[Ads-l] Mormon tea -- not in OED

[Joel Berson]

"Mormon tea" -- apparently used to refer to all of the following:  (1) plants of the Ephedra genus;  (2) leaves (or powdered leaves?) of such plants;  (3) beverages made from such leaves or powders;  (4) such beverages but not containing ephedra, since ephedrea is "unsafe" (if not illegal?).

Presumably arising from the Mormon's first stimulating, and fortuitous, encounter on their march to Utah.

>From a sketchy investigation.  I have only partial access to Early American Newspapers and Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers.

(1)  An uncertain quotation from 1843:

Times and Seasons.  May 1, 1843.  (Vol. IV, No. 12.  City of Nauvoo, Ill.)  Page [4].
[Contained in Times and Seasons / Volume IV / Photomechanicalreprint of the original edition / ... .  Google Books, full text.  The dateline is on page 177, the quotation on page 180.]
/begin quote/
To the Editor of the Boston Weekly Bee:  /
Mormonism. /
Sir---The progress of Mormonism or the doc- /
trine of the Latter Day Saints in Boston; the /
closing of Elder Adam’s official labors in the /
[?]a[?]t; preparations making for his immediate /
departure for the west; the great Mormon tea /[???]ty atBoylston Hall, that came off in high /
glee ...
/end quote/
 
The letter ends (col. 2) with:
 
/begin quote/
Yours truly, (not a Mormon, but) one of the many friends to that much abused people. D.W.R. Boston, April 1, 1843.
/end quote/
 
Whether the phrase refers to “Mormon tea” or a Mormon “tea party” is unclear to me.  Considering the setting of Boston, the latter is certainly possible.
 
I don’t know whether or where the Boston Weekly Bee might be found. 


(2)  Plant genus, 1913:

"... the little trees grow wide apart and the open stretches are covered with sagebrush and "Mormon tea," ..."  Page 27.

"The dominant plants are Coleogyne ramosissima, 'Mormon tea,' and other small gray perennial shrubs of various species ..."  Page 28.
L. F. Noble. "The Shinumo Quadrangle, Grand Canyon District, Arizona. Washington, Government Printing Office, 1914.  (United States Geological Survey, Bulletin 549.)  [Bundled with other bulletins; GBooks, full text.]
Joel



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