Call Number:

Ms. Codex 2194

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

1 volume

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Ritter family recipe book, 1810, 1813, 1844, Ms. Codex 2194, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1810, 1814, 1844 (inclusive)

Creator:

Ritter, Jacob (1754-1834), Ritter, George (1781-1849), Ritter, Benjamin Isaac (1820-1872), and Ritter, Isaac (1788-1812)

Form:

Codices (bound manuscripts)

Abstract:

Jacob Ritter (1754-1834) was a merchant, who seems to have imported and sold drugs and other pharmaceutical products. Isaac, George, and Benjamin Isaac Ritter were his sons. This volume contains copies of 50 medicinal recipes originally created and compiled by Isaac Ritter and his father, Jacob Ritter, in 1810 and 1813. At the time of Jacob Ritter's estate settlement, the recipes were copied into this volume in 1844 by Benjamin Isaac Ritter and received by George Ritter the same year. Jacob Ritter (1754-1834) was a merchant, who seems to have imported and sold drugs and other pharmaceutical products. Isaac, George, and Benjamin Isaac Ritter were his sons.

Jacob Ritter, who was credited as the original creator and compiler of the majority of the recipes in this volume, was born in Philadelphia, PA on November 18, 1754 to Heinrich Ritter and Maria Elizabeth Dutt Ritter.

On July 11, 1776, Ritter married Elizabeth Myrtetus, with whom he may have had as many as eleven children, including George Ritter (1781-1849) and Isaac Ritter (1788-1812), both of whom are mentioned in this volume. George Ritter was a furniture maker in Philadelphia and Isaac Ritter lived in Charleston, South Carolina as an adult.

After Elizabeth Myrtetus Ritter's death in 1815, Jacob Ritter married Mary Hannah Chattin (1784-1847) on June 24, 1816. Together they had two children, including Benjamin Isaac Ritter (1820-1872), who is featured in this volume. In the Civil War draft records, Benjamin Isaac's profession is listed as a chair maker.

Jacob Ritter was a merchant, who seems to have imported and sold drugs and other pharmaceutical products at 70 North Front Street in Philadelphia, PA. This is supported by the presence of recipes for name-brand medical remedies and drugs included in this volume. Examples of which include Dalby's carminative, Anderson's pills, and Bateman's drops.

Dalby's Carminative was a medical remedy that included opium and was marked as poison by the mid-to-late 19th century. Dalby's Carminative was widely given to infants and children in England and the United States in the late 18th and early-to-mid 19th centuries. They were often referred to as "mother's friends" and were used to treat a variety of ailments.

Anderson's pills were a remedy first marketed by Patrick Anderson around 1635 in Scotland. They contained aloes, colocynth, and gamboge and were meant to cleanse the system after over-indulgence, presumably of alcohol.

Benjamin Okell and other promoters received a Royal patent for Dr. Bateman's drops in 1726, but counterfeit versions of the drops were widely sold in America. In 1824, the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy standardized the many counterfeit recipes and published a standardized version of the drops, which included camphor and opium. The drops were marketed as a cure-all for health concerns including rheumatism, pains, hysterias, gallstones, gout, jaundice, and agues. Their use continued into the 20th century.

Sources:

"Anderson's Pills / Scotch Pills." The Cullen Project, Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, www.cullenproject.ac.uk/items/i63/. Accessed 5 June 2024.

"Dr. Van Swieten's Renowned Pills." Dunlap and Claypoole American Daily Advertiser, 4 February 1790, p. 3. "Isaac Ritter Funeral Announcement." Aurora General Advertiser, 31 October 1812, p. 3.

"Jacob Ritter (1754-1834)." Find a Grave, www.findagrave.com/memorial/154667642/jacob-ritter. Accessed 5 June 2024. "Just Published, A Short Account of the Yellow Fever." Aurora General Advertiser, 8 March 1794, p. 4.

"Just Published..." Aurora General Advertiser, 4 March 1802, p. 4.

Nickell, Joe. "Dr. Bateman's Pectoral Drops." Center for Inquiry, 29 January 2014, centerforinquiry.org/blog/dr-_batemans_pectoral_drops/.

"Pennsylvania Compiled Marriage Records (Page 150)." Ancestry, www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/61048/images/43102_3421606199_0935-00159?pId=307389. Accessed 5 June 2024.

T.E.C., Jr. "WHAT WERE GODFREY'S CORDIAL AND DALBY'S CARMINATIVE?" Pediatrics, 1970, Volume 45, No. 6, June 1970.

"U.S., Civil War Draft Registrations Records, 1863-1865, Pennsylvania, 4th, Class 1&2, M-R, Volume 7 of 11." https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/imageviewer/collections/1666/images/32178_620305173_0160-00011?pId=3787896. Accessed 5 June 2024.

"U.S. Quaker Meeting Records (page 84)." https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/discoveryui-content/view/99790243:2189?ssrc=pt&tid=117006166&pid=380152725589. Accessed 5 June 2024.

This volume contains copies of 50 recipes originally created and compiled by Isaac Ritter in Charleston, SC in 1810 and his father, Jacob Ritter, in Philadelphia, PA in 1813. The the time of Jacob Ritter's estate settlement, the recipes were copied on June 27, 1844 by Benjamin Isaac Ritter, witnessed by Mary Hannah Ritter, and received on October 21, 1844 by George Ritter in accordance with the division of the estate of their father, Jacob Ritter.

The majority of this volume is blank (p. 50-193, 196-198).

Recipes included in this volume address a wide variety of medical concerns. Examples include injections for simple gonorrhea (p. 5), Bateman's drops (p. 9), Anderson's pills (p. 10), Dalby's carminative (p. 11), Warner's cordial (p. 13), liquid blacking (p. 14), worm powder (p. 22), laudanum (p. 27), and Weed's cough syrup (p. 43).