Russell Thacher Trall
American writer (1812-1877)
Russell Thacher Trall (August 5, 1812 – September 23, 1877) was an American physician and proponent of hydrotherapy, natural hygiene and vegetarianism. He authored the first American vegan cookbook in 1874.
Biography
Trall was born in Vernon, Connecticut. He trained in medicine and obtained his M.D. in 1835 from Albany Medical College but broke away from conventional medical methods. Trall practiced alternative medicine in New York City from 1840. He was influenced by the water cure movement and established his own water-cure institution in New York in 1844. In 1849, Trall founded the American Hydropathic Society with Joel Shew and Samuel R. Wells. Trall and Wells also established the American Anti-Tobacco Society in 1849. In 1850, he organized a convention for the American Hydropathic Society in New York City and during this year the Society became the American Hygienic and Hydropathic Association of Physicians and Surgeons.
Trall authored the two volume Hydropathic Encyclopedia in 1851.
The public source identifies “Russell Thacher Trall” as american writer (1812-1877). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Russell, Thacher and Trall.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1509427. VIAF identifies the subject as 7307416. The Library of Congress control number is nr98044633. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1812, 1877, 1874 and 1835.
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This entry incorporates text from “Russell Thacher Trall” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.