1702 — Summer to late Fall, Yellow Fever Epidemic, New York City, NY –500-570
— ~570 Heaton. “Yellow Fever in New York City.” Bull Med Lib Assoc. Apr 1946, 34/2, 68.
— 570 Keating 1879, p. 78.
— 570 New York Times. “Yellow Fever Retrospect.” Oct 7, 1888.
— >500 NYT, Epidemics in NY, Feb 16, 1896.
— ~500 SPG missionary George Keith, cited in Duffy. Epidemics in Colonial America, p. 144.[1]
— >500 Wikipedia. “Timeline of New York City Crimes and Disasters.”
Narrative Information
Heaton: “The second epidemic of yellow fever [in NYC] occurred in 1702. It was said to have been imported from St. Thomas and was known as “the great sickness.” On September 17, the Governor and Council convoked the Assembly to meet at Jamaica, Long Island, on account of the sickness in New York. The Supreme Court was adjourned to the same place. A proclamation was issued regarding the quick burial of victims dying from the “malignant distemper.” A weekly day of fast and humiliation was appointed.[2] On September 27, 1702, Cornbury reported to the lords of trade:
in ten weeks time, sickness has swept away upwards of five hundred people of all ages and sexes. Some men of note and amongst the rest Capt. Stapleton dyed two days ago, he was Commander of her Majestys Ship Jersey and brought me into this Province.[3]
“The former Mayor, Thomas Noell, was on the point of death, the alderman of the South Ward (Brandt Schuyler) was already dead, and the rest of the aldermen and assistants were very sick or in the country to avoid the “Pestilential distemper.”[4] On September 30, George Keith, A.M., missionary from the Society for Propagating the Gospel preached at the request of Mr. Vesey “at the Weekly Fast, which was appointed by the government, by reason of the great mortality that was then at New York, where above Five Hundred died in the Space of a few weeks; and that very Week, about Seventy died”.”[5] (Heaton, Claude Edwin. “Yellow Fever in New York City,” BMLA, Apr 1946, 34/2, 67-68.)
NYT: “In 1702 Edward Hyde, Lord Cornbury, was Governor of New-York….In June, a malignant epidemic broke out in the town which, as it was then described, ‘Strongly resembled yellow fever.’ The citizens were panic-stricken through their inability to cope with it, and as many as could fled to the surrounding country – an expedient often resorted to in the future. Cornbury took his Council with him to Jamaica, L.I., and there established the seat of government. During this visitation more than 500 perished – a startling proportion in a population less than 10,000. And yet it was commonly said that the Governor himself was a far worse plague. This may ell have been true, according to the following pen picture of him: ‘Cornbury was a very tyrannical, base, and profligate man, and received his appointment from King William as a reward for his desertion of King James. He was a savage bigot and imprisoned several clergymen who were dissenters. He was wont to dress himself in women’s clothes, and thus patrol the fort. His avarice was insatiable and his disposition that of a savage.’ The yellow fever disappeared with the coming of the frost: but unfortunately this ‘Royal Governor’ pest was destined to continue without a break for more than seventy years.” (NYT, “Epidemics in NY,” February 16, 1896.)
Sources
Duffy, John. Epidemics in Colonial America. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1953, reprinted 1979.
Heaton, Claude Edwin, MD. “Yellow Fever in New York City.” Bulletin Medical Library Association, April 1946, Vol. 34, No. 2, pp. 67-78. Accessed 11-23-2010 at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC194570/
Keating, J. M. A History of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1878 in Memphis, Tenn. Memphis, TN: Howard Association, 1879. Google preview accessed 3-16-2018 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=WEIJAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
New York Times. “Epidemics in New York.” 2-16-1896, p. 1. Accessed 4-1-2018 at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9C01EEDF123EE333A25755C1A9649C94679ED7CF
New York Times. “Yellow Fever Retrospect.” 10-7-1888. Accessed at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9D03EFD81F38E033A25754C0A9669D94699FD7CF&oref=slogin
Wikipedia. “Timeline of New York City Crimes and Disasters.” Accessed 11-23-2010 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_New_York_City_crimes_and_disasters
[1] The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel missionary, who wrote in December that “in the Town of New York…nearly five hundred persons dyed in the Space of three months…” (Duffy, p. 146.)
[2] Cites. Ca. Count. Min., 174.
[3] Cites: N.Y. Col. Docs., IV, 972.
[4] Cites: Minutes of the Common Council of the City of N.Y., 1784-1831, N.Y., 1917, II, 203.
[5] Cites: M.C.C., I, 34, 45.