, 2018

The Decline of Humoral Theory

Cupping (as well as general bloodletting) declined in the late nineteenth century. Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch’s experiments in pathology demonstrated the existence of foreign bodies and their role disease, called in to question humoral theory. 1 Dr. Ira Marks, in an address to the Wisconsin…

0 Comments

May 3, 2018

Cupping Kit / Related Stories / Outagamie County / Region 5 - Center East / Appleton / Politics, Society & Government / 1840-1860 / 1860-1880 / 1880-1900 / Science & Medicine / 1900-1920 / Education

Dr. James T. Reeve

The owner of this particular cupping kit was Dr. James T. Reeve. Dr. Reeve was born near Goshen, New York, on April 26, 1834. Despite losing his father at age five and his mother five days before graduating medical school, J.T Reeve received his…

0 Comments

May 3, 2018

Pre-1600 / 1600-1800 / Related Stories / Cupping Kit / 1800-1820 / 1820-1840 / 1840-1860 / 1860-1880 / 1880-1900 / Science & Medicine

Humoral Medicine and Cupping

Humoral medicine began in Ancient Greece and continued in popularity until the late nineteenth century. Humoral theory was based on the belief that the body was composed of four humors/temperaments (black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood) and was influenced by the…

0 Comments

May 3, 2018

Grant County / Region 6 - South West / James D. Williams' Windlass / Platteville / Manufacturing & Trade / 1860-1880 / 1880-1900 / Object Histories / 1900-1920 / Nature & Environment

OBJECT HISTORY: James D. Williams’ Windlass

This is a machine used to lower and raise miners and materials through mine shafts in the lead mining region around Platteville, Wisconsin. Made from wooden supports with a wooden barrel shaft and crank attached to a rope with a bucket, a…

0 Comments

January 9, 2018