Record #:

8551

Author(s):

Arthur, Billy

Abstract:

Born in Surry County July 27, 1812, Thomas L. Clingman attended law school at UNC-Chapel Hill and served as a general in the Confederate Army. After being thrown from a horse and later shot in the leg, Clingman applied wet tobacco leaves to his injuries and discovered that this treatment lessened both the pain and swelling within a day. Clingman published a pamphlet in1885 titled “The Tobacco Remedies – The Greatest Medical Discovery.” Prominent Tar Heels including several doctors provided testimonials as to the efficacy and various cures that tobacco offered. Clingman later sold a tobacco leaf cake which could be taken apart and made into a poultice or ointment. Tobacco's healing properties were never definitive or fully accepted when Clingman died in 1897.

Source:

The State (NoCar F 251 S77), Vol. 50 Issue 2, July 1982, p9-10, il, por

Subject(s):

Tobacco; Medicine--History