Halloween
is coming up and there is always something fun about the holiday. Mildly gory
decorations and stories fill the house and it's a ghoulishly good time!
I have
recently been searching the cemeteries and death records of the Wilson family
of Clark County, Ohio. I was taken aback by how many family members died of
tuberculosis and it reminded me of the many horrible diseases of the past.
 |
| Lavina Wilson West died of tuberculosis in 1880. |
Some of
the old diseases are so uncommon these days that you may never have even heard
of them! Looking at death records can open your eyes to a world of
diseases you knew nothing about.
Tuberculosis
was one of those diseases that plagued the Wilson family. It was also known as
galloping consumption or the white plague. Over 100,000 Americans died every year from the bacterial disease in the early 1900's.[1] It
is still among one of the most widespread diseases in the world.
Symptoms include a cough lasting up to 3 weeks, fever, pain,
fatigue, and coughing up blood from deep within the lungs. Sanatoriums were
created for the sick and were sometimes referred to as
“waiting rooms for death.”[2]
One of the difficulties with TB was that a person could be infected, but not sick. In other words, the TB bacteria could be latent and in this state, not contagious, but a ticking time bomb. Once the TB became active it could pass through coughs, sneezing, and close contact.[3] Family members, because of close proximity, would often catch the disease from an infected loved one. Out of the thirteen children of Lavina and Michael Wilson, at least three children and a son-in-law died of the disease.
One of the difficulties with TB was that a person could be infected, but not sick. In other words, the TB bacteria could be latent and in this state, not contagious, but a ticking time bomb. Once the TB became active it could pass through coughs, sneezing, and close contact.[3] Family members, because of close proximity, would often catch the disease from an infected loved one. Out of the thirteen children of Lavina and Michael Wilson, at least three children and a son-in-law died of the disease.
Besides
tuberculosis, another killer was la gripe, also known as the influenza. It was
March of 1918 when the first wave of the Spanish Flu hit
America in our military camps.[4] The
soldiers had brought it home from the War. Unfortunately, it did not stay in
one place and spread rather quickly. By fall, we had a second wave and a
serious problem on our hands. The virus killed nearly 200,000 Americans in
October of that year, including my great grandmother.
My
great-grandmother, Donia Hensley Cole, was born in 1893. She was 25 years old
when she contracted the flu. According to her death record, she was also
pregnant and sick for nine days before passing. Donia was the mother of three children,
all under the age of seven, and I have often wondered about her last days.
The
symptoms of the Spanish Flu included fever, aches and pains, nausea, and
diarrhea. Occasionally, the afflicted would get dark spots on their cheeks and
their skin would turn a bluish hue from lack of oxygen. In many cases, the sick
would develop pneumonia which would cause death.
Though,
tuberculosis and the flu are awful, it was diphtheria that gave me the
heeby-geebies. Diptheria is a bacterial disease that attacks the nose and
throat of the infected person. Though there is a vaccine that protects us
today, that wasn't the case in the not-so-distant past.
In 1914,
diphtheria entered the home of my great-grandfather, Alonzo Walls. Two of his
daughters, one of whom was my Grandma Iness, came down with the disease. The
oldest daughter, Lulu was fifteen and Iness was just seven years old. Lulu became sick
first and it likely went un-diagnosed until it had progressed too far. Lulu and
Iness were put in the same bed so they could be quarantined from the rest
of the family and receive their treatment. Treatment for diphtheria at that
time may have included an antitoxin derived from horses or the disease was left
to run its course.
Iness woke one morning
to find her sister lying there dead beside her. Lulu's tongue had swollen so
greatly, it would not fit into her mouth. Iness was lucky and recovered.
 |
| The only known picture of Lulu Walls, child on the left. |
The haunting illnesses
of the past can make a scary story this Halloween. It may not be in good taste,
but if your children like a good gory story, why not tell them what their
ancestors died of…after all, it's great to take any opportunity to talk about family history!
Tip: If
you have a death record that lists an unusual cause of death, you might find
out more about it by using the list of old illnesses and their names found at: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lynda77/illness1.htm.
Reviewing that list will be sure to make you grateful you live in 2016!
Happy
Halloween, my friends!
Read more fun stories:
Well, That's Weird: Strange Genealogy Records Found Online
Read more fun stories:
Well, That's Weird: Strange Genealogy Records Found Online
"Finished" Family Line Questioned
[1]
Sucre, Richard.
“The Great White Plague: The Culture of Death and the Tuberculosis
Sanatorium.” University of Virginia. Web.
(www.faculty.virginia.edu/blueridgesanatorium/death.htm: accessed 14 Mar
2015).
[2]
Ibid.
[3]
“Understanding Tuberculosis.” American Lung
Association. Web.
(www.lung.org/lung-disease/tuberculosis/understanding-tuberculosis.html :
accessed 14 Mar 2015).
[4]
Billings, Molly. “The Influenza Pandemic of 1918.” Stanford
University. June 1997. Web.
(https://virus.standford.edu/uda : accessed 16 Mar 2015).
