1841 — Yellow Fever, esp. FL & LA, esp. New Orleans, also Vicksburg, Charleston –3,498
–3,498 Blanchard tally based on sources cited below and guestimation.[1]
Summary of Death Toll by State
Alabama ( >10)
Florida (1,109) (June-Nov 15, esp. July-Oct) Esp. St. Joseph and Tallahassee
Louisiana (2,152) (Aug-Oct) Esp. New Orleans
Mississippi ( ~200) (Fall) Esp. Vicksburg
Missouri ( 2)
Pennsylvania ( 1)
South Carolina ( ?>10)
Maritime ( 14)
Breakout of Yellow Fever Deaths by State and Locality
Alabama ( >10)
—>10? Mobile. Blanchard stand-in number.[2]
— ? “ Humphreys 1992, p. 47; Keating 1879, p. 86; La Roche 1855, V2, p. 356;
Sternberg 1908, p. 719.
Florida (1,109) (June-Nov 15, esp. July-Oct)
–1,109 State. Blanchard tally based on breakouts below.[3]
Breakouts of Yellow Fever mortality by location (and military).
— 31 Military yellow fever deaths in: Brown, G. M., Ponce de Leon Land… 1902, 138-179.
— >10 Apalachicola. Blanchard number based on Nat. Board of Health Rpt.[4]
— 1 Blackwood Plantation (now Harwood Plantation), Leon County, July 1.[5]
— 1 Cedar Keys, Aug 19. Brown, G. M., Ponce de Leon Land… 1902, p. 159.
— 1 Fort King (Ocala) Aug 12. Brown, G. M., Ponce de Leon Land… 1902, p. 156.
— 26 Key West June start Keating 1879, 86; USMHS 1896, 436.
— >3? Pensacola La Roche 1855, Vol. II, p. 427.[6]
— 3 Picolata, Oct 1 & 23, Nov 14. Brown, G. M., Ponce de Leon Land… 1902, 138, 142-43
— 131 Port Leon[7] US National Board of Health. Annual Report…1879. p.388.
— 1 Punta Rassa, ~Ft. Myers, Nov 2. Brown, G. M., Ponce de Leon Land… 1902, p. 142
— 26 St. Augustine Augustin 1909, 458; Keating 1879, 86; USMHS 1896, 436.
— 25 “ Oct 5-Nov 15 Brown, G. M., Ponce de Leon Land… 1902, 138-144.
–45-450 St. Joseph Blanchard guesstimate.[8]
–4,500 “ Ghosttowns.com. “St. Joseph, Gulf Count. [9]
–Many “ July-Aug FL Dept. of State. Florida Historical Markers Program.
–~4,500“ Aug start Smalltowngems.com. “History of Port St. Joe, Florida.” [10]
–Many “ Wikipedia. “St. Joseph, Florida.” 2-23-2012 last modified.
— ? St. Marks. Tallahassee Magazine. “Historicity,” July-Aug 2011.
–230-400 Tallahassee, July 1 start Tallahassee Magazine. “Historicity,” July-Aug 2011.[11]
— 400 “ Baptist. Creating an Old South, citing Barbara Miller.[12]
— 150 “ Aug Tallahassee Magazine. “Historicity,” July-Aug 2011.[13]
–60-80 “ US Nat. Board of Health. Annual Report…1879. p. 387.[14]
Louisiana (2,152) (Aug-Oct)
— 2,152 State. Blanchard tally of locality breakouts below, using 1,800 for N.O.
— 2 Donaldsonville. La Roche. Yellow Fever…1699-1854… (V2). 1855, p. 467.[15]
–<2,000 New Orleans. Fort Wayne Sentinel, IN. 12-4-1841, p. 6, col. 1.[16]
— 1,800 “ Carrigan. The Saffron Scourge, 1961, p. 78.[17]
— 1,800 “ Dr. M. M. Dowler in La Roche 1855, p. 63.[18]
— 1,800 “ Jones. New Orleans Med. & Surg. Jour. Vol. VI, 1879, p. 699.[19]
— 1,722 “ Fort Wayne Sentinel, IN. 12-4-1841, p. 6, col. 2.
— 1,722 “ Aug 1 start. Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness at New Orleans,” 11-26-1841, 2.
— 1,722 “ Southport American, South Port, WI. 12-9-1841, p. 3, col. 1.
— 1,641 “ Washington Globe, DC. 12-6-1841, p. 3, col. 3.
— 1,500 “ The Bee, New Orleans, 11-3-1841, cited in Carrigan 1961, p. 78.
— 1,325 “ Barton. 1857. From 4,549 total deaths and population of 78,745.[20]
— 1,325 “ Official yellow fever death toll, noted n Carrigan 1961, p. 78.
— 1,325 “ San. Com. of New Orleans. Rpt. of the Sanitary Comm. 1854, 465.
— 594[21] “ July 27 start.[22] Keating 1879, p. 86.
— 594 “ Sternberg 1908, p. 719.
— 594 “ US Marine-Hospital Service. Annual Report…1896, p. 436.[23]
— 5 “ Aug 1-7. Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness…,” 11-26-1841, p2, c2
— 4 “ Aug 8-14. Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness…,” 11-26-1841, p. 2.
— 23 “ Aug 15-21. Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness…,” 11-26-1841, p.2.
— 72 “ Aug 22-28. Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness…,” 11-26-1841, p.2.
— 105 “ Aug 29-Sep 4. Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness…,” 11-26-1841,2
— 164 “ Sep 5-11. Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness…,” 11-26-1841, p. 2.
— 220 “ Sep 12-18. Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness…,” 11-26-1841, p. 2.
— 259 “ Sep 19-25. Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness…,” 11-26-1841, p. 2.
— 180 “ Sep 26-Oct 2. Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness…,” 11-26-1841, 2
— 115 “ Oct 3-9. Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness…,” 11-26-1841, p. 2.
— 93 “ Oct 10-16. Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness…,” 11-26-1841, p. 2.
— 96 “ Oct 17-23. Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness…,” 11-26-1841, p. 2.
— 37 “ Oct 24-28. Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness…,” 11-26-1841, p. 2.
— 5 “ Oct 31-Nov 2.[24] Fort Wayne Sentinel, IN. 12-4-1841, p. 6, col. 1.
— 350 Lafayette.[25] Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness…,” 11-26-1841, p. 2.
— ? Port Hudson,[26] Sep-Oct. Keating 1879, 86; La Roche 1855, V2, 352;[27] Sternberg 1894, 43.
Mississippi ( ~200) (Fall)
— 2 near Clinton La Rouche 1855, Vol. II, p. 220.[28]
— >1 Vicksburg. La Rouche 1855, Vol. II, p. 220; Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi.[29]
— 8-10 daily “ Monette. Observations on the Epidemic Yellow Fever of Natchez…. 1842, 76.[30]
— 22 “ Oct 19-22. Adams Sentinel, Gettysburg, PA. 11-8-1841, p. 3, col. 1.
–~200 “ and Warren County. Morris, Christopher. Becoming Southern. 1995, p. 220.[31]
Missouri ( 2)
— 2 St. Louis. Wisconsin Enquirer, Madison. 11-6-1841, p. 3, col. 3.
Pennsylvania ( 1)
— 1 Philadelphia, Sep. La Roche 1855, vol. II, p. 475.[32]
South Carolina ( >10?)
— >10 Charleston. Blanchard stand-in number.[33]
— ? “ Keating 1879, p. 86; Sternberg 1908, p. 719.
–Many “ Simons. An Essay on the Yellow Fever… in Charleston. 1851, p. 12.[34]
Maritime ( 14)
–11 USS Levant at Pensacola. Sep-Oct. Hulse 1842, 406.[35]
–~3 Schooner at Port Leon.[36] US National Board of Health. Annual Report…1879. p.388.
Cuba:
Aug 19 report: “The fever has been still worse at Havana, and we learn that there are nine American ships now lying at that port without a soul on board, all having died of the prevailing fever.” (Marshall Western Statesman, MI. 8-19-1841, p. 3, col. 1.)
Dec 11 report: “The yellow fever was raging with great severity at St. Jago de Cuba, at the latest advices and a number of American seamen had fallen victims.” (Washington Globe, DC. 12-11-1841, p. 3, col. 4.)
Florida:
“In Florida, the yellow fever epidemic of 1841 nearly delayed its admission to the Union by reducing the territory’s population.”[37] (Humphreys. Yellow Fever and the South, 1992, p. 49.)
Florida, Apalachicola:
Collector’s Office report, U.S. Custom-House, Apalachicola, FL, 7-26-1879: “There has been one epidemic of yellow fever in Apalachicola, namely in 1841. The population at that time was about 2,500. The town was new. Many buildings were going up. There was much miscellaneous filth; and a number of ponds in the town had been filled up. There was much malarial sickness. In the summer months the merchants and their families went away, reducing the population to 1,500 or 2,000, of whom about one-half were blacks.
“The fever was brought first to Saint Joseph by a fruit-vessel from the West Indies [Caribbean], and subsequently, by the same vessel, about the 1st of July, to Apalachicola. It was not recognized until about the middle of the month. The whole number of cases is reckoned at about 200; number of deaths, not stated.”[38]
“Refugees from Apalachicola died in many places along the Chattahoochee River, as at Fort Gaines, Quincy, &c.; but in no case did they propagate the disease.” (U.S. National Board of Health. Annual Report of the National Board of Health, 1879. 1879, p. 388.)
Florida, Key West:
Aug 14 report: “Col. Worth is prosecuting the war[39] most vigorously and hopes to finish it this season. A detachment of 403 men and 50 canoes has started from Fort Dallas and Key Biscayne for the Everglades, bent on decisive action. Key Biscayne is abandoned. The troops are generally healthy, though yellow fever rages in some parts of Florida, and Key West is suffering from it dreadfully. Major Childs remains sick at Fort Dallas, and Capt. Burke commands the expedition.” (The Log Cabin, Albany, NY. “From Florida.” 8-14-1841, p. 4, col. 5.)
Aug 19 report: “The accounts from Key West are of the most deplorable nature. The yellow fever is said to be raging at that place, and very fatal – a large number have already fallen victims to it. One of the unfortunate victims is Mr. Landon C. Kenry.” (Marshall Western Statesman, MI. 8-19-1841, p. 3, col. 1.)
Florida, Pensacola:
Drake: “Season of 1841. – The year 1840 was exempt; but in 1841 the fever prevailed in the ships, the Navy Yard, and the town. The following is the account of Dr. Hulse:
The United States sloop-of-war the Levant came in [Pensacola] from Very Cruz, and as there were many cases of yellow fever among her crew, she was deserted, and the crew encamped in a timber shed in the Navy Yard. The disease continued to prevail among the crew, but for two weeks it did not communicate to the inhabitants of the Yard. But at the end of this time it spread to the building nearest the shed, and finally through the Yard.[40]
“There is a conflict of accuracy between this gentleman, the Professors Carpenter and Wedderburn,[41] as one says it spread through the yard, and the other, that only two well-attested cases occurred there; still further, while Professor Wedderburn represents that when the vessel arrived from Vera Cruz, there were many cases of the fever among her crew, Dr. Hulse informs us, that she was anchored opposite the town of Pensacola during the month of August, on the last day of which the first cases occurred. Dr. Laurison, the surgeon of the ship, confirms the statement of Dr. Hulse as to the outbreak of the fever.
While lying…in the Bay of Pensacola, the yellow fever suddenly made its appearance on board the sloop-of-war-Levant, of which I was the surgeon. The invasion of the disease was equally sudden and unexpected. On one day we were comparatively well, and in the evening had several cases of fever, which continued to develop itself among the crew and officers, until in the progress of the epidemic, out of a complement of 160 souls, not more than fifteen escaped an attack, in some form or other.[42]
“After speaking of the landing of the men at the Navy Yard, and saying that this produced no abatement of the disease, he adds, ‘For a few days, the fever seemed to be confined exclusively to our ship’s company; but soon, however, some fatal cases occurred in the town of Pensacola, and on board the French vessels lying in the Bay.” We are not told whether Prof. Wedderburn made his statement from personal observation or the report of others; Dr. Hulse and Dr. Laurison wrote from personal observation. If we take their statement of the length of time which elapsed after the vessel reached the harbor of Pensacola, and manner in which the disease broke out, it was not introduced from Vera Cruz; and as, according to both these gentlemen, it did not appear in Pensacola and on board the French ships till after it appeared on the Levant, it was not received by the ship from the town, and must therefore have originated on board of her. It may be asked, then, did not this ship infect the town, the Navy Yard, and the French ships? This must be granted as possible; but if the fever could originate in the first, it might originate in all the rest. If the Levant did not receive it from without, it is a presumptive analogy that it did not communicate it.” (Drake, Daniel, M.D., S. Hanbury Smith, M.D. and Francis G. Smith, M.D. (eds.). A Systematic Treatise, Historical, Etiological, and Practical, on the Principal Diseases of the Interior Valley of North America…(Second Series). Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., Publishers, 1854, pp. 234-235.)
Hulse: In relation to the USS Sloop-of-War Levant and yellow fever among the crew while at Pensacola, Dr. Isaac Hulse of the U.S. Navy,[43] provides a short account and notes the number of cases:
….This ship was lying opposite to Pensacola, during the month of August, and on the last day of that month, four cases of yellow fever were sent from her to the hospital. In three or four days, she dropped down to the Navy-yard, was dismantled and her crew were sent on shore at the yard, a portion of them still communicating with her, and on the last day of September ninety-nine cases of the yellow fever had been admitted at the hospital from her officers and crew. New cases continued to occur among the ship’s company, now located at the Navy yard, until we received thirty-nine more cases, making in all one hundred and thirty-eight cases from that single ship. The disease did not disappear till the 5th November, after several severe frosts….
Several instances occurred in which persons who had been cured of the disease, returned and exposed themselves again to the infection on board, and had a fresh attack, possessing all the characteristics of the first; in general, these second attacks were more severe than the first, and in one, it was fatal….
The French vessels of war La Sabine and Le Dunois, after having fourteen cases, five of which proved fatal, dropped down to the Navy-yard, and on the 26th of September commenced sending their patients to this hospital as soon as practicable after the attack. After their arrival here, they had eighteen cases, two only of which proved fatal. The disease ceased on board on the 7th of October, and on the 12th they re-embarked all their convalescents, sailed a few days after for Havana….The Levant had twenty-one new cases after the disease ceased on board the French vessels.
In this epidemic the number of cases admitted at the hospital were,
Cases. Deaths.
Americans, 138 11
French 18 2
(Hulse 1842, pp. 392-394 and 406.)
Florida, Port Leon:
“In 1841, when Port Leon was visited by yellow fever, it had a population of about 400 – say 350 whites and 50 colored. Probably 100 whites and 20 colored left as soon as yellow fever appeared. Of those who remained at least one-half of the whites, or 125, and one-fifth of the colored, or 6, died between the 1st of July and the 1st of October. The fever was brought in on a small schooner from Havana, which had on board a theatrical company of ten or fifteen men and women. Several of these were taken sick soon after arrival, as were also some of the crew of the schooner, and several deaths occurred among them. There were several coasting vessels in the harbor at the same time, and the fever spread to some of these, with several deaths. When the fever first broke out there were two doctors in the town, both of whom kept small stocks of drugs and medicines; but as soon as the fever began to spread both of them removed to the country, taking their medicines along with them. A few of the earlier cases were able to bring physicians from Tallahassee; but later in the season the sick had no medical attention at all. The usual autumn gale occurred about the last of September, after which the fever rapidly subsided.” (United States National Board of Health. Annual Report of the National Board of Health, 1879. Washington, DC: GPO, 1879, p. 388.)
Florida, St. Joseph:
Cox: “….Disaster…soon struck the new city. Despite extending its railroad to Iola on the Apalachicola River, St. Joseph was unable to compete commercially with Apalachicola. The
population dropped from 12,000 to 6,000 almost as quickly as it had grown. In an effort to rebound, the city began promoting itself as a seaside resort, but during the summer of 1841 a
deadly yellow fever epidemic ravaged the community. In a matter of months, the population of St. Joseph virtually disappeared. By 1842, only 400 inhabitants remained. Some of the homes were dismantled and moved by barge to Apalachicola, while others were raided for windows, shutters and bricks.
“In September of 1844, a hurricane struck St. Joseph, destroying much of what remained of the community and driving away some of the last inhabitants. Despite legend that the community disappeared, however, a few residents remained and Florida newspapers continued to mention the community for years to come. The great city on the bay, however, was gone and today nothing remains other than its historic cemetery and the artifacts on display at the
Constitutional Convention State Museum.” (Cox, Dale. “St. Joseph – Florida’s Lost City.” ExploreSouthernHistory.com. © 2008.)
FL Dept. of State: “Location: S.R. 384A. County: Gulf. City: Port St. Joe. Description: This site is one of three cemeteries of Saint Joseph. Many persons interred here were victims of yellow fever which plagued the city throughout July and August, 1841, causing its depopulation and abandonment. The dread disease, sparing neither rich nor poor, was brought into port by sailing ship from the Greater Antilles. Here many prominent territorial Florida statesmen, journalists and merchants succumbed. No markers remain of those buried in trenches.” (FL Dept. of State, Div. of Historical Resources. FL Historical Markers Program. “Gulf, Saint Joseph Cemetery.” Tallahassee, FL. State of Florida, ©2013.)
Ghosttowns.com. “St. Joseph in the early 1800’s was the largest town in Florida with 6000 residents. It served as a seaport which proved to be its demise when in 1841 a ship docked with occupants carrying yellow fever. Over 75% of the town died of the disease and the rest of the population fled. Hurricanes have since destroyed the remains.” (Ghosttowns.com. “St. Joseph, Gulf Count.”)
Kimball: “The town of St. Joseph almost became the state capital, but was wiped out by yellow fever in 1841 and then finished off by a hurricane.” (Kimball, C.. “Gulf County…Places To Visit: Constitution Convention State Museum.” Southernhistory.us, ©1998-2002.)
LighhouseFriends.com: “From the southernmost point of land along Florida’s Panhandle, Cape San Blas extends like an arm three miles west and then fifteen miles north, forming the oblong St. Joseph Bay. The bay was known to be one of the best harbors along Florida’s Gulf Coast, and in 1836 the town of St. Joseph was established on its shore….
“The lighthouse wasn’t the only new arrival to St. Joseph in 1838. The Territory of Florida also held its Constitutional Convention there that year to lay the groundwork for its bid at statehood.
….in 1841, a ship arrived in port and introduced yellow fever into the community. In just a matter of weeks, the population of the town was decimated. Two years later, a hurricane, accompanied by a high tidal surge, managed to destroy what remained of the city. Ironically, the city of St. Joseph didn’t survive to see Florida become the twenty-seventh state in 1845.”
(LighhouseFriends.com. “St. Joseph Point, FL.” (website © 2001-2013).)
Smalltowngems.com: “The resort city of St. Joseph attracted many visitors from the plantations and cities of lower Georgia and Alabama with its cool breezes and beautiful beaches that summer. Daily rain showers filled the swamps in the area and mosquitoes were breeding rapidly. By August of 1841, mosquito-borne Yellow Fever had struck and killed about 75% of the residents of St. Joseph and many of its seasonal visitors, leaving the town nearly empty. It was rumored that the epidemic was brought into the area by boat. During the journey the boat’s captain had died from the disease and the crew stopped at St. Joseph to bury the body, unknowingly introducing the disease to the area. To add to the demise of St. Joseph, a disastrous hurricane hit on September 14 of that year, followed by fires that swept through the town and forests in the fall.”[44] (Smalltowngems.com. “History of Port St. Joe, Florida.”)
Wikipedia. “St. Joseph, Florida, was a boomtown that briefly became the largest community in Florida, before being destroyed only eight years after it was founded. St. Joseph was founded in 1835 on the shores of St. Joseph Bay, one of the finest natural harbors on the Gulf Coast of the United States. The townsite is in Gulf County, Florida, near the city of Port St. Joe….
“By 1837 St. Joseph had become the most populous place in the Territory of Florida, with approximately 6,000 inhabitants….
“In 1841 a ship brought yellow fever to St. Joseph. The disease killed many of the town’s inhabitants, and caused the rest to flee. A hurricane in 1843 struck with a large storm surge, destroying the abandoned town….”[45] (Wikipedia. “St. Joseph, Florida.” 2-23-2012 last mod.)
July 23: “The Tallahassee Sentinel of the 23d, says that the yellow fever is making dreadful ravages among the scanty population of St. Joseph’s by a schooner from Havana, laden with fruit, &c.” (Tioga Eagle, Wellsboro, PA. “Yellow Fever at St. Joseph’s,” 8-18-1841, p. 1, col. 6.)
Florida, Tallahassee:
Hare: “Tallahassee had always escaped epidemics, but there were few places to hide in 1841. Yellow fever started to appear in coastal towns along the gulf. From the Port of St. Joseph it moved east to Apalachicola, then to St. Marks and Port Leon. Robert Raymond Reid, who had recently completed his term as territorial governor, was one of the first to fall. In less than a month, Reid’s daughter, granddaughter, and son-in-law were dead. Merchant T. B. Betton lost his wife, Eliza. The pastor of the Presbyterian church died, along with all five members of the Wellford family. Neither wealth nor circumstance could provide refuge; farmers and general laborers suffered the same fate as planters and politicians. Over 150 people died in the month of August, forcing the city to dedicate more land for a new cemetery.” (Hare Julianne. Tallahassee: A Capital City History. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2002, p. 37.)
Tallahassee Magazine: “In frontier days, yellow fever was the scourge of Tallahassee…. perhaps hundreds…died in and around Tallahassee during a frightful outbreak of yellow fever in the summer of 1841….
“`Sometime early in its history, Tallahassee acquired a reputation of being an unhealthy town set down in the midst of an unhealthy countryside,’ reported historian Bertram H. Groene in his 1971 book, “Ante-bellum Tallahassee.” Groene wrote, ‘This was not unusual; for most of the frontier towns in the South, especially those near the coast, were subject to periodic outbreaks of malaria and the dreaded yellow fever.’….
“…the symptoms…could be terrifying. The virus ran in one or two phases. In the first phase, symptoms featured chills, fever, headache, severe backache and weakness, accompanied by nausea. Then, the symptoms subside and, in some cases, the patient recovers. But in 15 percent of cases, yellow fever patients enter a second, often lethal, phase. After a brief remission, the fever returns with a vengeance, the liver is damaged and the skin and eyes turn yellow. Then the victim starts vomiting a vile, black substance resembling used coffee grounds — giving it the nickname “the Black Vomit.” Finally, blood issues from the mouth, eyes and nose. The patient enters a coma, which is followed by death….
“…In June and early July of 1841, the disease “descended upon the capital in all of its virulent fury,” Groene wrote. It first appeared in Port St. Joe and then hit Apalachicola, “a summer resort for many Tallahasseans.” It spread to St. Marks, then over to the town of Port Leon, which was later wiped out by a hurricane.
“Once the “Black Vomit” manifested in Tallahassee (population 1,600), it exacted a terrible toll on notable members of the community. Former Gov. Robert Raymond Reid died on July 1, followed by his 22-year-old daughter, Rosalie, her daughter, and Gen. John Graham, who was Reid’s son-in-law, a West Point graduate and adjutant general of Florida.
“Florida’s militia quartermaster, Col. John B. Collins, died in Port Leon. Isham G. Searcy, former postmaster and early settler, died as well as merchant James Moore and Eliza Betton. The sickness also claimed the popular Rev. Philo Phelps, pastor of the Presbyterian church, as well as the entire family of Robert Wellford….
“Author Julianne Hare wrote in “Tallahassee: A Capital City History” that more than 150 people died that August. However, the Old City Cemetery’s website states that between 230 and 400 people perished in the 1841 epidemic. The high number of deaths caused the city to establish a new grid system to more efficiently administer the burials. ‘Tallahassee had always escaped epidemics, but there were few places to hide in 1841,’ she wrote.
“In 1879, the “Annual Report of the National Board of Health” recorded the effects of the disease as it ravaged the local towns. Of the strain that impacted Tallahassee, the report stated, ‘It spread rapidly and was quite fatal. Number of cases not ascertained. Number of deaths between 60 and 80 but some of these are believed to have been due to congestive malarial fever … many refugees left the place in consequence of the epidemic, and several of them had the fever; but they did not communicate it in any instance to the people with whom they found asylum.’
“The report goes on to say there were about 200 cases of the fever in Apalachicola, at the time a bustling city of 2,500. “The town was new, many buildings were going up, there was much misc. filth, a number of ponds in the town had been filled up. There was much malarial sickness,” it stated….
“Groene said that by November the fever was over and Tallahassee started to get back to “normal.” But, he said, “What had brought on the disaster no one knew.” Some supported the theory that “forsaken backyards and sideways all covered with rank growth” sent out deadly yellow fever fumes.
“Other theories hit closer to the truth without really realizing it. Some believed the disease had entered through the nearby port cities as a contagious disease, but no solid connections were made. Residents rationalized that the key to survival was cleaner air and unspoiled land. This belief led to the creation of the Bel Air community, “a suburb of the capital built in the open piney woods about three miles south of the Capitol on the road to St. Marks,” Groene said. After the 1841 outbreak, Bel Air became a refuge. The elite of Tallahassee went there during the hottest months of the year in the belief that the open and refreshing pinewoods afforded a relief from the town’s ‘unhappy weeds and death.’ Bel Air continued to be a popular luxury retreat for wealthy Tallahassee residents until the Civil War reduced them to poverty and left them unable to afford it. The community was abandoned.
“Primitive ‘Cures’ no Help — In the first half of the 19th century there were only a handful of truly effective medicines available to fight disease. Medical thought at the time was rooted in classical beliefs that relied on highly toxic purgative “medicines” and bleeding to remove poisons from the body. But some truly useful drugs were available such as opium, quinine, castor oil and sodium bicarbonate. Opium and morphine were used, of course, to control pain. Quinine made from the bark of the South American cinchona tree was used to combat malarial afflictions and other fevers, castor oil relieved constipation and sodium bicarbonate was useful then, as now, as an antacid.
“In response to yellow fever, however, physicians threw everything they had at the disease to combat its symptoms — including kitchen spices. “Treatment for yellow fever was hopelessly primitive,” Groene wrote. “Hot water and cayenne pepper applied to the feet and legs was a typical remedy.” Other remedies might use harsh mercury-based laxatives, blistering agents, bleeding and mega-doses of opium, wine, brandy and quinine. All were of no avail.
“Unfortunately, such harsh therapies did more harm than good and by the end of the 19th century they were for the most part discredited and replaced by ‘gentle’ remedies such as hot mustard foot baths, bed rest, crushed ice and lemonade, cool sponging and good nursing care,” wrote Theodore B. Vanitallie, in a book review published in the Florida Historical Quarterly in 1996….” (Tallahassee Magazine. “Historicity,” July-Aug 2011.)
Florida, U.S. Military:
“Garner, H., capt. Co. ‘G,’ died at Picolata [near Tallahassee] October 23, 1841; yellow fever….
“Bell, John, sergt. Co. ‘G,’ died at St. Augustine November 5, 1841; yellow fever…. (p. 138)
“Brunner, John, privt. Co. ‘G,’ died at St. Augustine November 3, 1841; yellow fever.
“Beck, John, privt. Co. ‘G,’ died at St. Augustine November 9, 1841; yellow fever….
“Christie, I., musn. Co. ‘G,’ died at St. Augustine October 9, 1841; yellow fever….
“Chapman, James, privt. Co. ‘B,’ died at St. Augustine October 18, 1841; yellow fever….(p.139)
“Griffen, Joseph, sergt. Co. ‘G,’ died at St. Augustine November 8, 1841; yellow fever.
“Game, William, sergt. Co. ‘E,’ died at St. Augustine October 26, 1841; yellow fever….
“Gallagher, William, privt. Co. ‘G,’ died at St. Augustine [Nov] 9, 1841; yellow fever…. (p.140)
“Hudson, William, privt. Co. ‘E,’ died at St. Augustine October 5, 1841; yellow fever….
“Jenkins, Henry, privt. Co. ‘E,’ died at St. Augustine November 8, 1841; yellow fever….
“Kellar, John, privt. Co. ‘E,’ died at St. Augustine October 9, 1841; yellow fever….
“Lannon, Patrick, privt. Co. ‘E,’ died at St. Augustine October 21, 1841; yellow fever….
“Lunder, Wm. P., privt. Co. ‘E,’ died at St. Augustine October 28, 1841; yellow fever…. (p.141)
“Lick, Jacob, privt. Co. ‘G,’ died at Picolata November 14, 1841; yellow fever….
“Morrison, John, privt. Co. ‘E,’ died at St. Augustine October 30, 1841; yellow fever…
“Marley, Francis, privt. Co. ‘G.’ died at St. Augustine November 5, 1841; yellow fever…
“Maley, John, privt. Co. ‘G,’ died at St. Augustine November 5, 1841; yellow fever…
“McAllister, Ralph, privt. Co. ‘I,’ died at Punta Rassa[46] [Nov] 2, 1841; yellow fever…. (p. 142)
“Peters, Thomas, privt. Co. ‘G,’ died at St. Augustine October 23, 1841; yellow fever…
“Perry, Chas. D. privt. Co. ‘E,’ died at St. Augustine October 26, 1841; yellow fever….
“Riley, Michael, privt. Co. ‘G,’ died at Picolata October 1, 1841; yellow fever…
“Ryan, Henry, privt. Co. ‘G,’ died at St. Augustine November 6, 1841; yellow fever…
“Reddy, William, privt. Co. ‘G,’ died at St. Augustine November 10, 1841; yellow fever…
“Reed, John, privt. Co. ‘G,’ died at St. Augustine November 8, 1841; yellow fever….
“Roberts, William, privt. Co. ‘G,’ died at St. Augustine November 6, 1841; yellow fever….
“Shilts, Daniel, privt. Co. ‘G,’ died at St. Augustine November 15, 1841; yellow fever…. (p.143)
“Wilson, Levi, sergt. Co. ‘G,’ died at St. Augustine November 8, 1841; yellow fever…. (p. 144)
“Reeder, John, privt. Co. ‘D,’ died at Fort King[47] August 12, 1841; yellow fever…. (p. 156)
“Rice, Morris, sergt-maj. Co. ‘F,’ died Cedar Keys August 19, 1841; yellow fever…. (p. 159)
“Gannett, T. B., 2d lieut. Co. ‘E,’ died at Pilatka[48] October 30, 1841; yellow fever…. (p. 170)
In addition to the deaths from yellow fever noted above, there are a number of other 1841 deaths attributed to “fever,” “malignant fever,” “remittent fever,” “unknown disease,” and “disease incident of climate and the service in Florida.”
(Brown, George. M., Ordinance Sergeant, United States Army. “Florida War Record,” pp. 119-180 in Ponce de Leon Land and Florida War Record (Sixth Edition). St. Augustine, FL: 1902.)
Louisiana, Donaldsonville:
La Roche: “In 1841, a family left Baton Rouge, in a flatboat for Donaldsonville. There was no yellow fever that year in the former town, or in the intermediate one of Plaquemine. The family had been two years from France. When they reached Donaldsonville, the father and his eldest daughter were ill with the fever. Dr. Sabin Martin was called in, and found the former walking about his room, and saying he was not sick. In three days, however, he died with black vomit and jaundice. The daughter had all the characteristic symptoms of yellow fever, and died in four days; previous to which she had suppression of urine, her skin became yellow, and she threw up great quantities of black matter. Dr. Drake, from whom I borrow the fact, got it from Drs. Martin and Cotman, good judges in matters of the kind (ii. 247, 248). (La Roche, Rene, M.D. Yellow Fever, Considered in its Historical, Pathological, Etiological, and Therapeutical Relations, Including A Sketch of the Disease as it has Occurred in Philadelphia from 1699-1854… (Vol. 2 of 2). Philadelphia: Blanchard and Lea, 1855, p. 467. See, also, Drake 1854, p. 248.)
Louisiana, New Orleans:
La Roche quoting Dowler on low number of infants among yellow fever cases: “Dr. Dowler, who made an extensive analysis of the epidemic of that year [1841], says: ‘I made thirty series, each consisting of thirty persons; I then took the youngest one in each series (among these, 990 dead), which gave these ages: 15, 17, 17, 2, 5, 20, 19, 16, 20, 17, 15, 17, 18, 19, 8, 2, 7, 18, 18, 19, 8, 6, 8, 2, 15, 3, 18, 14, 2, 18, 3, 5, 19. Scarcely an infant in the whole series’ (pp. 31-32).”
Aug 14 report: “Several cases of yellow fever have occurred in New Orleans, and the disease is spreading.” (Washington Globe, DC. “Yellow Fever,” 8-14-1841, p. 3, col. 4.)
Aug 17: “The New-Orleans Board of Health, under date of 17th instant, announce the increase of Yellow Fever in that city, and that eight deaths had occurred by it since the 14th.” (The Log Cabin, Albany, NY. “Health of New-Orleans,” 9-4-1841, p. 4, col. 5.)
Aug 18-19: “On the 18th inst. two deaths from yellow fever occurred at New-Orleans, on the 19th four, and at Lafayette, on the same day ten. There were six admissions from yellow fever to the hospital at New-Orleans on the 20th.” (The Log Cabin, Albany, NY. “Yellow Fever,” 9-4-1841, p. 2, col. 3.)
Aug 24 report: “The Bee of the 24th ult. [previous month] says: — ‘Fifteen deaths from yellow fever have been reported to the Board of Health within the last forty-eight hours – that is, from Saturday at noon [Aug 21] to Monday [Aug 23] at noon. – In the charity hospital during the 24 hours ending at six o’clock yesterday evening, there were 12 cases of yellow fever admitted into the hospital, and 5 deaths from the same disease.’” (Hagerstown Mail, MD. “Health of New Orleans,” 9-3-1841, p. 3, col. 1.)
Aug 22-28: “The Bee of the 30th ult. says: — ‘There were thirty-two interments reported to the Board of Health for the twenty-four hours ending on Saturday [Aug 28] at twelve o’clock. Of these 16 were of the yellow fever. The total number of deaths for the week ending on Saturday is 146, of which 72 died of yellow fever. It will be perceived that the epidemic is greatly on the increase.’” (Hagerstown Mail, MD. “Fever in New Orleans,” 9-10-1841, p. 2, col. 4.)
Sep 1-2: “New Orleans papers of the 2d inst. represent the yellow fever to be increasing in that city, the deaths for the preceding twenty-four hours being twenty. The mortality is said to be very great for such an early period of the season.” (Washington Globe. 9-14-1841, p. 3, col. 4.)
Sep 6-7: “The yellow fever has reached a fearful extent in New Orleans, and was rapidly increasing. The Board of Health on the 8th inst. announced that the interments for the two days previous were 59, of which 38 were by yellow fever. – Baltimore American.” (Washington Globe, DC. “New Orleans,” 9-17-1841, p. 3, col. 4.)
Sep 17-18: “New Orleans. – The number of interments at New Orleans for the 24 hours ending on the 18th inst. was 30, of which 24 were deaths by yellow fever.” (Washington Globe, DC. “New Orleans,” 9-29-1841, p. 3, col. 2.)
Sep 29 report: “In regard to the unusual unhealthiness of New Orleans, daring the late summer the editor of the Bee holds this language:
It has been our fortune to reside in New Orleans for the last ten years. During this period we have often witnessed the ravages of the fatal epidemic to which our city is unfortunately subject; but we have rarely, if ever, beheld such frightful desolation as its visitation has this season occasioned. In mortality and malignity, in the suddenness of its attack, and the indiscriminate ruthlessness with which it prostrates all classes of the non-resident population; in the appalling rapidity with which it has extended from hospital into private practice, it has rarely ever been exceeded. The heart is absolutely sickened, and humanity shudders at the scenes of misery and affliction which this awful scourge has this year produced. The brightest, purest, and best, have fallen victims to the pestilency. It has stricken down many of our most estimable an beloved citizens. Its fury hath fallen on hundreds whom protracted residence and long exemption had appeared to guarantee from its attacks. Men who had passed four, five, or half a dozen consecutive summers in New Orleans, and had escaped unscathed from the visitations of former epidemics, have now sunk beneath its resistless power. It seems to spare none save natives of Louisiana, and residents who have already passed through its terrible ordeal.
We have taken the trouble to compare the mortality of the present summer with that of 1839 and ’37 – both seasons in which the yellow fever raged with uncommon violence. The weekly number of deaths thus far exceeds, by nearly a third, that of 1839, and is greater than that of 1837, if we consider the paucity of the non resident population. At the worst period of the epidemic of 1839, the bills of mortality did not exhibit more than 189 deaths per week. The last weekly statement for this year shows a mortality of 245, and the list for this week will more than probably demonstrate in increase of forth or fifty more. It is moreover universally admitted by medical men that the fever is far more intractable than usual. The remedial agents which have formerly proved so successful are inert and inefficacious. So rapid are the symptoms, so violent the derangement of function, and so prone is the disease to effect immediate organic lesion, that unless medical aid be applied almost at the incipiency of an attack, and the means employed be of the most energetic character, the cases are considered nearly hopeless.” (Washington Globe, DC. “Fever in New Orleans,” 9-29-1841, p. 3, col. 2.)
Oct 16-18: “The number of interments reported to the Board of Health for the 48 hours ending the 18th inst. at noon, was 44; of which 25 were of yellow fever. The admissions to the Charity Hospital for the 24 hours ending on the evening of the 18th were 21, of which 10 were yellow fever; discharges 16, 7 yellow fever; deaths 11, 9 of yellow fever.” (The Log Cabin, Albany, NY. “Health of Hew Orleans,” 10-30-1841, p. 3.)
Oct 21: “We regret to learn from the Picayune that one of the editors of that paper has been stricken down by the epidemic. The Bulletin of Oct 22 says: The recent cool weather seems to have had but little influence, as yet, in checking the epidemic. Considering the small number of subjects, the mortality is as great now almost as in the month of September. Interments reported to the Board of Health yesterday, 13, of which 9 were of yellow fever.” (Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, ME. “New Orleans,” 11-4-1841, p. 2, col. 4.)
Oct 22-23: “The New Orleans Picayune states that during the 24 hours ending on the 23rd ult. there were 13 deaths by yellow fever. The whole number of deaths in that city during the week ending on the 23d was 149, of which 96 were by yellow fever. A white frost was visible at New Orleans on the 23d.” (Washington Globe, DC. 11-3-1841, p. 3, col. 4.)
Nov 8 report: “The yellow Fever has at last disappeared from New Orleans, being checked by the frost.” (Adams Sentinel and General Advertiser, Gettysburg, PA. 11-8-1841, p. 3, col. 1.)
Nov 26 report: “The New York Commercial has the following paragraph, in a letter from New Orleans.[49]
In order to demonstrate most conclusively the fatality of the epidemic during the past season, I have taken the trouble to sum up the total mortality, since the outbreak of the fever, commencing on the first of August, and ending yesterday [Oct 28?], which comprises a period of twelve weeks and five days. The result is as follows.
Total Yellow Fever.
1st week 57 5 [assuming Aug 1-7, Sunday-Saturday]
2nd “ 80 4 [ “ Aug 8-14]
3rd “ 102 23 [ “ Aug 15-21]
4th “ 146 72 [ “ Aug 22-28]
5th “ 174 105 [ “ Aug 29-Sep 4]
6th “ 245 164 [ “ Sep 5-11]
7th “ 292 220 [ “ Sep 12-18]
8th “ 327 259 [ “ Sep 19-25]
9th “ 259 180 [ “ Sep 26-Oct 2]
10th “ 188 115 [ “ Oct 3-9]
11th “ 151 93 [ “ Oct 10-16]
12th “ 149 96 [ “ Oct 17-23]
13th “ 78 37 [ “ Oct 24-28]
2249 1372
“Buried at Lafayette from New Orleans estimated.
450 350
2699 1722
“Showing an average weekly majority of 211, of which 135 were of yellow fever. On comparing our summer population, 80,000, with that of your city, 320,000, it will readily be perceived how very unhealthy the past season has been. The average number of deaths in New York is about 200 per week, while in this city, with a population one-fourth of yours, the above figures have succeeded for thirteen weeks in succession.” (Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness at New Orleans,” 11-26-1841, p. 2, col. 2.)
Dec 4 report: “The yellow fever has at length ceased its ravages at New Orleans, having swept off nearly 2,000 victims in a few weeks….The number of deaths by that disease during the three days ending 2nd inst. was only five.” (Fort Wayne Sentinel, IN. 12-4-1841, p. 6, cols. 1, 2.)
Dec 6 report: “Among the persons who died In New Orleans of yellow fever this year, there were 288 natives of the United States, 1055 natives of foreign countries, and 298 natives of countries unknown; making in all 1641. Of those who are born aliens, Ireland and Germany furnish nearly all; Ireland the most of the two.” (Washington Globe, DC. 12-6-1841, p. 3, col. 3.)
Dec 9 report: “Seventeen hundred and twenty-two persons have died by yellow fever during the present season in New Orleans.” (Southport American, South Port, WI. 12-9-1841, p. 3, col. 1.)
Mississippi, Clinton:
La Roche: “The following case was communicated to Dr. Fenner by the late Dr. George Banks, of Clinton (Miss.): ‘A Mr. McManus, who lived on the hills of Hinds County, four miles from Clinton, and more than forty miles from Vicksburg, went down to the latter place (during the epidemic of 1841), and remained there several days. He returned home, and was very soon attacked with yellow fever, of which he died, after throwing up black vomit. A few days after his death, his wife, who had nursed him assiduously during his illness, and had not been way from home, was attacked in a similar manner, and died with black vomit and yellowness. Their residence was in a high and ordinarily healthy locality, where yellow fever was never known to prevail.’” (La Roche, Rene, M.D. Yellow Fever, Considered in its Historical, Pathological, Etiological, and Therapeutical Relations, Including A Sketch of the Disease as it has Occurred in Philadelphia from 1699-1854… (Vol. 2 of 2). Philadelphia: Blanchard and Lea, 1855, p. 220, citing: “Fenner’s Rept. In Trans. Of Med. Assoc., vii. 539.”)
Mississippi, Vicksburg:
Monette: “The medical faculty of Vicksburg in 1841 denied the existence of yellow fever in their city for two weeks after it was sweeping them off at the rate of 8 or 10 a day. This was the case too after several of them, unconsciously, had seen cases in the fall of 1839. In both cases it was called congestive fever. Our most eminent physicians, on their first introduction to the disease, were placed in the same unpleasant predicament. An intelligent physician of Vicksburg, informed me in December 1841, that for two weeks they had no suspicion of yellow fever, and considered the epidemic as some now form of congestive fever; and of course the treatment was not such as it would have been under a certain knowledge of its true character.” (p. 76.)
“Again, in 1841 Natchez closed her hospital and established a quarantine as soon as yellow fever was epidemic in New Orleans. What was the consequence? The first principal landing for upward-bound boats was at Vicksburg, which continued healthy up to that time, but was visited with a most malignant epidemic within twenty days after the Natchez quarantine was enforced; while Natchez, thus protected, continued perfectly healthy during the whole time the epidemic was raging on both sides of her.” (p. 104) (Monette, John W. Observations on the Epidemic Yellow Fever of Natchez and of the South-West. Louisville: Prentice and Weissinger, 1842.)
Oct 16: “The Vicksburgh Sentinel, of Saturday 16th, has the following: We are unable to report any improvement in the health of the city since our last publication. We have now no hopes of frost or of a decline in the disease, until the full of the moon, which takes place about the 28th October.” (The Log Cabin, Albany, NY. 10-30-1841, p. 3.)
Oct 19-23: “The Yellow Fever…was still raging at Vicksburg on the 23d ult. From the 19th to the 22d there were 22 deaths.” (Adams Sentinel and General Advertiser, Gettysburg, PA. 11-8-1841, p. 3, col. 1.)
Mexico:
Nov 20 report: “The Civilian of the 20th says ‘We received a letter from Corpus Christi on Wednesday, which says that at the last accounts people were dying of yellow fever at Matamoras [across the border from Brownsville, TX] at the rate of 30 per day.” (Daily Whig and Courier, Bangor, ME. 12-9-1841, p. 2., col. 4.)
Sources
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Carrigan, Jo Ann. The Saffron Scourge: A History of Yellow Fever in Louisiana, 1796-1905 (Doctoral Dissertation). Louisiana State University, LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses, 1961. Accessed 3-11-2018 at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1665&context=gradschool_disstheses
Cox, Dale. “St. Joseph – Florida’s Lost City.” ExploreSouthernHistory.com. © 2008. Accessed 10-11-2013 at: http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/portstjoe2.html
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Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi. “Christ Episcopal Church. Historical Summary of Christ Church.” Website accessed 10-12-2013 at: http://christchurchvburg.dioms.org/about/index.html
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Ghosttowns.com. “St. Joseph, Gulf Count.” Accessed 10-11-2013 at: http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/fl/stjoseph.html
Hulse, Isaac, M.D., U.S. Navy. “Monograph on the Yellow Fever.” Maryland Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. II, No. 4, April 1842, pp. 391-406. Google digital preview at: http://books.google.com/books?id=O4YpBk36sVQC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Humphreys, Margaret. Yellow Fever and the South. Rutgers University Press, 1992, Johns Hopkins Paperbacks edition (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press), 1999. Google digital preview at: http://books.google.com/books?id=Yikk2eA9CuQC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Keating, J. M. A History of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1878 in Memphis, Tenn. Memphis, TN: Howard Association, 1879. Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=WEIJAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Kestenbaum, Lawrence. PoliticalGraveyard.com. “Politicians Who Died of Yellow Fever,” 7-22-2013 revision. Accessed 10-13-2013: http://politicalgraveyard.com/death/yellow-fever.html
Kimball, Christopher. “Gulf County…Places To Visit: Constitution Convention State Museum.” Southernhistory.us, © 1998-2002. Accessed 10-11-2013 at: http://www.southernhistory.us/Counties/c1jacagu.htm
La Roche, Rene, M.D. Yellow Fever, Considered in its Historical, Pathological, Etiological, and Therapeutical Relations, Including A Sketch of the Disease as it has Occurred in Philadelphia from 1699-1854… (Vol. 2 of 2). Philadelphia: Blanchard and Lea, 1855. Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=YTrUAOOJXCAC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
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Medical News. “Yellow Fever at New Orleans.” Vol. XI, No. 129, September 1853, p. 142. Google digitized: http://books.google.com/books?id=kgZYAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Monette, John W. Observations on the Epidemic Yellow Fever of Natchez and of the South-West. Louisville, KY: Prentice and Weissinger, 1842. Digitized by U.S. National Library of Medicine. Accessed 8-15-2013 at: http://archive.org/details/65030290R.nlm.nih.gov
Morris, Christopher. Becoming Southern: The Evolution of a Way of Life, Warren County and Vicksburg, Mississippi, 1770-1860. NY: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1995. Google digital preview: http://books.google.com/books?id=GQVHzf32TcoC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
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Simons, Thomas Young, M.D. An Essay on the Yellow Fever as I has occurred in Charleston, including its Origin and Progress up to the Present Time (1851). A paper read before the So. Ca. Medical Association at its Anniversary Meeting, May, 1851. Charleston, S.C.: Steam Power-Press of Walker and James, 1851. Digitized by Open Knowledge Commons, U.S. National Library of Medicine. Accessed 10-13-2013 at: http://archive.org/details/101215842.nlm.nih.gov
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Sternberg, George M. (US Public Health Service, US Marine Hospital Service). “Yellow Fever: History and Geographic Distribution.” Pages 715-722 in Stedman, Thomas L., M.D. (Ed.) Appendix to the Reference Handbook of the Medical Sciences. NY: William Wood & Co., 1908. Google digitized: http://books.google.com/books?id=3ezqX415M5wC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false
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Newspapers:
Adams Sentinel and General Advertiser, Gettysburg, PA. 11-8-1841, p. 3, col. 1. Accessed at http://newspaperarchive.com
Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, ME. 12-9-1841, p. 2., col. 4.
Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, ME. “New Orleans,” 11-4-1841, p. 2, col. 4.
Daily Whig and Courier, Bangor, ME. 12-9-1841, p. 2., col. 4. Accessed at:
http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=3458890&sterm
Fort Wayne Sentinel, IN. 12-4-1841, p. 6, col. 1.
Hagerstown Mail, MD. “Fever in New Orleans,” 9-10-1841, p. 2, col. 4. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=35976248&sterm=yellow+fever
Hagerstown Mail, MD. “Health of New Orleans,” 9-3-1841, p. 3, col. 1.
Huron Reflector, Norwalk, OH, “Deaths in New Orleans,” 11-23-1841, p. 3, col. 1.
Indiana Journal, Indianapolis. “Sickness at New Orleans,” 11-26-1841, p. 2, col. 2.
Marshall Western Statesman, MI. 8-19-1841, p. 3, col. 1.
Southport American, South Port, WI. 12-9-1841, p. 3, col. 1. At: http://newspaperarcive.com
The Log Cabin, Albany, NY. “From Florida,” 8-14-1841, p. 4, col. 5.
The Log Cabin, Albany, NY. “Health of New-Orleans,” 9-4-1841, p. 4, col. 5.
The Log Cabin, Albany, NY. “Health of Hew Orleans,” 10-30-1841, p. 3. http://newspaperarchive.com
The Log Cabin, Albany, NY. “Yellow Fever,” 9-4-1841, p. 2, col. 3.
Tioga Eagle, Wellsboro, PA. “Yellow Fever at St. Joseph’s,” 8-18-1841, p. 1, col. 6.
Washington Globe, DC. “Yellow Fever,” 8-14-1841, p. 3, col. 4.
Washington Globe, DC. 9-14-1841, p. 3, col. 4.
Washington Globe, DC. “Fever in New Orleans,” 9-29-1841, p. 3, col. 2.
Washington Globe, DC. “New Orleans,” 9-17-1841, p. 3, col. 4.
Washington Globe, DC. “New Orleans,” 9-29-1841, p. 3, col. 2.
Washington Globe, DC. 11-3-1841, p. 3, col. 4.
Washington Globe, DC. 12-6-1841, p. 3, col. 3.
Washington Globe, DC. 12-11-1841, p. 3, col. 4.
Wisconsin Enquirer, Madison. 11-6-1841, p. 3, col. 3.
[1] We explain in separate footnotes for FL and LA how we derive our ranges. We believe that even the high estimate is probably too low, in that it does not take into account (1) the spread of yellow fever by evacuees (from New Orleans in particular), especially on plantations and in rural communities near New Orleans, (2) deaths in small communities and on boats in maritime communication with yellow fever stricken localities, (3) deaths attributed to other causes – such as coincidental epidemics of “congestive fever” in Marion, Alabama, (4) probable deaths in localities noted by question marks, signifying that yellow fever struck but that deaths, if any, were not noted, and (5) the maritime deaths of American sailors in the Caribbean (such as reports of nine American vessels at Havana which were depopulated by yellow fever amongst the crews).
[2] According to the Providence Hospital (Mobile, AL) website, “The History of Providence Hospital,” “Persistent bouts of yellow fever plagued Mobile throughout the 1800s, and in 1841, Mobile’s first bishop, Michael Portier, asked the Sisters [of Charity] to come to Mobile to care for children who lost their parents to this devastating disease. Four Sisters from Emmitsburg [MD] arrived that year to work at the Catholic Orphans’ Asylum (the facility we now know as St. Mary’s Home.” We guestimate that at least ten parents died.
[3] The low range uses Brown {25) for St. Augustine, 45 for St. Joseph, which we note in our St. Joseph footnote to be a low-end guestimate, and 60 deaths for Tallahassee, the low end of the National Board of Health estimated range (though we believe this is too low based on the other sources cited). The high range uses 26 deaths for St. Augustin, 450 for St. Joseph (our guestimated high-range) and 400 for Tallahassee.
[4] At page 388 in the Annual Report for 1879, it is noted that there were 200 cases in Apalachicola, without noting deaths. However, it is noted that “Refugees from Apalachicola died in many places along the Chattahoochee River, as at Fort Gaines, Quincy, &c…” Given the usual high mortality for yellow fever, we make assumption that ten or more people died, probably many more than ten.
[5] Robert Raymond Reid, Governor of Florida Territory, 1839-41. (Kestenbaum, Lawrence. PoliticalGraveyard.com. “Politicians Who Died of Yellow Fever,” 7-22-2013 revision.
[6] USS Levant surgeon, Dr. Laurison, stated that “some fatal cases occurred in the town of Pensacola…” In Drake 1854, p. 234. In order to put a figure to “some” as assume at least 3.
[7] One hundred twenty-five of the white population and six of the “colored. Was in Wakulla County,
[8] There is consensus that “many” of the approximate 6,000 population died, with the remaining population fleeing. One source has it that 75 percent of the population died, and another source has it as approximately 75 percent, which would be 4,500. We have difficulty accepting this as a fatality estimate, thinking that many of this figure to be evacuees, though this number of deaths is conceivable. Thus we take ten percent of 4,500 as our guesstimate of “many” fatalities for our high estimate range, and drop an order of magnitude to 45 for our low range of “many.”
[9] The population was given as 6,000, thus 75 percent would be 4,500. We do not believe this number to be credible.
[10] Notes about 75% of population of 6,000 died – thus our figure of approximately 4,500. We do not believe this figure to be credible.
[11] Cites “Old City Cemetery” website to effect that “between 230 and 400 people perished in the 1841 epidemic.”
[12] Barbara Elizabeth Miller. Tallahassee and the 1841 Yellow Fever Epidemic. M.A. thesis, Florida State University, 1976, p. 5.
[13] Cites: Julianne Hare, Tallahassee: A Capital City History.
[14] “There has never been but one epidemic of yellow fever in Tallahassee. This occurred in 1841, and was brought from Port Leon. The first case was a painter who had been at work in Port Leon. It spread rapidly and was quite fatal. Number of cases not ascertained. Number of deaths between 60 and 80, bu some of these are believed to have been due to congestive malarial fever. The population of Tallahassee at this time was about 800. Many refugees left the place in consequence of the epidemic, and several of them had the fever; but they did not communicate it in any instance to the people with whom they found asylum.”
[15] See descriptive narrative section for Louisiana below.
[16] Do not use as a high estimate in that it looks like it may have been rounded up from the number 1,722.
[17] Writes, after noting The Bee estimate of 1,500 fatal cases, that “realizing that editors had a tendency to minimize rather than to exaggerate such matters, one is inclined to accept Dr. Jones’ figure [1,800] as a fair approximation of the actual mortality.”
[18] “Dr. Dowler, in illustration of the insusceptibility of the black race, points to the year 1841: ‘Among 1800 deaths from yellow fever, there were but three deaths among the blacks – two having been children – or 1 in 600, or 1 in 14,000 of the whole black population.” He corroborates the statement that ‘although non-creolized negroes are not exempt from the yellow fever, yet they suffer little from it, and very rarely die’ (p. 38).” The reference is to an account of the New Orleans Yellow Fever epidemic of 1853.
[19] From table on yellow fever deaths in New Orleans by hear from 1817-1878.
[20] “Comparative Table [Yellow Fever and Cholera]. Estimate of the Salubrity of New Orleans, as affected by her Epidemics. 1st — of Yellow Fever.” (Barton 1857)
[21] One does not know how to reconcile the widely varying reports of 594 yellow fever deaths by Keating, Sternberg and the USMHS and the apparent New Orleans Board of Heath reporting of 1,722 yellow fever deaths out of 2,699 total deaths in New Orleans in the Aug 1-Oct 28 time-span. Sternberg follows Keating and the USMHS. Keating wrote in 1879. The USMHS report is in an 1896 document but cites an 1851 source, probably the original. The 1841 reporting, in newspapers across the country, often citing the New Orleans Board of Health, seems reliable. We conclude that it is probable that an incorrect estimate of 594 was developed and then repeated in later documents.
[22] The difference in the start date of July 27 reported here, and the start date of Aug 1st, is that the first death was probably August 1, while the first case was probably July 27.
[23] Cites: “Trans. A.M.A., 1851, p. 207. (Toner.) Carpenter.”
[24] It is not totally clear that the dates referred to are Oct 31-Nov 2. It is conceivable they are Nov 31-Dec 2.
[25] These are reported to be people of New Orleans buried at Lafayette during the epidemic. These figures are reportedly from the New Orleans Board of Health.
[26] Port Hudson is now a Louisiana State Park, in Feliciana Parish north of Baton Rouge/south of St. Francisville.
[27] “Speaking of Fort Hudson, on the Mississippi, Dr. Drake says that Dr. Beaumont (Ths.), who resided near the village, informed him there were more than twenty well-marked cases there in 1841. On the 12th of October, before any case had occurred, a gentleman from the neighborhood rode through the town, and, without dismounting, lingered in it about three quarters of an hour; on the night of the 13th he was seized with the fever’ (Ib., p. 252).”
[28] See descriptive narrative section below for Mississippi.
[29] “The church weathered a variety of problems in its early years….Twice in twelve years (1841 and 1853), epidemics of yellow fever ravaged the area. Reverend Weller died in the epidemic of 1841.” (“Christ Episcopal Church. Historical Summary of Christ Church.” Website)
[30] Monette wrote that yellow fever carried off “8 or 10 a day” for two weeks before the cause of the epidemic was recognized and/or accepted as yellow fever.
[31] “According to Hicks, in 1841, 1843, and 1847 serious epidemics struck Vicksburg and Warren County. In 1841 some 200 Warren County residents died.” [Hicks reference is to B. J. Hicks, ‘On the Yellow Fever of Vicksburg, Miss., in the Year 1847,” in E. D. Fenner, ed., The Epidemic of 1847: Or Brief Accounts of the Yellow Fever That Prevailed at New Orleans, Vicksburg, Rodney, Natchez, Houston and Covington (New Orleans, 1848), pp. 220-25.
[32] “…in September, 1841…a patient was admitted into the fever ward of the Pennsylvania Hospital [Philly], and died and was dissected without communicating the disease to his attendants or physicians.”
[33] This guess is based on a note that the first purchase of the St. Matthew’s German Evangelical Lutheran Church in Charleston “was a cemetery for the burial of German-speaking citizens during a yellow fever outbreak in 1841.” (Wikipedia. “St. Matthew’s German Evangelical Lutheran Church.” 10-12-2013 last modified. See, also: Findagrave.com. “St. Matthew’s German Lutheran Church.”
[34] “…there is one striking circumstance which occurred in 1841. The yellow fever occurred on the Neck or suburbs of Charleston, yet strange to say, that many who sickened were brought to the city and died, and it did not spread or generate a single case in the city.”
[35] The eleven fatalities are only those from the crew of the Levant who were transferred to the Pensacola Naval Hospital and died there. Hulse notes additionally that there were two yellow fever deaths at the hospital from two French war vessels at Pensacola.
[36] It is noted that “several” people on the schooner which brought the fever to Port Leon died. We translate into “3.”
[37] Cites: Barbara Elizabeth Miller, “Tallahassee and the 1841 Yellow Fever Epidemic” (M.A. thesis, Florida State University, 1976), p. 5.
[38] Though not “crystal clear,” it appears that the reference to 200 cases and unknown number of deaths is to Apalachicola, especially in that the report is by the Apalachicola Custom-House Collector’s Office.
[39] “The Second Seminole War, also known as the Florida War, was a conflict from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between various groups of Native Americans collectively known as Seminoles and the United States, part of a series of conflicts called the Seminole Wars. The Second Seminole War, often referred to as the Seminole War, was the most expensive Indian War fought by the United States.” (Wikipedia. “Second Seminole War,” 8-1-2013 last modified. [No in-text citation, though twenty references are listed for the entire article.]
[40] Cites: Baltimore Medical and Surgical Journal, April 1842, p. 392.
[41] Cites: Sketches, p. 29.
[42] Cites: Baltimore Medical and Surgical Journal June, 1843, p. 393.
[43] At the time Dr. Hulse was the chief surgeon at the Naval Hospital at the Pensacola Navy Yard. Referencing his biography, by Charles T. Werner (NY: 1922) is has been written that Dr. Hulse was “probably the most eminent physician to practice in West Florida during the Territorial Period.” Additionally, “The various fevers endemic to the area interested him immensely. He is known to have made careful observations on the numerous cases which came under his scrutiny taking pains to describe the symptoms and note the results of his various efforts at treatment.” For more on Dr. Hulse go to: http://www.longwood.k12.ny.us/history/bio/hulseIsaac.htm
[44] Cites as source: Louise Messina Porter. The Chronological History of the Lives of St. Joseph. Chattanooga, TN: Great American Publishing Co., 1975.
[45] There is no in-text sourcing. Four references, however, are provided at the end – the Ghosttowns.com and Lighthouse Friends websites we quote from, as well as Kevin M. McCarthy, Florida Lighthouses. Gainesville, FL University of Florida Press, 1990; and “Old St. Joseph Cemetery a/k/a Yellow Fever Cemetery (a broken link).
[46] Today’s Lee County, near Fort Myers.
[47] Today’s Ocala, Florida. (Wikipedia. “Fort King,” 4-9-2013 last mod. At: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_King )
[48] Assuming this is reference to Palatka, today a city in Putnam County neat St. Augustine.
[49] According to the Huron Reflector, Norwalk, OH, “Deaths in New Orleans,” 11-23-1841, p. 3, col. 1, this letter was published in the Commercial on Oct. 29.