Russell Trall

Russell Thacher Trall (August 5, 1812 – September 23, 1877) was an American physician and proponent of hydrotherapy, natural hygiene and vegetarianism. He authored the first American vegan cookbook in 1874.

Biography

Trall was born in Vernon, Connecticut. He trained in medicine and obtained his M.D. in 1835 from Albany Medical College but broke away from conventional medical methods. Trall practiced alternative medicine in New York City from 1840. He was influenced by the water cure movement and established his own water-cure institution in New York in 1844. In 1849, Trall founded the American Hydropathic Society with Joel Shew and Samuel R. Wells. Trall and Wells also established the American Anti-Tobacco Society in 1849. In 1850, he organized a convention for the American Hydropathic Society in New York City and during this year the Society became the American Hygienic and Hydropathic Association of Physicians and Surgeons. He recommended daily bathing and using cool or cold water. He transferred operations to New Jersey in 1867, with his Hygeian Home. He edited The Water-Cure journal, which he later renamed The Herald of Health. It almost disappeared by his death in 1877 but was revived by Sebastian Kneipp in the 1890s.

Relationship with the Seventh-day Adventist church

One of Trall's students was Merritt Kellogg a Seventh-day Adventist who obtained an M.D. degree from his college. Kellogg formed a union with Trall and he later received approval from James Springer White. Trall was invited to teach a course of health lectures in Battle Creek at the close of annual general conference meetings in 1868. Trall's opinions on diet were regarded by readers as "radical and fanatical" and many gave up becoming subscribers. The Whites were disappointed that readers were cancelling their subscription. His The Hygeian Home Cook-Book published in 1874 is the first known vegan cookbook in America. The book contains recipes "without the employment of milk, sugar, salt, yeast, acids, alkalies, grease, or condiments of any kind."

Selected publications

The Hydropathic Encyclopedia (two volumes, 1851) Tobacco: Its History, Nature, and Effects, with Facts and Figures for Tobacco-Users (1854) Fruits and Farinacea: The Proper Food of Man (John Smith, with notes and illustrations by R. T. Trall, 1856) The New Hydropathic Cook-Book (1857) Water-Cure for the Million (1860) The Scientific Basis of Vegetarianism (1860) Hand-Book of Hygienic Practice (1864) The True Healing Art: Hygienic vs. Drug Medication (1872) The Hygienic Hand-Book (1873) The Hygeian Home Cook-Book (1874) Popular Physiology (1875)

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