2 h 13 minAudiobook13 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 2 h 13 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 74 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 74 pagesAbout this book
What if a household’s answer to sickness and fear lies in a spoken prayer or a folded paper charm?
In The Long Lost Friend, John George Hohman gathers folk remedies, charms and blessings from the Pennsylvania German world. First published in 1820, this small handbook brings together treatments for people and animals, prayers meant to protect homes, and formulas to speak aloud or carry on paper. Everyday troubles meet a deeply religious understanding of healing.
At its heart is Braucherei, often called pow-wow in English: a folk healing practice that uses words, gestures and prayers. Christian invocations run through the collection, calling on God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. These pages reveal how families turn to faith and household remedies when illness, danger or misfortune threatens.
What you’ll discover
- Remedies from farm life Explore historical responses to cuts, burns, toothache and fever, alongside remedies intended for livestock.
- Words carried for protection Discover paper charms and spoken formulas meant to guard homes, goods and bodies against harm.
- Christian prayer and folk healing See how sacred names and blessings shape this tradition’s approach to sickness and protection.
- A Pennsylvania German household Enter a culture where families keep this handbook near the Bible and consult it during illness.
- Faith in everyday troubles Encounter a worldview that connects physical suffering with spiritual help, prayer and practical household concerns.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy folklore, early American history, old herbal remedies, or the way ordinary families once joined prayer to daily work.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Hohman wrote a working book for neighbors
- Pow-Wow joins prayer, medicine and old custom
- Everything is done in threes, in the right way
- Short verses answer blood, burns and fevers
- Herbs, salves and kitchen cures fill the pages
- Farm animals and daily chores get their own cures
- Charms guard against thieves, fire, weapons and witches
- The book lasts because it speaks to human need
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The Long Lost Friend
by John George Hohman · 1820
A Pennsylvania Dutch healer gathers charms for burns, thieves and bleeding, all to be spoken three times.
Medium levelUnder 2 hours to readItaliano
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In short
Can a few words, spoken at the right hour, stop a wound from bleeding? For many farm families in early Pennsylvania, the answer was yes.
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Listen freeOr hold it in print: paperback, hardcover or large print, at costFrom the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Hohman wrote a working book for neighbors
The Long Lost Friend begins as an act of sharing. John George Hohman settled in Berks County and printed his collection in German in 1820. In his preface he says he wants its contents to reach everyone, so that no person goes without a remedy.
That aim matters, because knowledge of this kind was often guarded. Families passed charms down in secret, and some healers sold their formulas dearly. Hohman does the opposite. He prints the words and the steps, and he tells the reader to use them.
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- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 13 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
- Paperback
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A Pennsylvania Dutch healer gathers charms for burns, thieves and bleeding, all to be spoken three times.
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Details
- First published
- 1820
- Language
- Italiano
- Listening time
- 2 h 13 min
- Level
- Medium level
- Paperback
- 74 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Hardcover
- 74 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print paperback
- 116 pages · 8.5 × 11 in
- Large print hardcover
- 116 pages · 8.5 × 11 in
- Delivery and returns
- Printed when you order. Usually here in 12 to 14 days.Arrives to to Stati Uniti, printed for you at cost
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Cite this edition
Hohman, John George. The Long Lost Friend. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-the-long-lost-friend.
Hohman, J. G. (2026). The long lost friend. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-the-long-lost-friend (Original work published 1820)
Hohman, John George. The Long Lost Friend. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-the-long-lost-friend.
@book{hohman2026long,
author = {Hohman, John George},
title = {The Long Lost Friend},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-the-long-lost-friend},
note = {First published 1820}
}
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What is The Long Lost Friend about?
It is a collection of short folk charms, prayers and home remedies from the Pennsylvania Dutch Pow-Wow tradition. Entries cover bleeding, burns, fevers, livestock, thieves, fire and protection, along with ointments, eyewashes and farm tips.
Who was John George Hohman?
Hohman was a German immigrant who settled in Berks County, Pennsylvania. He gathered the entries and had the book printed in German in 1820, saying he wanted its contents available to everyone in his community.
What does Pow-Wow mean in this book?
Pow-Wow is the name Pennsylvania Dutch communities gave their folk healing. The word comes from an Algonquian term for a healer or spiritual leader, and the practice blends Christian prayer, German custom and herbal knowledge.
The author
John George Hohman
German American occult writer
German-American printer, book seller, and occult writer.
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