The story of the black salve is known to many herbalists, folk healers and historians of American healing. The recipients of its benefits, those who have been healed, also know about it and attest to its value. The salve was and is used by many for the "drawing out" of cancer and tumors from the body. It is not scientific by modern standards but has a traditional use by a long line of herbalists, medical doctors and lay healers. One of those lay healers was Evelyn Broward Green, a resident of St. Augustine, Florida in the early to mid-twentieth century.

Picture of the Green Family circa 1900
This picture according to descendants was taken near Middleburg, Florida

From Right to Left:
Roxana Cherry (mother), E. B. (Evelyn Broward), Clara (sister), Brian (brother), Howard (with fiddle), Brave (the dog), Perry (brother), Henry (father), Harry (brother),Sara (the horse)

Evelyn Broward Green (1896-1979), or E.B. as he was called, practiced as a part time folk healer in St. Augustine for many years. His regular job was with the Florida East Coast Railway. E.B.'s father, Henry Green, was was a folk healer who traveled around the countryside on Sara the horse. He be would be away for days at a time traveling from settlement to settlement on both sides of the St. Johns River. His career as a healer began sometime in the late 19th century. Henry Green used the black salve and probably taught it to his sons in the time honored tradition of folk remedies. Of the Green family members it was E.B. and his brother Howard who took on the family tradition of using the black salve. Evelyn Broward (E.B.) lived at 26 Clark St. and Howard lived at 9 Arenta St. They both worked for Florida East Coast Railway most of their adult lives. They worked or were based in a Railroad shop across from the present location of Texaco on US 1 at Orange St. Howard died in 1959. E.B. died 1979. He and his brother Howard were the last to use the black salve although the tradition was handed down to Evelyn Broward's grandson, John Schneider, who lived in his grandfather's house as a child. The family was of Scotch Irish descent.

Evelyn Broward was named after Napoleon Broward, later to become governor of Florida. Evelyn was an old Irish name and because he was born on Christmas Eve, he was called "Evey" or E.B. Of the Green descendants E.B. used the black salve and other healing remedies the most. He went to work for the railroad in 1912 at sixteen years old and was employed by them until 1964 when he retired, a total of fifty two years. He is said to have "cured" five hundred people with cancer. Many of them came from out of state as far away as Michigan and New York. He "practiced" part time, usually on Saturdays when he was not working for the Railroad. He charged no money but took donations. The average donation was two dollars but people who were well off sometimes paid five dollars. His highest donation was fifty dollars. His other main expertise was healing warts. He "talked" or rubbed warts off. E.B. chewed tobacco and would lick his finger which he rubbed the wart with. A typical session of "wart rubbing" would go something like: "You're much too pretty a little girl to have these ugly warts. Just give them to old man Green." The person had to say they didn't want the warts. Edgar Cayce "The Sleeping Prophet" of Virginia Beach, Virginia, also rubbed warts. His ability was attributed to magnetism.

The main ingredient of the black salve is blood root. While there is no blood root in Ireland, the Green family tradition was that the black salve came from Ireland. It was a secret family recipe passed from generation to generation. Ingrid Naiman in her book Cancer Salves, mentions the folk tradition where the black salve was said to have come from Ireland. Research seems to give credit to the American Indians for the original use of blood root for healing cancer. Frontier folk healers learned from and borrowed a number of herbal remedies from the Indians.

It seems fitting and appropriate that E.B. Green's home is now a herb shop and natural healing clinic. Perhaps there is something we call fate that is beyond coincidence. This house became Healing Waters Clinic & Herb Shop in 2000. The owner, herbalist Laurence Layne, "coincidentally" learned about the black salve a number of years before at a herb class in California offered by Michael Tierra, author of Way of Herbs. The Herb Shop sells bulk blood root herb, blood root tincture and a "Black Salve, Jr.," a non-caustic salve that helps heal skin conditions.