The Persistence
of Mrs. loe Person
Л
developer of patent medicine, a mu¬
sician. a lady ahead of her time . . .
spurned by some, admired by many.
By T. II. PEARCE
Before ihe science of medicine had
reached its present advanced state and
before physicians were as widespread as
today, “patent medicines" played an al¬
most unbelievable role in the treatment
of illness. Some of the medicines were
based on sound theory and made of in¬
gredients still in wide use in the com¬
pounding of medicines. Others, devel¬
oped solely to make a quick profit, were
of no possible benefit.
Being a native Franklin countian. I
had always heard of Mrs. Joe Persons
remedy and knew that she had been a
member of a prominent county family
and once lived in the beautiful house
now owned and occupied by the L. W.
McGhee family, north of Franklinlon.
My interest was really aroused, how¬
ever. when I was writing a history of the
county a few years ago. As I looked
over old newspapers. 1 found ads for
Mrs. Person’s remedy, testimonials to
its value, accounts of picnics and par¬
ties at her home "Greenwood." and
mention of her musical accomplish¬
ments. all of which sparked my interest
in her career.
Had circumstances not dictated
otherw ise, it is highly likely that Alice
Person would have lived out her life as
a typical gracious hostess, devoted wife
and mother on a prosperous plantation.
"Not A Care"
She was born and reared in Peters¬
burg. Virginia, where she lived until
she married Joseph A. Person in 1857.
After the wedding. Person brought his
bride to his beautiful country home lo¬
cated on a hill overlooking Tar River,
about 4 miles north of Franklinton.
Both of the newly-weds were members
of old and prosperous families.
To quote Mrs. Person’s own words,
from a journal in the possession of her
great-granddaughter. Mrs. Louise
Stephenson of Raleigh. N.C.. "Not a
care, not a responsibility, not a thought
or fear for the future did 1 have." As was
22
the case with so many other southern
families of the period however, the fu¬
ture held hardship and sorrow.
The first test of Alice Person's char¬
acter came as a result of The War Be¬
tween the Stales. Joseph Person raised
a company of volunteers and left to
serve the Confederacy. Alice, left to
look after the plantation and her small
children, managed admirably.
Because of an old injury to his leg.
badly broken when he was fox hunting.
Joe Person was s<x>n discharged. Before
long he suffered a severe stroke that
partly disabled him and created an even
heavier burden on Alice.
An Amazing Cure
One of their daughters became ill
w ith scrofula, a type of tuberculosis of
the lymph glands that was common in
the days before cows were tested for the
disease, and milk was pasteurized. The
physician said he had done all he could
and that the child probably would not
last until the next day.
As Mrs. Person watched over her
desperately ill daughter she was visited
by an old woman who told her she had
come to cure the child. She knew the
ingredients for a medicine an old Indian
had given to her father, that would cure
scrotula. The distraught mother's incli¬
nation was not to submit her daughter
to any more medicine, but impressed by
the woman’s earnestness and driven to
the point of being willing to try any¬
thing that might help, she agreed and
accompanied her to the woods to gather
the herbs needed for the medication.
Following the woman’s directions,
the medicine w-as prepared and given to
the patient throughout the night, though
Mrs. Person said she had no faith in its
ability to help.
By morning the child w-as markedly
improved and in three weeks she was
well!
This was the origin of Mrs. Joe Per¬
son’s Remedy!
Photograph of Mis Joe (Alice) Person from the Iron!
of her journal, owned by her granddaughter. Mrs.
Louise Stephenson of Raleigh.
Things seemed to improve somewhat
from this point. Some semblance of
normality returned. Joseph was able to
look after the farming to a limited de¬
gree. though they had to sell portions of
their extensive holdings to pay ex¬
penses.
Mrs. Person never forgot the powers
of the remedy given to her by the old
lady, and every time she heard of a case
of illness similar to the one that had
stricken her daughter, she made a batch
of it and sent it to them. “I never failed
to cure a single case." she said. It was
soon known as "Mrs. Joe Person's
Remedy."
As people heard of the remedy they
wrote, enclosing money for the medi¬
cine until it became the source of a con¬
siderable income.
Spurned By Doctors
With a determination to make her
remedy available to everyone, she told
her husband she was going to Raleigh
to offer it to the medical profession free
of charge.
Her husband warned that she was be¬
ing naive and the medical profession
would have nothing to do with her or
her remedy. But. "spurred on by the
purest of motives”. Alice Person was
not to be discouraged.
She called on several Raleigh physi¬
cians and offered free treatment of their
scrofula patients in return for recogni¬
tion by the doctors that her cure was
THE STATE. OCTOBER 1986
