1811 — “Spotted Fever” (Meningitis), NH (>10) & VT, esp. Woodstock (60-70), VT–103-108

lornajarrettblanchard January 1, 1811

—>103-108 Blanchard tally of State and local breakouts below.

New Hampshire (>10)

–>1 Bath, Grafton Co. Jackson. History of Littleton, NH (Vol. II of III). 1905, p. 134.[1]

— 7 Rindge, Cheshire County. Blanchard tally of sources below.

— 6 Rindge, Cheshire County. Capnken. “Spotted Fever Outbreak. Find A Grave.

— Isaac Gibson, 55, Dec 6. Buried at Meeting House Cemetery, Rindge, NH.

— Elvira Jewett, ~18 months, Dec 27. Buried at Meeting House Cemetery, Rindge, NH.

— Harriet Jewett, 5 years, Dec 1. Buried at Meeting House Cemetery, Rindge, NH.

— Jeremiah Norcross, ~67, Dec 1. Buried at Meeting House Cemetery, Rindge, NH.

— Jeremiah Norcross, Jr., ~20, Nov 25. Buried at Meeting House Cemetery, Rindge, NH.

— Steele, Samuel, ~20, Dec 13. Buried at Meeting House Cemetery, Rindge, NH.

— 1 Rindge. Emerson Hubbard, ~8, Dec 18. Stearns. History of the Town of Rindge, NH. p. 560.

–>2 Windham, Rockingham County. Percy McAdams, 5-yrs, March 19.[2]

Vermont (93-98)

— ? Barre, Washington County. “The disease was severe in…Barre, and vicinity…”[3]

— >19 Barnet, Caledonia County, as of March 1 when it was “still raging.”[4]

— >5 Derby, Orleans County. (Five Kendall family members, one was 7, another 9.[5]

— 0 Greensborough, Orleans County, starting March 19, several dozen cases, no deaths.[6]

— 0 Hardwick, Caledonia County, starting March 19, several dozen cases, no deaths.[7]

— ? Randolph, Orange County. “The disease was severe in Randolph…”[8]

— 8 Reading, Windsor County, Feb (3 deaths) & Dec (5 deaths).[9]

— 1 Sherburne (Killington), Rutland County. Nathan Whitney, about 30 years old.[10]

–60-70 Woodstock, 1811. Thompson. History of Vermont. 1842, p. 221.[11]

–60-65 Woodstock area, Jan-Apr. Gallup. Sketches of Epidemic Diseases…Vermont. 1815, 65.

Narrative Information

Gallup: “1811. The disease called spotted fever, made its first appearance in this town [Woodstock] and vicinity this year, in the month of January….This disease appeared in a decided form about the 23d of January, although some cases happened a few weeks previous, showing a petechial[12] character….” [p. 63]

“….the month of April was rather milder than usual. The spotted fever continued very severe through this month.

“For about two months the greatest proportion of cases were confined to the village where it began; after about the 20^th of March, the greatest proportion were in the more distant neighbourhoods. The adjoining towns suffered most severely the following year [1812].

“The number of new cases were about the same each week until about the 23d of March; perhaps thirty-five each week, in the neighbourhood and vicinity. As no correct account was kept, and as this village is situated near the corner of several towns, no exact limits are set.

“The week previous to the 23d was attended with the greatest number of deaths….” [p. 64]

“I have no means of giving the number of cases, only as a matter of opinion. Perhaps there might be five hundred and fifty, or six hundred, reckoning five miles each way from the court house. The number of deaths by this disease in five months, was between sixty and sixty-five in the above limits. About eight of this number died before medical assistance could be procured….

“The disease, in the course of the winter, appeared in a great proportion of the towns in the state, particularly in the eastern part extending to the line of Canada, and even very considerably into that province. From information, which I believe to be correct, from twenty to thirty perished in most of the towns in that region. In the town of Barnet [Caledonia County, VT] as published in the newspapers of the 1^st of March, out of thirty cases, nineteen proved fatal, and the disease was still raging. The deaths were generally sudden, and caused great alarm and consternation among the people.

“The disease was severe in Randolph, Barre, and vicinity. Many fatal cases occurred in that region, but I am not favored with any statement from physicians in that quarter. Many cattle are said to have died in this region about this time. I have been credibly informed, that the spotted fever prevailed in the new settlements of Lower Canada, in the summer of this year, and the following spring; and also, that blood-letting was very useful. [end of p. 65]

“The attacks and progress of this disease were generally sudden. Children sometimes went to school apparently in perfect health, who would return home distressed, and, in some instances, be corpses in three or four hours. More often, they would awake in the morning in a comatose and distressed state, with a very quick pulse, and die in a few hours. It was not confined to children. Many cases occurred in men and women, possessing every appearance of the most firm and athletic habits, being prostrated before it in a few days, and sometimes in a few hours, with apparent symptoms of debility or asthenia.[13] They would often be incapable of describing their feelings, from an imbecility or aberration of intellect, and commonly expire in a comatose state.

“Dr. Ware mentions, that in Pomfret, this year a number of foxes were found dead; and that some were killed at mid-day by children, near dwelling houses, to the amount of about a dozen. What their disease was he could not determine. Also squirrels, about this time, were seldom seen, and are not yet so plenty, as before. They were supposed to be destroyed by pestilence. Disease appeared also among sheep and geese.

“Spotted fever appeared in Reading, the latter part of February; about 35 cases; only 10 or 12 severe; three deaths. In December, 20 cases, five deaths. He bled from one to five times, sweated, gave also Vol. Tinet. Gum Guaiac. Ether, &c. He places [end of p. 66] no reliance on pukes and purges, at this time and place. In other places he used them, but the result is not given.

“It is a common observation, and I believe just, that the greatest number of severe and fatal cases of spotted fever, occurred in families most destitute of the common necessaries and comforts of life. Although many cases happened under circumstances the reverse of this, yet the cases could, for the mot part, be referred to some unusual fatigue, or particularly exposure. In families more destitute, not only the liability to have the disease excited, is greater, but also, when attacked, the means necessary for opposing its rapid and fatal tendency, are not usually at hand; neither are they applied with that solicitude and attention, which is characteristic of the more provident….”

(Gallup. Sketches of Epidemic Diseases in the State of Vermont. 1815, pp. 63-67.)

Gallup in Chapter VI on History and Symptoms: “….Whatever may be considered the cause, we find the subject which is attacked, possessed of an unusual degree of nervous mobility, or oscillatory state of action. This condition is manifested to exist in the living moveable powers of the system, by the great variety of symptoms; in the uncertain duration of the disease; and in [end of p. 225] the rapid changes, which take place from one kind and degree of action to another. These circumstances obtain so effectually, that the disease an be said to possess a great versatility of character; and we are at a loss for a set of discriminating symptoms to distinguish it by, unless we resort to the method taken by some of considering its eccentricity of character as pathognomonic of the disease. This, however, is acknowledged to be too vague. It will be suggested in the shortest manner, that the disease may be distinguished more satisfactorily by a peculiar derangement in the physiognomy generally, than by any invariable internal diagnostic symptoms. To a person a little conversant with the disease, and taking all circumstances into consideration, there will be no great difficulty in naming the disease, if any one is anxious about it, especially in the epidemic season.

“The most constant symptom, that has occurred to our observation, is a pain in the forehead between the eyes, similar to the pain that accompanies angina epidemica. A great part of patients, that have the use of their reason, will either complain of this, or answer that they have it, in a short time after the attack; or as soon as the fugitive nervous symptoms have a little subsided….

“The first symptoms generally are extreme lassitude and desire for rest; at the same time a sense of faintness [end of p. 226] at the stomach, with desire for food, which is often called for with impatience. A coldness to the touch is immediately discovered in the skin, and this last has sometimes a purplish color; more commonly, however, the skin, at the attack, looks clear….” [p. 227]

“The eruption, which has given name to this disease, is not a constant attendant, and has as great mutability in its appearance, as can be attached to the pathological character of the disease. The proportion of cases, which had distinct eruptions, may be estimated at about one sixth. Notwithstanding a considerable part of the remainder had some kind or other of cutaneous affection, greater or less, denoting them to be of the same family; but this gives not discriminating character to the disease, as many cases occurred, in which not the least vestige of eruption could be traced….The actual appearance of the eruption gives no relief….The eruptions appeared at different periods of the disease; perhaps most commonly on the second day. They sometimes resemble petechiae, or flea bites…of a dark hue; sometimes of a brighter red colour. They are very numerous; of the size of a pin’s head, or less. The red colour is most favourable. When numerous and of a darkened colour, along with a dusky appearance in the skin, they exhibit a very forbidding aspect. The eruption sometimes appears in blotches and patches of a red colour, and undefined in size…” [pp. 232-233 from 223-280.] (Gallup. Sketches of Epidemic Diseases in the State of Vermont. 1815.)

Jackson: “Spotted fever (cerebro-spinal meningitis) was first observed in this country, in 1806, in Medfield, Mass., although it had been known in Europe in 1505, where it prevailed to an alarming extent. In April, 1807, it appeared in Connecticut, and continued to prevail in different towns in the State, through the years 1808 and 1809. It is said to have appeared in Deerfield, N.H., as early as 1807, but did not prevail as an epidemic throughout the State until two or three years later, and remained as late as 1815 or 1816. In 1809, 1810, and 1811 it prevailed quite generally throughout Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and Canada. Its march was very erratic, as may be seen from the fact that the disease prevailed in Bath in 1811, in Walpole, Bethlehem, and Littleton [all NH] in 1812, In Gilmanton and Croydon in 1813, in Boscawen in 1814, while Warren was not reached till 1815, when it prevailed in that place with fearful malignancy. During the period named, it prevailed in the State in other localities than the towns above mentioned, but these instances are give to show the peculiarities of its progress.” (Jackson. History of Littleton, New Hampshire (Vol. II of III). 1905, p. 134.)

New York Courier and Enquirer, June 22, 1832, Letter to the Editor: “Gentlemen…. In the spotted fever, or cold plague, as it is called, which prevailed in Vermont, New Hampshire, &c. in 1811….because a hideous disease appeared in a new form, it therefore was thought to require a new, or unheard-of treatment. At that period, too, we had the advisers and that the advocates of opium, camphor, wine, brandy, and all the family of stimulants. Bleeding was recommended by some — sweating by others. Under this mode of treating, the disease proved fatal in three to six cases our of ten, where medical aid could be procured; but in those parts of the country, particularly in the western part of the state where the population was too scattered to enable the sick to obtain medical aid, the mortality was not half so great…” (Reprinted in Cobbett. Cobbett’s Weekly Political Register, Vol. 77, No. 9, London, England, 9-1-1832, p. 526.)

Sources

Capnken. “Spotted Fever Outbreak. Find A Grave. Accessed 2-15-2018 at: https://www.findagrave.com/virtual-cemetery/291708?page=1#sr-88029202

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Meningitis. 4-10-2017. Accessed 2-15-2018 at: https://www.cdc.gov/meningitis/index.html

Cobbett, William. Cobbett’s Weekly Political Register, Vol. 77, No. 9, London, England, 9-1-1832. Google preview accessed 2-15-2018 at:

https://books.google.com/books?id=UM47AQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Farmer, John, and Jacob B. Moore. A Gazetteer of the State of New-Hampshire. Concord: Jacob B. Moore, 1823. Google preview accessed 2-15-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=45Y-AAAAYAAJ&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

Jackson, James Robert. History of Littleton, New Hampshire (Vol. II of III). Cambridge, MA: University Press, Cambridge. 1905. Google preview accessed 2-15-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=zck1AAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Mayo Clinic. Meningitis. 12-23-2017. Accessed 2-15-2018 at: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/meningitis/symptoms-causes/syc-20350508

Newenglandkendalls.com. “Twelfth Generation.” Accessed 2-15-2018 at: http://www.newenglandkendalls.com/TTWL/Kendall12011/Kendall12022/b805.htm

Osler, William, M.D. (Professor of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Medical School, Baltimore). “Lecture: The Arthritis of Cerebro-Spinal Fever.” Boston Medical and Surgical Journal. Vol. CXXXIX (139), No. 26, pp. 641-643, 12-29-1898. Accessed 2-15-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=grI1AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA641&lpg=PA641&dq=1811+new+england+%22spotted+fever%22&source=bl&ots=8GHf55k9P9&sig=eL9hgqE4ddC5ba0f_rYEpqzVVaw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwit6YHpzKjZAhVPGt8KHUY1DgAQ6AEIVzAN#v=onepage&q=1811%20new%20england%20%22spotted%20fever%22&f=false

Stearns, Ezra S. History of the Town of Rindge, New Hampshire…1736-1874, with a Genealogical Register of the Rindge Families. Boston: Press of George H. Ellis, 1875. Google preview accessed 2-15-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=hCNAAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Stone, M.T. Historical Sketch of the Town of Troy, New Hampshire, and her Inhabitants…1764-1897. Keene, NH: Press of Sentinel Printing Company, 1897. Google preview accessed 2-15-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=NioTAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Thompson, Zadock. History of Vermont, Natural, Civil, and Statistical, In Three Parts, With a new Map of the State, and 200 Engravings. Burlington, VT: Chauncey Goodrich, 1842. Google preview accessed 2-7-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=8BUzAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Worster-Drought, C. “The Diagnosis of Cerebrospinal Fever (Meningococcal Meningitis): Incorporating the Differential Diagnosis of Meningitis.” Post-Graduate Medical News, April, 1944, pp. 99-107. Accessed 2-15-2018 at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2478081/?page=1

[1] Notes it “prevailed in Bath in 1811.” Farmer and Moore note in Gazetteer of the State of New Hampshire that (p. 77-78) “In 1811, the spotted fever visited this pace [Bath], but did not prove very fatal.” We assume that the notation that it was not very fatal presumes at least one death, or else the note should have been “did not prove fatal.”

[2] We note “at least” 2 deaths in that of note that “She was the first person in Windham who d. of the spotted fever.”

[3] Gallup. Sketches of Epidemic Diseases…Vermont. 1815, 65.

[4] Gallup. Sketches of Epidemic Diseases…Vermont. 1815, p. 65.

[5] Newenglandkendalls.com. “Twelfth Generation.” Accessed 2-15-2018.

[6] Gallup. Sketches of Epidemic Diseases…Vermont. 1815, 66.

[7] Gallup. Sketches of Epidemic Diseases…Vermont. 1815, 66.

[8] Gallup. Sketches of Epidemic Diseases…Vermont. 1815, 65.

[9] Gallup. Sketches of Epidemic Diseases…Vermont. 1815, 66.

[10] Stone, M.T. Historical Sketch of the Town of Troy, New Hampshire, and…Inhabitants…1764-1897. 1897, p. 555.

[11] Highlighted in yellow to denote not including in our tally in that Thompson is basically a rewrite of Gallup, and we do not know why death toll was changed from 60-65 to 60-70.

[12] Small red, purple, or brown spots on the skin that commonly appear in clusters and may look like a rash. (Mayo Clinic. “Petechiae.” Accessed 2-13-2018 at: https://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms/petechiae/basics/definition/sym-20050724

[13] Abnormal physical weakness or lack of energy.