Letters to Doctor James Carmichael & Son IMPORTANT: Please
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Current Page - Pill Press and Mortar & Pestle (c. 1800s). The
mortar and pestle have been tools of pharmacy for thousands of
years. Doctor Carmichael and his sons acted as their own
pharmacists. Many of their patients lived on estates or farms
outside the city of Fredericksburg. Because traveling was time
consuming for both the patient and doctor, frequently a letter
was delivered to the Carmichaels’ office with a description of
the illness and a plea for medicine. Upon reading the letter,
the Carmichaels dispensed the appropriate medicine and sent the
bearer (often a slave) back with the drug and instructions on
its proper use. If a family member determined the patient was
extremely ill, the Carmichaels made a house call. In many
letters, the authors urgently requested that one of the
Carmichaels quickly ride to their plantation to tend to an ill
family member or slave. The doctor who rode o