— 33 Francestown, Hillsborough County. Cochrane and Wood. History of Francestown, p167.

–70-80 Hanover, Grafton Co. Gallup. Sketches of…Diseases in…[VT]. 1815, p. 48.[1]

— ? Towns “adjacent” to Hanover had dysentery cases. Smith in Gallup, p. 48.

Narrative Information

Cochrane and Wood on Francestown: “Merrill’s Gazetteer of New Hampshire (Exeter 1817) says that dysentery prevailed in Francestown in 1812, causing thirty-three deaths and that there were forty-five deaths in town that year. But the numerous deaths by dysentery here were in the year 1800, (referred to herein at that date;) and probably the writer named above, being told of the many fatalities in this vicinity in 1812, hastily grouped them all into this last named year.” (Cochrane and Wood. History of Francestown, N.H…to January 1, 1891… 1895, p. 167.)

Dollar and Witters on Hanover: “Three years later [had just written of 1797 dysentery epidemic], another outbreak of dysentery struck Hanover. As recorded by the Dartmouth Gazette, ‘In the north and east parts of this town, a number of children have died of the Dysentery. This distemper seizes the youth with great violence, and hastens them to that bourne from whence no traveller returns…” (Dollar and Witters. “That Bourne From Whence No Traveller Returns.” Dartmouth Medicine, Fall 2014, p. 37.)

Prof. N. Smith in Gallup on Hanover: “In the summer of 1800, dysentery appeared in the east part of Hanover,[2] and in several adjacent towns,[3] and carried off many children and some adults, to the number of between seventy and eighty. In the former year, when Hanover was visited with the dysentery, it was confined to the College-plain,[4] so called, and between twenty and thirty died of it. In the last mentioned season it did not attack any on the College-plain. The same year it prevailed in several towns in Vermont.” (Letter of Prof. N. Smith to Dr. Gallup in Sketches of Epidemic Diseases in the State of Vermont, p. 48.)

Sources

Dollar, Emily, and Lee A. Witters, MD. “That Bourne From Whence No Traveller Returns.” Dartmouth Medicine, Fall 2014, pp. 36-41. Accessed 2-9-2018 at: http://dartmed.dartmouth.edu/fall14/pdf/dysentery.pdf

Cochrane, Rev. Warren Robert, and George K. Wood. History of Francestown, N.H., from its earliest settlement, April, 1758, to January 1, 1891, with a brief Genealogical Record of all the Francestown. Nashua, NH: James H. Barker, Printer, 1895. Google preview accessed 2-17-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=llGDthBQqTMC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Gallup, Joseph A., M.D. Sketches of Epidemic Diseases in the State of Vermont; From its First Settlement to the year 1815, with a Consideration of their Causes, Phenomena, and Treatment. Boston: T. B. Wait & Sons, 1815. Accessed 2-7-2018 at: https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/bookviewer?PID=nlm:nlmuid-2555005R-bk

[1] Cites correspondence of Professor N. Smith. Notes dysentery also in surrounding towns but has no numbers.

[2] Hanover, NH, borders the Connecticut River on west side, which serves as the border with Vermont. We are unaware of a Hanover, VT, thus even though this letter abstract is in book on Vermont epidemics, the reference appears to be to NH. The letter from Prof. Smith does end noting that in “The same year it prevailed in several towns in Vermont.” This signifies to me that Hanover, NH, is the topic of discussion.

[3] Lest one wonder if Francestown is an “adjacent” town, a recourse to Google maps shows that Hillsborough County, within which Francestown is located) is not contiguous to Grafton County (Hanover), being to the southeast, wit Merrimack County coming between.

[4] Apparently a reference to Dartmouth.

1800 — Sum., Dysentery outbreak, esp. children, esp. Francestown & Hanover, NH–103-113