Highlights of Past Exhibits

CRAFTING CURES   An interesting related story from our Crafting Cures exhibit of 2008.
The high cost of medical care can put a severe strain on a family’s resources. The cost of doctor visits can be expensive, let alone the cost of medicine. This was certainly the case for Anson R. Lyon in the summer of 1842. In a long winded letter now in the Museum’s archives, Lyon wrote to Dr. Monroe Ward: I have recently been served on a small debt which I owe you and [I] confess to you that I am unable to settle it at this time. Lyon’s letter gives an interesting glimpse into life in the first half of the 1800s, not only with respect to doctor-patient relations, but also into the realities of being poor. Lyon was a school teacher - he notes that he was obliged to write the letter during school hours - and claims to have earned less than four hundred dollars a year. This is revealed when he cries that he cannot pay his bill because I have lost in bad debts in the last year nearly two hundred dollars, which is more than half of all that I have earned. In a soap-opera like twist, Lyon adds that the bill for six dollars, which the doctor says he is owed, is wrong and offers an explanation why this is so: I have accounted for the mistake in this way viz., by supposing that you have mistaken me for my brother who resides in the same house. However, the key point of the letter was not to explain his sorry lot, or to alert the doctor to his billing error, but to let the doctor know that he was wasting his time and effort trying to collect his fee because, as Lyon repeatedly wrote: it is optional with me to pay you or not. This “option,” as Lyon put it, was new to the citizens of New Jersey in 1842. It came from a humane change in the law that ended the practice of jailing people for not paying their debts. Prior to the change, even a small debt could land someone in prison until it was paid or forgiven. Moreover, conditions for debtors in prison were far worse than for criminals. A critic at the time noted that the government provided food, bedding and fuel for criminals; but for debtors, nothing was provided but “walls, bars and bolts.” Many whose only fault was being poor got sick and even died while in debtor’s prison - so it was certainly good for Lyon’s health that there were no legal repercussions for not paying his doctor's bill.
The $6.00 debt of 1842 would amount to about $128 now, and Lyon's $400 income would be about $8500, so he would still be very poor and unable to pay. Curator Peter Rothenberg has transcribed Lyon's three page letter, as the faded and stained original is difficult to read. He has also put the pages in the correct order. This transcription follows, page by page. Click on the thumbnail images to see a larger reproduction of the original letter.
	Newark July 28th 1842 Dear Sir, I have recently been served on a small debt which I owe you, small as it is however __ and honestly council me to confess to you that I am unable to settle it at this time and indeed I am unable to say when I shall be able to do so, for notwithstanding it should have been paid long since (and it has given me much pain and uneasiness that it has not been .) Circumstances beyond my control has prevented my doing so. I am sure there is no person who uses greater economy or tries harder to get along than I do, and I abominate being in debt as much as a person can. I am __ and indeed I have contrived to keep out of debt in a great measure notwithstanding since I have been married. I have been as unfortunate in pecuniary matters as it is possible for me to have been, for not only has my wife been constantly unwell since you attended her, but the greater part of her time, she has been confined to her bed. This, however I could have got along with very well without suffering much for the want of money, had no other ill luck befell me. But in addition to this, I have lost in bad debts in the last year nearly two hundred dollars, which is more than half of all that I have earned. This would seem almost incredible, but still it is no more strange than true, and to me it is a lamentable truth, for I have been obliged to contract some debts which I cannot pay as yet, for I am actually unable to obtain the necessities of life. Persons are owing me that might pay me if they would but as there is at present no law for collecting debts they will not pay, as few have more than the law allows then if they have it is the easiest thing in the world to secure it. But I have already written three times as much as I intended to have written, and have not (Turn to the third page as I made a mistake and commenced on the wrong page)
	said one word about the main business. As I said before, you have served me and notwithstanding it is optional with me to pay you or not. I am sure I shall hate myself if I had ever thought of [relaxing] in my expectations to do so for if any man will run into debt and then will make no effort to repay that debt but will rather take advantage of a benevolent law to secure him in his villainy I look upon him as being no better than a thief – in fact not so good! There are several persons in this city who have served me in that manner however notwithstanding. I said it was optional with me to pay you or not as I saw fit to do which is true for in consequences of my misfortunes I have been unable to pay my rent for the last year & better & if I have any-thing more than the law allows me ( which I doubt – as I have kept …[paper loss] yet 2 years and have been obliged to do with as little as [possible]) he of course would guard ___ …[paper loss] [suppose] you are aware that there is no imprisonment for debt here anymore :- but for all that you shall have your pay as soon as I can get it for you and I will make every exertion in my power to hasten it but I cannot pay any more [cash] consequently if you see fit to make any more it must be your own loss. -- There is another matter I want to speak about which is this : your bill which you presented to me sometime after you have done attending my family was $6 12 ½ but as it now made out it is $7.00 and some cents. I have looked at your books at find that your bill for the attendance of my wife during her confinement by [abortion] is [$] 6.12 ½ but something subsequent to that you have me charged with 2 visits which you never gave. I assume: as I know my family have no need of medical attendance after that during that winter and spring following. I have accounted for the mistake in this way viz., by supposing that you have mistaken me for my brother who resides in the same house. Possibly you may
	remember yourself the circumstances as it happened I your office one evening sometime after my wife had [recovered] so as to be about the house, I was there after some medicine for her breast (she had taken a little cold in it) and requested you as you had got through with your job to tell me what your bill was you looked and said it was just [$] 6.00 and the medicine I got then was a shilling which made it [$] 6.12 ½ . This I am willing to pay and will pay it If I have to starve myself to do it but I want you to write to __[name] so that he may set the matter straight and I would advise you also to have him stay all further proceedings on it as I before said I cannot pay any cash – and it will only be out of your own pocket. You may not thank me for this information but I will assure you that it is given in a spirit of kindness and because I think it is my duty to do so for I am owning you [honestly] and you have waited on me [manfully ?] but when a person _____ do I always think it best to be candid and to try and make the best of it. If you [deem] it best to write to __[name] or me you had better do it so that I can get your letter the day before the trial. You must excuse all mistakes in this as well as the bad composition and writing for I have been obliged to write it during school hours and I have not such time to read it much less to copy it . Yours truly, Anson R. Lyon To Dr. Monroe Ward
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