In 1787 a letter to an English newspaper referred to "Obiu-women" interpreting the wishes of the dead at the funeral of a murdered slave in Jamaica: a footnote explained the term as meaning "Wise-women". The practice of obeah with regards to healing led to the Jamaican 18th and 19th century traditions of "doctresses", such as Grace Donne, who nursed her lover, Simon Taylor (sugar planter), Sarah Adams, Cubah Cornwallis and Mary Seacole and her mother. These doctresses practised the use of hygiene and the applications of herbs decades before they were adopted by European doctors and nurses.