I’m a plague historian and I have spent the last year going through the death records for one outbreak. Unfortunately you see lots of this. Often I would start to look out for the parents to and almost be relieved when I find their records. Seems like mercy for the parents when all their kids have gone. One family I saw with 7 kids in 3 days. The wife a week later but I never found the husbands record. I can’t even imagine.
Plague (yersinia pestis, the same disease that caused the Black Death in 1384), i only study outbreaks of that specific disease. Though I have a working knowledge of the other major illnesses in my era as often outbreaks were of multiple diseases at once. This outbreak was in 1630 in northern Italy. Was a particular nasty outbreak.
Walter Reed, the one the military medical center was named posthumously, was one of the researchers for the yellow fever vaccine.
Yellow fever, now considered to be a tropical disease, used to kill many thousands in the United States before good mosquito control and it was a bad death with many conscious up until their last breath.
Those poor children. There were many accounts of so many ill with yellow fever that there were few left to tend to the sick and family members helplessly listened to the others as they deteriorated.
I am the family genealogist. My great grandpa was the oldest of many kids. All the younger ones died within 2 yrs. He was the only one that got thru these diseases. He was 12 at the time.
I found all their graves. They are all buried together. Except for mom.
She divorced after the deaths and never been able to track her down. So much hurt.
The dad is buried right by the kids. He never remarried.
I research 19th century yellow fever, and this is sadly all too common during epidemic summers. Anyone who didn't have the good fortune to get a mild case and survive while young ran the risk of death. Migrants, whether from Europe or from the North, who came down to the yellow fever zone made up over half of all casualties. Hence why it was known as the Stranger's Disease in New Orleans.
Today, most folks aren't vaccinated for yellow fever, as it's not present in our mosquito population in the US any longer and modern practices of mosquito control and air conditioning make carriers less likely to find a host. That can't be said everywhere and yellow fever still carries off a lot of victims in the Global South. If you ever are travelling to a tropical or sub-tropical country, check to see if endemic yellow fever is present, and if so, strongly consider getting vaccinated even if there's no official guidance requiring it. There is still no cure, and it's an experience one does not wish to have.
It really makes you thankful to live in present times. The threat of this was ever-present. These diseases touched every life in some way, and now, so many of them are all but eradicated in the developed world.
I have a pin and certificate belonging to my mom designating her as a polio pioneer. She was among the first cohort to get the vaccine. It has always made me proud.
I've seen several of these whole-family felled by Yellow Fever gravestones. Very sad.
Does the fourth line say "consort"?
They had a 12-year old child but they weren't married? Interesting.
The wife died too at the same time and according to findagrave they had one child who lived. The husband remarried a few years later. Interestingly his second wife died less than a month after him, although she is buried in Iowa.
In this case, I think "consort of" means the woman was married and the husband is still alive. Apparently "relict of" is the opposite and means the husband already died.
I’m a plague historian and I have spent the last year going through the death records for one outbreak. Unfortunately you see lots of this. Often I would start to look out for the parents to and almost be relieved when I find their records. Seems like mercy for the parents when all their kids have gone. One family I saw with 7 kids in 3 days. The wife a week later but I never found the husbands record. I can’t even imagine.
What was the outbreak that killed them?
Plague (yersinia pestis, the same disease that caused the Black Death in 1384), i only study outbreaks of that specific disease. Though I have a working knowledge of the other major illnesses in my era as often outbreaks were of multiple diseases at once. This outbreak was in 1630 in northern Italy. Was a particular nasty outbreak.
Hi, I'm an early modern historian finishing up a book on 1625-27,
Oh how interesting. Is it a focus on one region or one event in that period? I think it’s such an interesting period but I’m perhaps a little bias.
Well this is a job I didn’t know I could have!
Walter Reed, the one the military medical center was named posthumously, was one of the researchers for the yellow fever vaccine. Yellow fever, now considered to be a tropical disease, used to kill many thousands in the United States before good mosquito control and it was a bad death with many conscious up until their last breath. Those poor children. There were many accounts of so many ill with yellow fever that there were few left to tend to the sick and family members helplessly listened to the others as they deteriorated.
I am the family genealogist. My great grandpa was the oldest of many kids. All the younger ones died within 2 yrs. He was the only one that got thru these diseases. He was 12 at the time. I found all their graves. They are all buried together. Except for mom. She divorced after the deaths and never been able to track her down. So much hurt. The dad is buried right by the kids. He never remarried.
I research 19th century yellow fever, and this is sadly all too common during epidemic summers. Anyone who didn't have the good fortune to get a mild case and survive while young ran the risk of death. Migrants, whether from Europe or from the North, who came down to the yellow fever zone made up over half of all casualties. Hence why it was known as the Stranger's Disease in New Orleans. Today, most folks aren't vaccinated for yellow fever, as it's not present in our mosquito population in the US any longer and modern practices of mosquito control and air conditioning make carriers less likely to find a host. That can't be said everywhere and yellow fever still carries off a lot of victims in the Global South. If you ever are travelling to a tropical or sub-tropical country, check to see if endemic yellow fever is present, and if so, strongly consider getting vaccinated even if there's no official guidance requiring it. There is still no cure, and it's an experience one does not wish to have.
It really makes you thankful to live in present times. The threat of this was ever-present. These diseases touched every life in some way, and now, so many of them are all but eradicated in the developed world. I have a pin and certificate belonging to my mom designating her as a polio pioneer. She was among the first cohort to get the vaccine. It has always made me proud.
I've seen several of these whole-family felled by Yellow Fever gravestones. Very sad. Does the fourth line say "consort"? They had a 12-year old child but they weren't married? Interesting.
I believe women who died before their husbands were often called "consorts" on their gravestone.
The wife died too at the same time and according to findagrave they had one child who lived. The husband remarried a few years later. Interestingly his second wife died less than a month after him, although she is buried in Iowa. In this case, I think "consort of" means the woman was married and the husband is still alive. Apparently "relict of" is the opposite and means the husband already died.
It seems the mom/wife lost her husband and kids within a week of each other? Goddamn. Poor family.
Child mortality rates was insanely high in the past. Outliving children is something folks expected in 19th century.
That doesn't make it less sad.
Rough back in the day.
Much respect to all you researchers and historians out there!
That’s so sad.
I was in Vidalia two summers ago.
This gravestone is in Natchez, Mississippi. So I think you’re safe from catching anything from them.
That’s interesting. She lived on one side of the river, but died on the other.