Horticulture Tools

Written by Meggan McCarthy

The built environment can tell us a lot about the past, from the foods consumed by a community to provisions made for the environment. In Old Salem, the landscape tells story of the residents of this North Carolina town from its founding in 1766 to 1856. This story includes the gardens used by the community for both sustenance and medicines.

Lewis David von Schweinitz, a Moravian botanist and mycologist, catalogued the flora in a thirty-mile radius of the town in the 1810s and 1820s, culminating in his 1821 manuscript, Flora Salemitana. There were many botanists other than von Schweinitz focused on American flora in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. William Bartram, for example, explored the American South in the 1770s with a focus on botany and ornithology of the region. This study of Florida and Georgia botany led to the publication of his work, Bartram's Travels. He, like von Schweinitz, sought to explore the region they wrote about, gaining an in-depth appreciation for all that grew in the area. 

The property that Von Schweinitz lived in while Administrator for the Salem Congregation (1812-1817) was built for the previous resident, Dr. Samuel Benjamin Vierling in 1802. There is evidence of medicinal gardens at the Vierling House (or the Doctor’s House, as it is known in Old Salem today) during the tenure of both Vierling and von Schweinitz.

In Bethabara, a sister town to Salem in the larger Wachovia community, Dr. Kalberlahn planted a medicinal garden (Hortus medicus) in 1756. According to their website, this garden was the “first European medicinal garden ever planted in America,” and it is still extent. This site allows some inference about the kinds of plants that may have grown in Dr. Vierling’s garden. Some plants familiar to a present-day gardener, like rosemary, sage, basil, and coriander, were found in the Bethabara medical garden. Other plants such as tansy (“good for worms”), mugwort (“a purge”), and horehound (“roots and leaves are used as an antidote for rattlesnake and any other poisonous bites…”) demonstrate other possible plantings in Salem and what they could have been used for. The Old Salem Historic District: Guide to the Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) defined the gardens in eighteenth century Salem as “primarily utilitarian” though some homes did have ornamental or pleasure gardens. The document also defines the types of plants typically found in rear gardens: they “consisted of a series of ‘squares’ or plots planted in vegetables, herbs, and flowers.”

In unpublished research, Jon Sensbach’s notes that Christian David (or Davy) was responsible for tending to important garden spaces. Sensbach states that “Davy cultivated the garden and vineyards below the Vierling House.” In a letter between von Schweinitz and Schulz discussing the transition of Administrator duties, it is noted that the vineyard consisted of 250 vines and was successful due to Christian David’s work on the site. In this letter, von Schweinitz also implored Schulz to allow Davy to continue to live at the Administrator’s home.

Because of David’s aforementioned horticulture expertise, we considered what kinds of work tools he might have had in his dwelling. At first, we thought perhaps he had buckets and yoke to move water around on the Administrator’s property, however, we discovered archival information there was already a source of fresh water on the site. 

Then, we considered the physicality of David’s work. When he lived in this dwelling, he was in his mid-50s. Having spent a majority of his life performing hard labor, it is possible that he suffered infirmities in his later years. His price dropped by fifty percent as he was sold within the Moravian community, possibly indicating infirmities or his decreased ability to perform hard labor. 

With David’s likely infirmities and labor demands, we also considered a grub hoe, which would have enabled him to dig roots and stumps without bending over. This tool could have performed double duty as a type of walking stick for Christian David in his later years as he climbed the steep vineyard behind the administrator’s house. He suffered and ultimately died from dropsy; a condition akin to congestive heart failure. This would have likely slowed him down in his later years, making tasks harder for him to perform. 

A hook knife is another handy tool Christian David likely possessed. Also known as a hawkbill knife or pruning knife, this handheld device would have helped him tend to vines and allow for pruning of medicinal plants or some type of food crop. If David accompanied or guided von Schweinitz on his botanical research trips around Salem, something like a hook knife would have been useful while hiking for cutting through trails and collecting.