Georgia Magazine - September 2017 - 40

surgery using ether as anesthesia on
March 30, 1842. He removed a cyst
from the neck of James M. Venable,
who felt no pain.
"Frolic parties were the rage
among college students then. They
would inhale laughing gas and do
silly things. Long noticed that they
didn't feel pain when they fell down,
and that gave him the idea for operating using sulfuric ether," Starnes says.
Less-well-known is the fact that
Long's foresight gave Athens manufactured drugs during the Civil
War long after other Southern cities
ran out.
"Working in a hospital in Athens and seeing the Civil War coming,
he stockpiled drugs from New York
before the blockades stopped shipments," Starnes says.
When the drugs ran out, doctors
fell back on their knowledge of botany to make their own.
"Opium was replaced by American hemlock and digitalis by bloodwort and wild cherry," according to
"Sites Related to Crawford Williamson Long in Georgia," co-authored by
Starnes in the journal Anesthesiology.
A large coffee grinder and fruit
press sit in the museum's replica of
an old doctor's office.
"We love to ask kids why they
think they are there. You certainly
wouldn't find them in a modern doc-

tor's office," Starnes says.
"They were used to grind
roots and press berries to
make medicines."

Wood from Old
Ironsides

COASTAL GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

(Continued from page 38)

St. Simons Lighthouse
Museum in the Keeper's
Dwelling, St. Simons Island
Why is there a piece
of the historic Navy frigate
Old Ironsides on display in
the St. Simons Lighthouse
Museum? The USS Constitution (its official name) was A section of the USS Constitution, also known as Old
designed by Philadelphia Ironsides, is displayed at the St. Simons Lighthouse
shipbuilder Joshua Hum- Museum in the Keeper's Dwelling in St. Simons Island.
phreys and built in a Bos- The live oak used to build the historic frigate came from
ton shipyard. It launched coastal Georgia.
on Oct. 21, 1797, and after
years of active service is on display at whole country is almost under water,
the USS Constitution Museum at the and if the rains continue ... it will be
Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston. impossible almost to get the timber,
But you could say that a piece of it for where the live oak grows is all low
land."
came home.
In October 1794, he wrote to say:
The story begins when Congress
"I
lost
a fine lad, an apprentice, last
authorized President George WashSunday
with fever. ... Everybody is
ington to build a new navy to protect
sick.
If
I
am to stay here till all the
is commercial vessels from piracy in
timber
is
cut,
I shall be dead. ... If you
1794. Washington chose Humphreys
was
here,
you
would curse live oak."
to design six frigates, and Humphreys
Despite
the
obstacles, Morgan
chose to use live oak, which he conworked
on
the
island
until 1796, Rogsidered more durable than white oak.
ers
says,
and
Georgia
live
oak became
It was an American material but grew
a
part
of
U.S.
naval
history.
only in Southern swamps and coastal
Laura Raines is a freelance
islands.
writer
in Mableton and a member of
"St. Simons was a maritime forest
GreyStone
Power Corp. She has been
at that time, so conditions for harvestPlan your visit
known
to
visit (and drag her faming the oak trees were quite harsh,"
ily
to)
any
museum or historic home
* Museum of Aviation, 1942 Heritage Blvd., says Mimi Rogers, curator with the
within
striking
distance. She enjoyed
Coastal Georgia Historical Society.
Robins Air Force Base, Warner Robins.
discovering
a
few
new ones for this
Felling, sawing and transporting
museumofaviation.org. (478) 926-6870.
article.
the timber were almost-insurmount* Andrew Low House, 329 Abercorn St.,
able tasks. Some of the trees stood
Savannah. andrewlowhouse.com. (912)
200 feet tall and were 10 feet in cirTo read the stories behind
233-1828.
cumference. Both the heat and disa bonnet that belonged
eases
such
as
malaria,
yellow
fever
to a conspirator in the
* Crawford W. Long Museum, 28 College
and
the
ague
were
deadly
to
timber
Lincoln assassination, a
St., Jefferson. crawfordlong.org. (706)
web exclusive
web exclusive
crews.
model of an airplane that
367-5307.
In August 1794, John Morgan
was to run on nuclear power and
arrived on the island and wrote to
* St. Simons Lighthouse Museum in the
the last piece of cloth produced by
Keeper's Dwelling, 101 12th St., St. Simons Humphreys: "I have found no timber
Augusta's Enterprise Mill, go to page
as good as in Georgia nor so cheap
Island. bit.ly/lighthousemuseum. (912)
40A in this month's digital edition at
by 50 percent. ... I have not seen
638-4666.
georgiamagazine.org.
10 fair days since I left you. ... The

More online at www.georgiamagazine.org

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - September 2017