St. Louis, Missouri September 17, 1842
To: Mr. Henry Shaw [???] hotel /
Doctor Vitalis takes the liberty of giving below to Mr. Henry Shaw, the detailed account of medical care to be given during his absence, of the slave Brigitte and her little mulatto son.
To Know:
1844
May 22. Visit to Brigitte’s child for worm fever, and, returned measles. Pursuit of a wrongly given purgative $2.00
[May?] 23. Prescription and medication visit, at the same time very badly $2.50
[May?] 24. Vesication and medication given [???] $3.00
[May?] 25. [?] [??] Dressings $2.50
[May?] 27. [?] [??] [and? al?] $2.00
[May?] 28. [?] [??] [and? al?] [red wax mark]
[May?] 29. [?] prescription for convalescence $2.00 /
July 1st Visit, prescription, vesication (blister treatment) behind the ears, and incision of the gums to the same child, for difficult dentition and original dysentery. ey. $4.00
[July?] 7. Visit to the mother for false pleurisy and fevers [etc.] $2.00
[July?] 9. Visit to the same for verification. (recovered) $2.00
Total: $24.00
(Vesication is a form of treatment which causes blistering on the skin which is no longer is used.) See PHO2020-0035.
While a merchant in St. Louis Shaw began buying enslaved people in the 1820s with the earliest existing record being that of Peach in 1828. 1850 census records indicate Shaw owned nine enslaved people and by 1853 that number had grown to eleven, 1860 census records show him with eight enslaved people. Their names were not listed in either the 1850 or 1860 U.S. Census. Please see the historical timeline section for more information on this subject. Image is for reference.