[Ads-l] Antedating of "Root Doctor"

[Shapiro, Fred]

root doctor (OED 1814)

1812 Knoxville Gazette 21 July 2/5 (Newspapers.com)

RUNAWAY from the subscriber on the third day of May last, a negro man named JAMES BLAXTON. ... he can read and write very well for a negro, and pretends to be a root doctor.

Fred Shapiro

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