Anna Pierce Hobbs Bixby
Anna Pierce Hobbs Bixby | |
|---|---|
| Born | Anna Pierce 1808 or 1812 |
| Died | 1869 or 1873 (aged 61-65) |
| Other names | Anna Bixby, Anna Bigsby, Anna Pierce Hobbs Bigsby, Anna Hobbs |
| Occupation(s) | Midwife, frontier doctor, dentist, herbologist, scientist |
| Spouse(s) | Isaac Hobbs (first husband), Eson Bixby (second husband) |
| Medical career | |
| Research | Milk sickness |
Anna Pierce Hobbs Bixby, sometimes spelled Bigsby, born Anna Pierce (c. 1810 – c. 1870), was a midwife, frontier doctor, dentist, herbologist, and scientist in southern Illinois.
Bixby discovered that white snakeroot (Ageratina altissima) contains a toxin. When cattle consume the plant, their meat and milk become contaminated and cause the sometimes fatal condition of milk sickness. One of the most notable and tragic cases of the "milk sickness" was that of Nancy Hanks Lincoln, the mother of Abraham Lincoln, who died at 34 years old in 1818.