Document created by Wayne Blanchard Oct 2013; revised Apr 2018 and Dec 2019 for website: Deadliest American Disasters and Large-Loss-Of-Life Events. https://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–38,143 Census. “Table VII. Mortality of the U.S. from Disease…June 1, 1880.” 1885, p.44.^[1]

[Notes that Diphtheria and Croup should be considered one and the same, but report the numbers separately in that this is how many of the reporting jurisdictions report.]

Breakout of Diphtheria Deaths by State

— 241 AL Census. “Table VII. Mortality, by State…Specified Disease.” 1885, pp. 54, 58, 62.

— 3 AZ “ “ p. 66.

— 157 AR “ “ pp. 70, 74.

— 295 CA “ “ pp. 78, 82.

— 196 CO “ “ pp. 86, 90.

— 189 CT “ “ pp. 94, 98.

— 301 DK “ “ pp. 102, 106, 110.

— 56 DE “ “ p. 114.

— 2 DC “ “ p. 118.

— 20 FL “ “ p. 122.

— 588 GA “ “ pp. 126, 130, 134.

— 55 ID “ “ p. 138.

–1,507 IL “ “ pp. 142, 146, 150.

–3,783 “ University of Illinois at Chicago. “4. Diphtheria,” p. 50.^[2]

— 192 IN Census. “Table VII. Mortality…by State…Specified Disease.” 1885, pp. 154, 158.

–2,315 IA “ “ pp. 166, 170, 174. (One of hard-hit states – see map, p. xi.)

— 690 KS “ “ pp. 178, 182.

— 333 KY “ “ pp. 186, 190, 194, 198.

— 120 LA “ “ pp. 202, 206, 210.

— 890 ME “ “ pp. 214, 218. (One of hardest hit states – see map, p. xi.)

— 302 MD “ “ pp. 222, 226.

— 958 MA “ “ pp. 230, 234.

–1,769^[3] “ Sec. of Commonwealth. Thirty-Ninth Report…Year Ending Dec 31, 1880. P. 81.^[4]

–1,881 MI Census. “Table VII.” 1885, pp. 235, 242. (One of hardest hit states – see map, p. xi.)

–1,542 “ MI Sec of State. Fourteenth Annual Report Relating to…Deaths…1880. 1885, 268.^[5]

–1,463 MN “ “ pp. 246, 250, 254. EPIDEMIC

–80-90 Sleepy Eye. Davis. “A Diphtheria Epidemic in…Early Eighties,” MN Hist. Mag., 1934

— 193 MS Census. “Table VII. Mortality, by State…Specified Disease.” 1885, 258, 262, 266.

— 639 MO “ “ pp. 270, 274, 278, 282.

— 25 MT “ “ p. 290.

–1,036 NE “ “ pp. 294, 298, 302.

— 17 NV “ “ pp. 306.

— 354 NH “ “ pp. 310, 314. (One of hardest hit states – see map, p. xi.)

— 251 NJ “ “ pp. 318, 322.

— 72 “ Hudson Co., June-Dec, 1879. Annual Rpt. …Nat. Board of Health, 1879. 1879, 210.

“ “ — 7 June. Annual Report of the National Board of Health, 1879. 1879, p.210.

“ “ — 9 July. Annual Report of the National Board of Health, 1879. 1879, p.210.

“ “ — 8 Aug. Annual Report of the National Board of Health, 1879. 1879, p.210.

“ “ — 6 Sep. Annual Report of the National Board of Health, 1879. 1879, p.210.

“ “ –20 Oct. Annual Report of the National Board of Health, 1879. 1879, p.210.

“ “ –16 Nov. Annual Report of the National Board of Health, 1879. 1879, p.210.

“ “ — 6 Dec. Annual Report of the National Board of Health, 1879. 1879, p.210.

— 6 NM “ “ pp. 326, 330.

–2,318 NY “ “ pp. 334, 338, 342, 346, 350.[6] (Upper west NY hard hit.)

— 994 NC Census. “Table VII. Mortality, by State…Specified Disease.” 1885, 354, 358, 362.

–1,688 OH “ “ pp. 366, 370, 374. (Upper OH hard hit – see map, p. xi.)

— 185 OR “ “ pp. 378, 382.

–4,632 PA “ “ pp. 386, 390. (One of hardest hit states – see map, p. xi.)

— 134 RI “ “ p. 394.

— 535 SC “ “ pp. 398, 402, 406.

–1,020 TN “ “ pp. 410, 414, 418, 418.

— 223 TX “ “ pp. 426, 430, 434.

— 737 UT “ “ p. 438.

— 296 VT “ “ p. 442.

— 540 VA “ “ pp. 446, 450, 454.

— 111 WA “ “ pp. 458, 462.

— 510 WV “ “ pp. 466, 470. (One of hardest hit states – see map, p. xi.)

–1,692 WI “ “ pp. 474, 478, 482, 486.

— 18 WY “ “ pp. 490, 494.

Diphtheria Deaths by Month, Census Year^[7]

June 1879 July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan 1880 Feb Mar Apr May Unknown

1,743 1,688 2,533 3,692 4,408 4,440 4,191 3,712 3,150 3,089 2,703 2,565 220

Diphtheria Deaths by Age Groupings^[8]

Under 5 5-15 15-65 Over 65

19,854 16,086 2,056 82

Calendar Year 1879:

New Jersey, Hudson County: (120)

— 120 Annual Report of the National Board of Health, 1879. 1879, p. 210.

— 9 Jan Annual Report of the National Board of Health, 1879. 1879, p. 210.

–11 Feb Annual Report of the National Board of Health, 1879. 1879, p. 210.

–10 Mar Annual Report of the National Board of Health, 1879. 1879, p. 210.

— 9 Apr Annual Report of the National Board of Health, 1879. 1879, p. 210.

— 9 May Annual Report of the National Board of Health, 1879. 1879, p. 210.

— 7 Jun Annual Report of the National Board of Health, 1879. 1879, p. 210.

— 9 Jul Annual Report of the National Board of Health, 1879. 1879, p. 210.

— 8 Aug Annual Report of the National Board of Health, 1879. 1879, p. 210.

— 6 Sep Annual Report of the National Board of Health, 1879. 1879, p. 210.

–20 Oct Annual Report of the National Board of Health, 1879. 1879, p. 210.

–16 Nov Annual Report of the National Board of Health, 1879. 1879, p. 210.

— 6 Dec Annual Report of the National Board of Health, 1879. 1879, p. 210.

MN: (951)

“Table Showing Total Deaths from Diphtheria, 1879, by Counties – Months and Birthplace.”^[9]

County Population Deaths Diphtheria Deaths

Anoka 6,979 2

Becker 4,159 3

Benton 3,019 3

Blue Earth 22,855 426 184

Brown 11,853 191 32

Carlton 1,234 0

Carver 14,193 175 21

Chippewa 5,362 84 12

Chisago 7,997 1

Clay 5,900 2

Cottonwood 5,554 5

Crow Wing 2,307 0

Dakota 17,414 156 18

Dodge 11,413 6

Douglas 9,159 81 10

Faribault 12,999 187 69

Fillmore 27,125 302 20

Freeborn 16,074 205 30

Goodhue 29,505 414 42

Grant 3,004 3

Hennepin 66,590 933 54

Houston 16,339 1

Isanti 5,070 0

Jackson 4,975 2

Kandiyohi 10,156 173 74

Lac qui Parl 4,975 3

Le Sueur 16,111 199 30

Lincoln 2,946 3

Lyon 6,236 3

McLeod 12,195 119 10

Martin 5,250 3

Meeker 11,708 141 26

Morrison 5,877 9

Mower 16,805 182 31

Murray 3,609 4

Nicollet 12,351 188 21

Nobles 4,430 1

Olmsted 21,553 1

Otter Tail 18,741 4

Pint 1,365 0

Pipe Stone 2,093 2

Polk 11,450 0

Pope 5,876 1

Ramsey 46,168 6

Redwood 5,378 3

Renville 10,646 119 21

Rice 22,499 247 22

Rock 3,669 36 10

Scott 13,678 180 20

Sherburne 3,860 6

Sibley 10,731 3

Stearns 22,455 207 10

Steele 12,463 6

Stevens 3,861 1

Saint Louis 4,552 3

Swift 7,467 3

Todd 6,126 2

Wabasha 18,263 10

Wadena 2,086 21 10

Waseca 12,485 6

Washington 19,553 5

Watonwan 5,058 90 32

Winona 27,227 2

Wright 18,124 236 20

Yellow Medicine 5,890 4

Total 951

Jan Feb March April May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

76 67 66 71 56 60 63 74 62 88 129 139

Narrative Information — General

Diphtheria, CDC: “Diphtheria is a serious disease caused by a toxin (poison) made by bacteria. It causes a thick coating in the back of the nose or throat that makes it hard to breathe or swallow. It can be deadly. The DTaP vaccine protects against diphtheria…. Diphtheria starts like a cold, with sore throat, mild fever (101 degrees or less), and chills. Next, the diphtheria toxin makes a thick coating on the back of the nose or throat. It may be blue or grayish green. The coating makes it hard to breathe or swallow… The coating on the throat can get so thick that it blocks the airway, so the person can’t breathe.

“The diphtheria toxin can attack the heart, causing abnormal heart rhythms and even heart failure. It can also attack the nerves, which leads to paralysis (unable to move parts of the body).

About 1 out of 10 people who get diphtheria dies. In children younger than 5 years, as many as 1 out of 5 children who get diphtheria dies.

“How does diphtheria spread? Diphtheria spreads when an infected person coughs or sneezes. A person can spread the disease for up to 2 weeks after infection.

“What is the DTaP vaccine? The DTaP vaccine is a shot that combines the vaccines for diphtheria and two other serious diseases: tetanus and whooping cough (pertussis). The vaccine helps the body to build up protection against the diphtheria toxin. Most children (about 97 children out of 100) who get all doses of the vaccine will be protected against diphtheria….” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vaccines and Immunizations. “Diphtheria – Fact Sheet for Parents.” 7-8-2013 update. Accessed 8-27-2013: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/diphtheria/fs-parents.html

US Census Office: “Of all the data relating to deaths furnished by the census, the reports of the causes of death are probably the least accurate and satisfactory…in speaking of the data derived from the physicians’ registers of death, to the very large number of cases in which the cause of death is practically unknown…this proportion should, of course, be very much greater in the causes of death reported by non-medical persons. It must be remembered that giving a name to the cause of death does not by any means remove it from the category of the unknown. For example, a large proportion of the deaths reported as due to debility, old age, dropsy, convulsions, and disease of the heart are practically ‘unknown’ as to cause. The returns of the causes of death in the enumerators’ schedules in the present census are, however, much more valuable than those of the preceding censuses, on account of the greater extent to which these schedules have been revised by physicians, in accordance with a special request from the Census Office to that effect, in connection with directions given to the enumerators….The number of individual causes of death reported upon these schedules was about three hundred.

“As might be expected, over one-half of the deaths referred to unknown causes are of children under one year of age. The nomenclature and classification of diseases adopted in the tables is substantially that proposed in the recent revision of the nomenclature of the Royal College of Physicians of London, and now used in the annual reports of the registrar-general of England….

“A variation in the proportion of deaths reported from different causes in different localities may indicate either a difference in the actual prevalence of these causes, or a difference in the knowledge and opinions of the medical men of these localities; and this fact is to be constantly borne in mind in the study of Tables XV and XVI, showing the relative proportion of certain diseases to the total mortality by localities, by parentage, and by groups of ages, as for example, in the figures for croup and diphtheria; for heart disease, for Bright’s disease, and dropsy, for bronchitis and pneumonia, etc. ….” (Section VIII. — Causes of Death, p. xxvii-xxviii,)

US Census Office: “The majority of the leading medical authorities of the present day are disposed to consider diphtheria and croup as being, in the main, merely different names for the same affection according as it affects more especially the mouth, throat, and nose, or the larynx and windpipe; membranous croup being considered to be, in a great majority of cases, at all events, a true diphtheritic affection of the larynx. It has been thought best, however, to tabulate the figures as returned by the enumerators and physicians, although the statistics of the two should be studied and considered together.

“The total number of deaths reported to have been caused by these diseases during the census year was, for diphtheria, 38,143; and for croup, 17,966. Diphtheria caused 5,039 deaths out of each 100,000 deaths from all causes, as against 1,280 in 1870, and 422 in 1860. Croup caused 2,374 deaths of every 100,000 deaths from all causes, as against 2,172 in 1870, and 422 in 1860, and 3,314 in 1850. The great increase in the proportion of deaths from diphtheria in 1880 over those reported in the preceding census years may be partly due to the fact that physicians now report as diphtheria cases which twenty or thirty years ago would have been returned as croup, as indicated by the fact that the proportion of deaths from croup for the last two censuses ahs been considerably less than it was for the two preceding ones. Nevertheless, this would account for but a small part of the increase, and it is certain that diphtheria has been unusually prevalent in the northern portions of the United States for several years, of which the census year is perhaps a fair average. In England, during the year 1880, the deaths from diphtheria were 532 per 100,000 deaths from all causes, and for the ten years from 1870 to 1879, they were 569 per 100,000. The proportion of deaths from diphtheria is greater in females than in males, while the reverse is the case in the deaths reported as due to croup. The mean age at death of those reported as dying of diphtheria during the census year was 6, and of croup 2…. (p. xxxix)

“The mortality from both croup and diphtheria is greater in the rural districts than in the large cities, in the whites than in the colored, in those of German than in those of Irish descent….” (p. xl)

“It will be seen that diphtheria prevailed chiefly in the North, and especially in the northern part of Maine, the northeastern part of New York, the central portions of Pennsylvania, the interior of Michigan and Wisconsin, the north Missouri valley, and in the northwestern territories, while the mortality from it was relatively low in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys and in the South.” (xliii)

“Diphtheria we know to be a disease that is spread by contagion. It is often asserted that it is a filth disease, meaning thereby that it is caused by inhaling or swallowing some of the products of the decomposition of organic matter. That it is a filth disease in so far as want of cleanliness and of proper removal of excreta and the use of water, milk, etc., contaminated by excreta, tends to promote the conveyance of the cause of the disease from one person to another there is little reason to doubt; but that it is a filth disease in the sense that decomposing excreta many, without the addition of a specific cause, produce the disease, there is no sufficient evidence. If stored filth alone will cause diphtheria, it should prevail in nearly every county in the United States, and also throughout the civilized world, for we have no reason to suppose that American filth possesses any qualities peculiar to itself. It would seem that the proportion of deaths from this cause is less in the large cities which are sewered than in the smaller ones which rely more upon cesspools and privy-vaults; it is only in the cities of New Orleans and Denver that the proportion of deaths from diphtheria exceeds that of the surrounding region, and neither of these is sewered….” (xliv)

(US Census Office. Report on the Mortality and Vital Statistics of the United States as Returned at the Tenth Census (June 1, 1880)…Part II. 1886.)

Illinois

Univ. of IL: “Diphtheria was…very prevalent in the state between 1876 and 1881. It reached its height in 1880, when there were 3,783 diphtheria deaths in Illinois, or 123 deaths for every 100,000 inhabitants of the state. Chicago experienced an even greater death rate from this disease, 291 deaths per 100,000 city residents. This was the highest diphtheria death rate ever recorded for the city. The death rate was much greater in Chicago because of the city’s booming population and its many overcrowded, poorly ventilated tenements, which provided ideal conditions for a disease that thrives on close human contact….

“At that time, the cause of the disease was a mystery. Some thought the illness was caused by a microbe. Others believed it resulted from unhealthy environmental conditions, such as inclement

weather or filth. Still others pointed to the deleterious influence of social surroundings, such as poverty, poor diet, crowding or inadequate clothing….” (Univ. of IL at Chicago. “4. Diphtheria,” pp. 49-60.)

Massachusetts

MA Gov: “The very fatal epidemic of diphtheria has continued, with even a moderate increase over 1879….” (p. 31.)

“Diphtheria appeared first in our death-returns under that name for the first time in 1858, although it prevailed earlier in our State, and has been known to the world for at least twenty centuries. Many authorities consider it as the severe form of what has been known for many years as the disease ‘membranous croup.’ The two diseases are at least confused in practice.

“Table 75 [omitted here] shows two severe epidemics from 1860 to 1866, and from 1874 onward; an extremely high death-rate from that cause having been maintained for six years without any present indications of a marked decline.

“Its fatality for the year 1880 was greatest (in order by counties) in Suffolk, Essex, Norfolk, Hampden, Middlesex, Worcester, Bristol, Hampshire, Franklin, Barnstable, Berkshire, Dukes, and Nantucket, relatively to the population….

“Sixty-five per cent of the deaths were of children under 5 years of age, and 26 per cent between the ages of 5 and 10; 91 per cent of the deaths were of children under 10 years of age….95 per cent under the age of 15, the decline from that age onward being progressive and quite marked….

“After the epidemic of diphtheria and croup, which reached its highest point in 1863, the deaths from that cause declined steadily from 18.17 per cent of the total mortality to 2.5 in 1870, rising slightly to 2.7 in 1871. In 1875 the annual increase was great; and in the next two years the epidemic was at its greatest height, from which time there has been a steady decline to 6.78 per cent.

“By Tables 78 and 70 [not shown here] the total mortality thus far (ten years) has amounted to 18,714, and 210 more of females than of males (9,459) to 9,249).

“The least number of deaths was in August, from which month the rise was quite rapid to November and December;^[10] the decline extending more slowly from December to August….

“The excessive mortality from diphtheria and croup among the very young is even more striking when the deaths are compared with the population at the several ages, showing, for instance, a fatality a hundred times as great among children under five years of age as between the ages of 30 and 40.” (pp. 81-84) ….

“The analysis of the deaths from diphtheria (including croup), for the ten years ending in 1880, indicates a sudden rise in the mortality in 1874, chiefly in Berkshire and Franklin Counties, corresponding to the beginning of the severe epidemic in the north-western part of the State, with independent lesser foci in Bristol, Middlesex, and Hampden; while the deaths from that cause were less than the average of the previous three years in Barnstable, Essex, Dukes and Nantucket, Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk, and Worcester. In 1875 the epidemic in Berkshire and Franklin Counties continued; and there was a marked rise in every other county in the State, except the islands, where no deaths were reported from diphtheria or croup. In 1876 the epidemic had decidedly moderated in Franklin County, and less so in Barnstable, remained about stationary in Berkshire, while the increase in the rest of the State, except the islands, was very great, causing 3,294 deaths, or 116 more than in the next year; from which time there has been a decline, Suffolk County alone having a greater number of deaths in 1880 than in any previous year.

“Following the different towns in the list, it may be seen that the mortality varied greatly from year to year in some; that in many it could hardly be said that there was any real epidemic; that the excessive mortality occurred in one season as in Florida, in two as in Nantucket, or scattered over any or nearly all of the ten years, and that contiguous towns were often visited by the disease with very different degrees of fatality. In the northern part of Berkshire County the epidemic was much more severe than in the southern part, while the opposite fact is true of the towns forming the Connecticut Valley. The extremely small towns of Florida and Conway had the highest death-rates in Berkshire and Franklin Counties,^[11] Easton (population, 3,898) in Bristol, Haverhill (14,628) in Essex, Holyoke (16,260) in Hampshire, Ware (4,142) in Hampshire, Pepperell (1,927) in Middlesex, Sharon (1,330) in Norfolk, Plympton (755) in Plymouth, Chelsea (20,737) in Suffolk, Spencer (5,451) in Worcester.” (p. 100)

Table 56. “Mortality from Prominent Zymotic^[12] Diseases, — Ten Years,” on page 59 has diphtheria [at 1,769 deaths] as the second leading cause of death behind “cholera infantum” at 2,118 deaths. Croup, which is elsewhere in this report combined with diphtheria, was responsible for 625 deaths, for a combined diphtheria and croup toll of 2,394 deaths, making these two, often conflated maladies, the leading cause of death in Massachusetts in 1880.

(Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth. Thirty-Ninth Report to the Legislature of Massachusetts Relating to the Registry and Return of Births, Marriages, and Deaths in the Commonwealth, for the Year Ending December 31, 1880 (Public Document No. 1). Boston: Rand, Aberg & Co., Printers to the Commonwealth, 1881, pp. 59, 81-110.)

Michigan

MI Sec of State: “Diphtheria – According to the returns, the deaths from this cause numbered 1,542 in 1880. This mortality is the largest that has ever been recorded in this State, and the disease has manifested its influence during the last few years in a remarkable manner, alone in its extent, duration, and fatal effects. The prevalence of the disease in the various counties for the years 1876-1880 is as follows: in 1876, it was reported from 38 counties; in 1877, from 46 counties; in 1878, from 52 counties; in 1879, from 61 counties; and in 1880, from 62 counties, or from 24 counties more than in 1876. The weekly reports of sickness made to the State Board of Health, in 1877-1880, by health officers of cities and regular correspondents of the Board, also indicate a considerable increase of sickness from diphtheria during those years….The deaths from diphtheria in 1880 comprised 9.58 per cent of the deaths from all causes; although this per cent is not as large as that for 1879, which was 10.22, still, there were 69 more deaths returned from this disease in 1880 than in 1879. The order of the years 1869-1880, those being placed first in order which have the greatest per cent of deaths from diphtheria, is: 1879, 10.22; 1880, 9.58; 1878, 6.95; 1877, 4.59; 1876, 2.47; 1875, 1.73; 1874, 1.70; 1873, 1.52; 1872, 1.44; 1871, 1.24; 1870, 1.12; 1869, 0.97. From 1870 to 1873, the number of deaths reported from diphtheria increased with each year; from 1873 to 1875 the number reported decreased by 4 in 1874 and y 6 in 1875; but from 1875 to 1880, the number reported increased again largely with each successive year.

“…diphtheria, as usual, prevailed most extensively during the fall and December, 57.12 per cent having died during the five months of August, September, October, November, and December….

“The deaths from Diphtheria of those under five years of age were 43 per cent of the total number of deaths from this disease, and for ages from 5 to 10 they constituted 35 per cent; 78.14 per cent of the deaths were of children under 10 years of age, and 93.59 per cent were of persons under 15 years of age. The decrease in the death-rate from diphtheria among persons over 15 years of age, as compared with the death-rate among those under that age, is very marked.

“The same propositions are made for diphtheria that are made for croup, and the proposition that more than an average proportion of deaths occurred in months in which less than an average quantity of vapor was inhaled, and vice versa, hold true in only six of the twelve months, while in croup the same proposition holds true in ten of the twelve months. This indicates that in 1880, croup sustained a closer relation to the amount of vapor inhaled than did diphtheria.” (pp. 268-269.)

(Michigan Secretary of State. Fourteenth Annual Report Relating to the Registry and Return of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, in Michigan for the Year 1880 by the Secretary of State of the State of Michigan. Lansing: W. W. George & Co., State Printers and Binders, 1884.)

Minnesota

“As early as 1877 there were a few fatal cases of diphtheria in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, and its vicinity. They caused no particular alarm in the minds of people outside the families immediately concerned. Nor were these cases followed by such devastating results as came later. At that time few, if any, believed that the disease was “catching.” Thus no quarantine measures were taken….Later it was generally believed that weather conditions caused, or at least aided, the rapidity with which the disease swept over the town and country around Sleepy Eye….

“During the years 1878 and 1879 the number of fatal cases increased to such an extent that the residents of both town and country began to doubt the correctness of their previously formed opinions in the matter. The next year they became really alarmed; for cases were increasing by leaps and bounds and none of the doctors seemed to be able to save a child afflicted with what was then called black diphtheria. By 1880 the plague had reached the epidemic stage. People had at last come to realize the serious nature of the situation, and with this realization came the conviction of their utter helplessness.

“….The lack of knowledge of the cause or of any preventive or curative agents was staggering to doctors as well as to laymen. Light cases were cured with or without treatment. The suffering in the more severe cases was alleviated to some slight extent; but the end came usually with startling certainty and machine-like regularity. And the time was short—four days, sometimes dragged out to a few days longer by the extraordinary vitality of the patient or, perhaps, by medical care and nursing. There could be, however, no assurance of even this.

“A few patients apparently recovered from diphtheria, only to die suddenly of heart failure days or even weeks later. In these cases of heart weakness, the physicians, when they could be reached in time, were able to help and to save a few. But to parents and relatives, the death of a child after strong hopes of recovery had been aroused and almost ripened into certainty was, if possible, even more tragic than the swiftly certain outcome of other fatal cases.

“In the early stages of the epidemic, it was argued, apparently with good reason, that the disease, especially in its most virulent form, was a product of, or at least was aggravated by, insanitary conditions in the homes. It soon developed beyond the possibility of doubt that the very neatest families living in commodious homes in both town and country suffered as much as those who lived in small, squalid, and poorly ventilated hovels. The cause of the disease thus became the puzzle of the day to both physicians and laymen of the locality.

“Physicians worked heroically, worried and studied day and night, traveled long distances in storm and cold in unheated buggies or sleighs, and stayed by the bedsides of patients during critical hours, but they got nowhere. The day of the specific “germ-chaser” was not yet — at least so far as the diphtheria germ was concerned — and it was not due to arrive until slowly dragging decades had passed….Although diphtheria was considered preeminently a children’s disease, a number of grown people, including the village marshal, died of it, and not a few suffered weakened hearts and lowered vitality.

“….The physicians worked with the knowledge that they could do little more than sympathize, offer suggestions as to caring for patients, and apply the best-known remedies, always hoping that the patients’ own vitality would in some miraculous way work a cure. But the physician’s big job was to keep up the courage of the parents, to cheer his patients, and — perhaps incidentally, but most important of all — to keep up his own courage. This was no easy task.

“As the scourge advanced in its course, practically unhindered by man or climatic conditions, some families were left with one, two, or, rarely, three children. Others were left without any. Fred Gerboth and his wife, who lived two and one-half miles east of Sleepy Eye, had a family of six children, a boy and five very pretty and intelligent girls. The boy was about sixteen years old; the girls ranged from thirteen or fourteen down to three or four. The Gerboths were very neat and Intelligent people. Gerboth was a candidate for the state legislature. Before he moved to the farm he had kept a store in Iberia, which in its day was a lively, If small, village about four miles south and one mile east of Sleepy Eye. The diphtheria suddenly came into the home of the Gerboths. In a matter of days they had laid away all five girls, one at a time. Only the boy was left to them. The tragedy so affected Gerboth’s mind that he was obliged to withdraw from the campaign. So far as is known, he never entirely recovered from the shock.

“Louis Hanson lived southeast of town about five miles. He and his wife had five children. The scourge came in and took all five. It was a sad sight to see Hanson driving up the road every day or two on his way to the cemetery, alone with his dead. The children died between August 26 and September 5. There were no funeral services or processions for the little ones — just simple interments with little or no ceremony. By this time people were thoroughly frightened and were wondering how the epidemic would end, and when. Voluntarily, families kept to themselves as much as was possible; but the precaution was like locking the door after the horse was gone.

“Few, if any, families with children escaped the ravages of the plague entirely. Some had the disease in light form, however, and they became immune to later attacks. The epidemic reached its peak in 1880. Fatalities gradually diminished as the people upon whom the germs could work were reduced in number by death and immunization. The course of the disease, even in its lightest form, seemed to prepare the blood of the patient to resist successfully all future attacks of the germs for long periods of time, if not for life. In epidemic form, diphtheria was practically unknown in Sleepy Eye after 1883. Later cases were sporadic and did not spread with epidemic speed, even among children who were born after the epidemic of 1880 and among newly arrived settlers….

“….It was estimated that in Sleepy Eye and its vicinity alone between eighty and ninety deaths were caused by diphtheria during and immediately preceding the period of its epidemic stage.” (Davis, LeRoy G. “A Diphtheria Epidemic in the Early Eighties.” Minnesota History Magazine, Vol. 15, December 1934, pp. 434-438.)

New York

NY State Board of Health, “Preventable and Prevalent Diseases:” “The fact that twenty-five per cent of all the mortality in the State is caused by only five of the diseases which destroy life, and that fully one-third of the total sickness and mortality in the State is known to be preventable, must be regarded as an ample reason for making a systematic study and registration of the prevalent and preventable diseases….” [p. 14]

“Diphtheria. – In six widely separated regions of the State the Board has been called to advise to the prevalence and suppression of this disease….” [p. 17]

“Diphtheria at Geneva.^[13] – The outbreak and prevalence of diphtheria in Geneva and its vicinity…where this foe gained a foothold two years ago and upwards, has but recently disappeared. That eighty deaths occurred from this malady in that village of seven thousand inhabitants, in a period of fifteen months, is a lamentable fact which should incite to all the research and efforts that can be made to contribute to the protection of communities against pestilent poison which allies to its deadly work whatever aids it finds in neglect of purity of habitation and water supplies, and of the dwelling-grounds….” [p. 17] (New York State Board of Health. First Annual Report of the State Board of Health of New York. 1881.)

Vermont

Sep 29: “Bennington, Vt., Sept. 29. – From a few isolated cases during the Summer months diphtheria has become epidemic here, and the public schools are closed in consequence. Twenty cases have been reported since Saturday, some of which will prove fatal. The physicians have not yet assigned a cause for the visitation.” (NYT. “An Epidemic of Diphtheria.” 9-30-1880.)

Virginia

Dec 3: “Petersburg, Va., Dec. 3. – A correspondent, writing from Wilson, Grayson County, Va., reports that diphtheria has recently prevailed, in a very malignant form, in that county. In some families five and six persons died, and in one instance the whole family died, not one escaping.” (New York Times. “Ravages of Diphtheria.” 12-4-1880.)

Sources

Davis, LeRoy G. “A Diphtheria Epidemic in the Early Eighties.” Minnesota History Magazine, Vol. 15, December 1934, pp. 434-438. Accessed 10-7-2013 at:

http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/15/v15i04p434-438.pdf )

Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth. Thirty-Ninth Report to the Legislature of Massachusetts Relating to the Registry and Return of Births, Marriages, and Deaths in the Commonwealth, for the Year Ending December 31, 1880 (Public Document No. 1). Boston: Rand, Aberg & Co., Printers to the Commonwealth, 1881, pp. 59, 81-110. Google digitized at:

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

Michigan Secretary of State. Fourteenth Annual Report Relating to the Registry and Return of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, in Michigan for the Year 1880 by the Secretary of State of the State of Michigan. Lansing: W. W. George & Co., State Printers and Binders, 1884. Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=JzziAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

National Board of Health, United States. Annual Report of the National Board of Health, 1879. Washington, DC: GPO, 1879. Google preview accessed 4-15-2018 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=0SsgAQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

New York State Board of Health. First Annual Report of the State Board of Health of New York (Transmitted to the Governor December 1, 1880). Albany: Weed, Parsons and Co., Printers, 1881. Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=TGPUmyX6_UgC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

New York Times. “An Epidemic of Diphtheria.” 9-30-1880. Accessed at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F70F10FF3E5B1B7A93C2AA1782D85F448884F9

New York Times. “Ravages of Diphtheria,” 12-4-1880. Accessed at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=FA0B13FB3E5F15738DDDAD0894DA415B8084F0D3

Staples, Franklin, M.D. “Report on Diphtheria,” pp. 65-97 in Minnesota State Board of Health. Eighth Annual Report of the State Board of Health of [MN] for1879-1880. St. Peter: J. K. Moore, 1881. Cites: Report of Commissioner of Statistics for 1880. Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=10VNAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=true

United States Census Office, Department of the Interior. Report on the Mortality and Vital Statistics of the United States as Returned at the Tenth Census (June 1, 1880)…Part II. Washington: GPO, 1886. Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=wfNYAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

U.S. Dept. of Interior, Census Office. Report on the Mortality and Vital Statistics of the United States as Returned at the Tenth Census (June 1, 1880), Part I. Washington: GPO, 1885. At: http://www.census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html

University of Illinois at Chicago. “4. Diphtheria,” pp. 49-60. Accessed at:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:ALEJFHVbhcoJ:www.uic.edu/sph/prepare/courses/ph500/resources/diphtheria.pdf+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

Wikipedia. “Zymotic disease.” 9-30-2013 modification.

[1] “Table VII. Mortality of the [US] and of Each State Group, From Each Specified Disease and Class of Diseases, with Distinction of Age and Sex, During the Census Year Ending June 1, 1880.” In: U.S. Census Office. Report on the Mortality and Vital Statistics of the United States as Returned at the Tenth Census (June 1, 1880), Part I. Table 31, p. xxviii, notes that in terms of the number of deaths due to a known cause as well as death rate, diphtheria ranked third, at 38,143 deaths and death rate of 52.99, behind consumption (TB) and pneumonia.

[2] The discrepancy between this figure (calendar year) and the Census figure is that the Census year ended June 1, 1880. Diphtheria tended to peak in the Fall, thus after the Census figures were collected.

[3] The Census figures were for twelve months ending June 1, 1880, whereas the State time-frame ended Dec 31^st.

[4] MA Sec. of Commonwealth. Thirty-Ninth Report to the Legislature of Massachusetts Relating to the Registry and Return of Births, Marriages, and Deaths in the Commonwealth, for the Year Ending December 31, 1880. 1881. Total deaths in 1880 was 35,292, “considerably in excess of that of any of the previous quarter of a century.” (p. 31.)

[5] Michigan Secretary of State. Fourteenth Annual Report Relating to the Registry and Return of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, in Michigan for the Year 1880 by the Secretary of State of the State of Michigan. Lansing: W. W. George & Co., State Printers and Binders, 1884. Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=JzziAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false )

[6] Table 29, p. xxvi, shows a diphtheria death rate per 10,000 population for Brooklyn of 13.5 and NYC as 5.53.

[7] From Table 47 “Showing Deaths From Diphtheria in Cities and Rural Districts, with Distinction of Months.” xliv.

[8] From Census Table 43, “Showing for Certain Groups of Ages the Number of Deaths from Diphtheria, and the Proportion of Deaths from This Cause to the Whole Number of Deaths at the Corresponding Age Groups, with Distinction of Sex, of Rural and Cities, and, for Certain Regions, of Color and Parentage.” P. xl.

[9] Page 93 in: Staples, Franklin, M.D. “Report on Diphtheria,” pp. 65-97 in MN State Board of Health. Eighth Annual Report of the State Board of Health of [MN]…1879-1880. Cites: Report of Commissioner of Statistics 1880.

[10] Table 78. “Deaths from Diphtheria and Croup, by Age, Sex, and Seasons, 1871-1880,” p. 83, shows 328 deaths for November and 353 for December – more than an average of ten deaths daily for approximately 60 days.

[11] Table 81, “Death-Rates from Diphtheria and Croup in order, 1871-80,” on p. 101, has pop. of Florida as 572 and a death-rate of 34.96. Table has Spencer with a population of 5,451 and a death rate of diphtheria and croup 29.90.

[12] “Zymotic diseases (for the Greek language term zumoun for ‘ferment’), was a term in medicine of the 19^th century, applied to a class of acute infectious maladies, presumed to be due to some virus or organism which acts in the system like a ferment, It was in British official use from 1839…was obsolete [by] 1911…” (Wikipedia. “Zymotic disease.” 9-30-2013 modification.)

[13] Referred to as an epidemic on page 30.

1879 — June-May 1880, Diphtheria, esp. PA/4.6K; IL/3.7K; NY/2.3K; IA/2.3K, ME/MI/WI-38,143