Sylvester Graham Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids The Reverend Sylvester Graham
Wood engraving of Graham, 1880
Born	July 5, 1794 Suffield, Connecticut
Died	September 11, 1851(1851-09-11) (aged 57) Northampton, Massachusetts
Occupation	Presbyterian minister, dietary reformer
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Sylvester Graham was an American minister who lived from 1794 to 1851. He was famous for promoting healthy eating, especially vegetarianism (eating no meat) and whole-grain bread. He also supported the temperance movement, which encouraged people to avoid alcohol. His ideas led to the creation of graham flour, graham bread, and even graham crackers. Many people call Graham the "Father of Vegetarianism" in the United States.

Early Life and Education
Graham's Health Career
Graham's Death
Selected Writings
Images for kids
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Early Life and Education

Sylvester Graham was born in 1794 in Suffield, Connecticut. He came from a very large family with 17 children. His father was 72 years old when Graham was born, and his mother was often unwell. Graham's father passed away when Sylvester was only two years old. Because of this, he spent his childhood living with different relatives. One of his relatives owned a tavern, where young Graham had to work.

Graham was often sick as a child, which meant he missed a lot of school. He worked various jobs, like a farmhand, cleaner, and teacher. Later, he decided to become a minister, just like his father and grandfather. He joined Amherst Academy in his late 20s to study. However, he left school after a year because other students didn't like his dramatic way of speaking.

Leaving school made Graham feel very unwell and stressed. To get better, he moved to Little Compton, Rhode Island. There, he met Sara Earl, who helped him recover. They later got married. Graham continued to study theology on his own. In 1828, he began working as a traveling preacher in Bound Brook, New Jersey.

Graham's Health Career

In 1830, Graham started working for the Philadelphia Temperance Society. He left after six months to focus more on preaching about health.

Graham became very interested in vegetarianism around the time a serious illness, the 1829–51 cholera pandemic, was spreading in Europe. Americans were very worried it would reach the United States. Doctors at the time often advised people to eat a lot of meat and drink wine to prevent cholera. They also believed cholera was a punishment from God.

Graham learned a lot about how the body works. He came to believe that eating meat was just as bad as drinking alcohol. He thought both could harm a person's body and spirit, as well as their family and society. His ideas were influenced by books that said what people ate greatly affected their health. He also read about how food, especially bread, was often changed with chemicals. At that time, wheat flour was often treated to hide bad smells or make it whiter.

Graham believed people should eat only plants, like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He thought illnesses were caused by not following "natural laws" for living. He told people to stay calm and not worry, suggesting that stress could cause sickness.

From these ideas, Graham created a whole system for a healthy life. He advised drinking pure water and eating a vegetarian diet. His diet focused on bread made at home from coarsely ground flour, without added spices or "stimulants." He also suggested a strict lifestyle, including sleeping on hard beds and avoiding warm baths. This approach is seen as an early example of preventive medicine, which focuses on preventing illness. He believed women should stay home, bake bread, and keep their families healthy.

Graham was a powerful speaker. His unique message, which combined patriotism, religion, diet, and lifestyle, caught the public's attention. It also angered bakers, butchers, and doctors. When the cholera epidemic reached New York in 1832, people who followed Graham's advice seemed to stay healthy. This made him very famous. In 1837, he published his first book, Treatise on Bread and Bread-Making. It explained the history of bread and how to make Graham bread. His lectures in New York and Boston were very popular. In Boston, his lecture was almost stopped by angry butchers and commercial bakers.

The Grahamism Movement

As Graham's fame grew, his ideas became known as "Grahamism." People who were inspired by him started making and selling Graham flour, Graham bread, and graham crackers. However, Graham himself did not invent or support any specific product, and he did not earn money from their sales. Graham's ideas influenced other important Americans, including Horace Greeley and John Harvey Kellogg, who founded the Battle Creek Sanitarium.

In the 1830s, "Grahamite" boarding houses were opened. These places followed Graham's health rules. They included cold baths, hard mattresses, open windows, and a vegetarian diet with Graham bread and cold water. Meat was not allowed in these homes, but eggs were permitted for breakfast.

American Physiological Society

In 1837, Graham, along with Colonel John Benson and William A. Alcott, started the American Physiological Society (APS) in Boston. Their goal was to promote Grahamism. Alcott was the first president of the society. After one year, the society had 251 members, including many women. It lasted for three years.

This society was important because it was one of the first groups to promote natural foods. Many members of the APS had long-term illnesses and became vegetarian. It is thought to be the first group in the United States focused only on vegetarianism. It was also the first American organization for natural hygiene, which emphasizes healthy living habits. A notable member was Mary Gove Nichols, who gave health talks to women.

In 1837, Graham and David Cambell also started a journal called The Graham Journal of Health and Longevity. It aimed to share facts and ideas about human health, based on Graham's teachings. The journal was published for five years. In 1840, it joined with another health journal.

American Vegetarian Society

In 1850, Graham, Alcott, William Metcalfe, and Russell Trall founded the American Vegetarian Society in New York City. This group was similar to a vegetarian organization started in Great Britain a few years earlier.

Graham's Death

Sylvester Graham passed away at age 57 at his home in Northampton, Massachusetts. His early death led to some discussion and questions.

Russell Trall, who had visited Graham, said that Graham had stopped following his strict vegetarian diet. His doctor had told him to eat meat to help his blood circulation. Trall wrote that before he died, Graham regretted this decision. He still believed strongly in the vegetarian diet he had taught.

After Graham's death, many vegetarians started to move away from "Grahamism." However, his message about vegetarianism continued to spread far into the 20th century. Food historians often see Graham as one of the earliest people to promote fad diets in America.

Selected Writings

Graham wrote many books and lectures. Some of his most well-known works include:

Treatise on Bread and Bread-Making (1837)
Lectures on the Science of Human Life (1839)
A lecture on epidemic diseases generally: and particularly the spasmodic cholera (1833)

Images for kids

Sylvester Graham's signature

Sylvester Graham facts for kids

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