1773 — Smallpox Epidemic, Philadelphia (~300), Marblehead (~3) & Salem (17), MA– ~321

Massachusetts            ( ~21)

—    1  Beverly, Nov 11. William Patch buried after death from smallpox.[1]

—  ~3  Marblehead, (“a few died.”. New England Historical Society. “The 1730…1774…Riots.”[2]

—>17  Salem. Duffy. Epidemics in Colonial America. 1953, p. 68.[3]

 

Philadelphia, PA       (300)

–>300  Duffy. Epidemics in Colonial America. 1953, p. 100.

—  300  Schultz, Suzanne M.  “Epidemics in Colonial Philadelphia from 1699-1799…” 2007.[4]

 

Narrative Information

 

Duffy: “Both Salem and Marblehead were subject to smallpox in 1773. One church record in the former town lists 17 deaths from the disorder, a fact which would indicate 80 to 90 or more cases….”[5] (Duffy. Epidemics in Colonial America. 1953, p. 68.)

 

“In the latter year [1773] the Philadelphia Bills of Mortality show that over three hundred smallpox deaths occurred. ‘As the chief of them were the Children of poor People,’ a newspaper account stated, ‘a Number of Gentlemen in that City have formed a Society for inoculating the Poor, free of Expense to them, and are providing a Fund for that Purpose.’”[6] (Duffy. Epidemics in Colonial America. 1953, p. 100)

 

New England Historical Society: “….In June 1773, a small epidemic again struck Marblehead [another in 1730]. Two months later the town debated building a public inoculation hospital on one of the islands in the harbor. The proposal failed, but the town did permit four prominent citizens to build a private hospital on Cat Island.[7]….They bought Cat Island on Sept. 2, 1773 and began building the hospital. Three groups of patients were inoculated during the last three months of the year. Most survived, but a few died.

 

“The furious townspeople began rioting for several days. They blackened their faces, burned a small boat that brought supplies to the hospital and broke the windows of the proprietors’ homes. In January [1774], four Marbleheaders were caught stealing contaminated clothing from Cat Island, presumably to spread the epidemic and discredit the hospital….” (New England Historical Society. “The 1730 and 1774 Marblehead Riots Against Smallpox Inoculation.”)

 

Sources

 

Duffy, John. Epidemics in Colonial America. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1953.

 

New England Historical Society. “The 1730 and 1774 Marblehead Riots Against Smallpox Inoculation.” Accessed 3-27-2018 at: http://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/1730-1774-marblehead-riots-smallpox-inoculation/

 

Schultz, Suzanne M. “Epidemics in Colonial Philadelphia from 1699-1799 and The Risk of Dying.”  Early America Review, Winter/Spring 2007. Accessed 1-9-2018 at:  https://www.varsitytutors.com/earlyamerica/early-america-review/volume-11/early-american-epidemics

Also at: http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/2007_winter_spring/epidemics.html

 

Vital Records of Beverly, Massachusetts, To the end of the Year 1849 (Vol. II, Marriages and Deaths). Topsfield, MA: Topsfield Historical Society, 1907. Google preview accessed 2-12-2017 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=ayaF0vm1AMIC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Vital Records of Beverly Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849 (Vol. II), 1907, p. 523.

[2] In order to take note of and for the purposes of a tally, we translate “a few died” into approximately three.

[3] In write “at least” 17 deaths in that this is the number of deaths noted on the record of one church.

[4] Cites Roslyn S. Wolman. “A tale of two colonial cities:  inoculation against smallpox in Philadelphia and Boston,” Transactions and Studies of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, Vol. 45, October 1978, p. 340.

[5] Cites, in footnote 48, “Description of Salem,” in Massachusetts Historical Society, Collections, Ser. 1, VI (1800), 276-77); Boston Evening Post, No. 1981, September 13, 1773; Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Weekly News-Letter, No, 1657, November 4, 1773.

[6] Cites, in footnote 61, Massachusetts  Gazette and Boston Post Boy and Advertiser, No. 861, February 14-21, 1774.

[7] Shows a photo and notes the island is now referred to as Childrens Island [at least as of 2016].