Madder

[Larry Koschkee]

My family has a letter dated April (?), 1831 wrote by a maternal ancestor, Elizabeth Hore, wife of Thomas Hore, consigned to her brother Robert McKenney , Columbiana County, Western Reserve. She signed the letter Lizzie, Van Matre Survey.

Our family geneaologist has dated the arrival of this family in the "mining district" as early as 1829.

Elizabeth spoke of frustration with the lack of a church community (They were Primitive Methodist) and missed her circle of friends who did a lot of sewing together. Then she said :Cloth is not in good supply here and I ran out of madder this last fall but some indian women camped near the survey gave me some item that is the same. The pick it here and there.

The word madder was researched and found to be a Eurasian herb that was imported to produce a "strong red" dye.

Two questions:

1) Was madder the red dye of choice in the 1820s thru 1840s?

2) What was the the plant that the Native Americans harvested for a red dye.?

Thank you,

Larry Koschkee

[Susan Gordy]

Hi Larry!
Madder is indeed the red dye of choice beginning in the early 1800s thru the 1840s. It was commonly referred to as Turkey Red or Madder Red.

I have no idea what the Indians were using. Reds, blues and greens are the most difficult colors to obtain. Pokeweed is a "weed" that produces bright red colors when the berries are squeezed. I have always been told that the Indians used pokeberries to paint their faces. Problem is that most of these types of "dyes" are very unstable and stain the fabric rather than dyeing the fabric.

One of our Native American reenactors uses vermillion powder for mixing face makeup. I have no idea if that can be used as a dyestuff as well.

Hope this helps a little.

Susan

[Susan Gordy]

Oops.

The cheesy smiley face on the previous post should say dyes ;D

[Greg Carter]

Larry,

British military uniforms during the time period were made of "Madder Red" wool.

GMC

[Larry Koschkee]

Thank you Ladies and Gentlemen,

I believe my next step will be to contact the Botany Department at UW-Madison to see if the Eurasian plant has a cousin in the United States. Perhaps it may be growing in our backyard...

Larry Koschkee

[Larry Koschkee]

A visit with two botanist within the University of Wisconsin system confirmed a North American relative of the "Madder of the Continent" plant of Europe. Rather than 'dazzle" you with my command of the Latin language, the common name of the plant is "Yellow Bedstraw" and can be found throughout the "mining district" and elsewhere. I was shown several images of the plant, but did not recognize it. However, I did recognize two of its family members.... "Catchweed" and "Northern Bedstraw."

I will be on the hunt for the "Yellow Bedstraw" this coming growing season...

The professionals confirmed Susan Gordy's statement that alot of plant material can stain but do not dye. The "Yellow Bedstraw" is a very effective dye and it was found that the Indians mixed it with crab-apple for best results. In addition to its importance as a red dye it has herbal and medical attributes used by Native Americans and Euro-americans on this continent.

Why the name "Bedstraw?" Many plants in the Bedstraw family were harvested by the Euro-americans for their "straw tick" bedding. Hmmmmmm... Time warp back to 1829... I would stuff my "tick" with "Sweet-Scented Bedstraw."

A versatile little plant, indeed.

LWK

[richw]

Larry, I think we need an update:
_Galium verum_ L.
AKA yellow bedstraw
Introduced; native of Eurasia.

Common names like "yellow bedstraw" are often applied to several species.
Latin is the only way to be sure the yellow bedstraw you are talking about is a native, and not _Galium verum_ L.

_Galium verum_ L. probably is common in the Lead District, but probably not in the 1820's.

The Manual of Vascular Plants of the Northeastern United States by Gleason and Cronquist states:
"Native of Eurasia, now a weed of roadsides and fields in our range...[Northeastern U.S.]"

Perhaps __Galium obtusum_ (wild madder) or _Galium cocinnum_ are the native dye plants?

Cleavers/Common bedstraw smells "haylike" and apparently bugs don't like it, so it is a good choice for bed straw.