Eli Peck Miller

Eli Peck Miller
Born1828 (1828)
Died19 December 1912(1912-12-19) (aged 83–84)
OccupationsPhysician, writer

Eli Peck Miller (1828 – 19 December 1912), best known as E. P. Miller was an American physician, hydrotherapist, vegetarian and natural hygiene advocate.

Biography

Miller was an 1862 graduate of the New York Hygeio-Therapeutic College and an 1864 graduate of Bellevue Hospital Medical College.[1][2] Miller combined hydrotherapy with diet as complementary therapeutics. He opposed the use of alcohol and tobacco.[3] Miller was a Christian who held the view that suffering was the result of sin, and disease could be caused by eating the wrong foods. He recommended that his clients abstain from coffee, strong milk, pickles, spices and tea.[4]

Early in his career Miller worked with hydrotherapist Russell Trall. Miller was a physician and later became a proprietor, with Dr A L Wood,[5] of the New York Hygienic Institute in Laight Street, New York City NY.[4] In March 1865, they added Victorian Turkish baths to their establishment.[6] An 1870 advertising booklet shows that by then Miller and his wife had left the Institute.[7] The following year they opened the Bath Hotel on West 26th Street. This incorporated "Dr Miller's Turkish, Roman and Electric Baths",[8] which remained open until at least 1886.[9]

From 1865, Miller was the editor of The Herald of Health and Journal of Physical Culture.[10] This journal was the successor of The Herald of Health edited by Russell Trall. In 1893, the journal changed title to the Journal of Hygiene and Herald of Health.[10]

Miller died of pneumonia on 19 December 1912, aged 84.[1]

Beliefs

Phrenology

Miller was a phrenologist and contributed articles to The Phrenological Journal and Science of Health. His hygienic institute conducted phrenological examinations. In 1875, Louisa May Alcott was one of his notable clients.[11]

Spiritualism

Miller converted to spiritualism after attending seances of the Eddy brothers.[12][13]

Vegetarianism

Miller became a vegetarian in 1850.[14] He was a dyspeptic and stated that a vegetarian diet aided his recovery. He became interested in vegetarianism through reading the works of Russell Trall. In 1860, Miller spoke at the Eleventh Annual Meeting of the American Vegetarian Society.[14]

In 1909, Miller wrote that "I am over half way to my 81st birthday. I have not eaten flesh, fish or fowl for many years. I do not use milk unless it is sterilized or pasteurized."[15]

Selected publications

References

  1. 1 2 "Deaths". Journal of the American Medical Association. 60 (1): 65. 1913.
  2. ↑ "Plunge bath at Dr. Miller's"[link removed]. University of Rochester. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  3. ↑ Cayleff, Susan E. (2016). Nature's Path: A History of Naturopathic Healing in America. Hopkins University Press. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-4214-1903-9
  4. 1 2 Stein, Madeleine B. (1999). Louisa May Alcott: A Biography. Northeastern University Press. p. 240. ISBN 9781555534172
  5. ↑ Wilson, Erasmus (1867). The eastern, or, Turkish bath. New York NY: Miller, Wood & Co. p. 61.
  6. ↑ "The first Turkish bath in Manhattan, New York". Victorian Turkish baths: their origin, development, and gradual decline. Retrieved 29 June 2026.
  7. ↑ The New York Hygienic Institute. New York NY: Wood & Holbrook. 1870.
  8. ↑ Miller, Eli P (1878). Dr Miller's Turkish baths, etc. New York NY: E P Miller. pp. 4, 8.
  9. ↑ "The Turkish Bath". New York Times. 1 January 1886.
  10. 1 2 Hoolihan, Christopher. (2001). An Annotated Catalogue of the Edward C. Atwater Collection of American Popular Medicine and Health Reform, Volume 3. University of Rochester Press. pp. 343-344. ISBN 9781580462846
  11. ↑ Eiselein, Gregory; Phillips, Anne K. (2001). The Louisa May Alcott Encyclopedia. Greenwood Press. p. 258. ISBN 9780313308963
  12. ↑ "News and Miscellany". The Health Reformer. 11 (1): 31. 1876.
  13. ↑ Thompson, Robert C. (2015). "Henry Olcott's Sensual Spirits: The American Indian as Spiritualist Spectacle". Ecumenica. 8 (2): 27–43. doi:10.5325/ecumenica.8.2.0027. S2CID 246629393.
  14. 1 2 "E. P. Miller". Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual Meeting of the American Vegetarian Society. 1 (11): 41–44. 1860.
  15. ↑ Miller, E. P. (1909). "Bovine Tuberculosis Baccilli in Milk". The Phrenological Journal and Science of Health. 122 (1): 14–15.
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