Herbalist program at Smithville

A free, two-part program focusing on Agnes Gilkerson Smith and her use of herbal medicine at Smithville in the 1800s will be presented at Historic Smithville Park on Sunday, August 2 and Sunday, August 23. Both sessions begin at 2 p.m.

Residents are invited to learn about Agnes who lived at Smithville from 1865 to 1881 and was a writer, horticulturist, entrepreneur and practicing physician. She studied at Penn Medical University in Philadelphia where she learned the skills of an herbalist and doctor. Agnes found ingredients for her medicines growing wild in the fields, woods and stream near home, and she became one of Burlington County’s greatest herbal practitioners.

The program will be presented by master gardener and herbalist Jeannie Francis, author of My Grandmother’s Garden. Part one, “The Ingenious Agnes Gilkerson Smith,” will feature a lecture and PowerPoint presentation and will be held inside the mansion on August 2. Registration is required.

The follow-up session, “The Wilds of Foraging with Dr. Agnes Gilkerson Smith,” which includes a walking tour of the grounds, will be held on August 23. Registration is encouraged. Meet in the mansion courtyard. (Participants are not required to attend both sessions.)

Historic Smithville Park is located on Smithville Road in Eastampton, three quarters of a mile off Route 38. To register, call the Division of Cultural Affairs and Tourism at (609) 265-5068.

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Author: Press Release--Burlington County