Saturday, January 26, 2008

Our Herbal Heritage - 6 generations




"Our Herbal Heritage"
In 1850 Philliponc Muller Pross, a German Herb Doctor living in Poland who was quite famous in the medicinal application of herbs and their uses, taught her daughter Marta about herbs. Marta Katharina Pross Loth in turn taught her son-in-law Samuel Ludwig Elgert about herbs. Samuel, a teacher and lay-minister, also became a well-known herbalist passing his herbal expertise to his first-born child Ottylie Elgert, one of thirteen. Ottylie immigrated to America in May 1903. She married and while she lived in Reading, Pennsylvania, made her own cough syrups, camphor rubs, goose grease salves and loved to garden. Ottylie Elgert Peplau passed her love and knowledge of plants to the last born of her five children.
Bertha Peplau Reppert (1919-1999)
Bertha instituted The Rosemary House, Inc in 1968. She wanted to make herbs and herbal products available to everyone through her one-of-a-kind retail herb and spice, gift shop. Her herbal expertise has been captured in the many books and booklets she has authored. During the almost four decades The Rosemary House, Inc has been in business, Mrs. Reppert and family have striven to add a dozen new herbal products every year. These products, Rosemary House Originals, are included in this catalog we offer to you. We also include many, many other fine hard to find herbal goodies. More than a century (or six
Generations) later Bertha has happily passed her herbal knowledge on to her last born daughter, #4.

Susanna R. Reppert-Brill, Susanna with her husband and partner David Brill now own The Rosemary House, Inc, maintaining both the retail and the growing wholesale aspects of the busy family business. Susanna couldn’t do it alone – her husband David Brill is our clinical herbalist and chief computer consultant. Their little herbs Zachery (12), Angelica (8) and Cedar (5) help as best they can and her Sisters: Nancy, Marjorie and Carolynn are all known to lend a helping hand and pitch in frequently. Even Dad the “old boy” Byron at a young 86 is put to work at our events (if he’s not babysitting).

1 comment:

Steph said...

Such a marvelous legacy!