How I Found 7 Diseases Suffered by My Ancestors
Tuberculosis (TB)
At one time, tuberculosis was rampant. According to American Experience on PBS, “by the dawn of the 19th century, tuberculosis…had killed one in seven of all people that had ever lived.” In my family tree the disease was prevalent in ancestors living in cities, but I’ve found no evidence of it in my relatives who lived in rural areas.
My grandfather was from the city of Chester, Pennsylvania in Delaware County. It’s in his line where several of my ancestors contracted tuberculosis, also commonly called consumption. My grandfather had written that his paternal grandmother, Mary Morgan Higgins, had died from TB. On Ancestry I was able to find her 1890 death record from the cemetery where she was buried, Chester Rural Cemetery. This record stated she died at the age of 36 and listed her cause of death as consumption, confirming what my grandfather had shared. The same record collection revealed that Mary’s mother, Catherine Breckenridge Morgan, also died from tuberculosis in 1904. My grandfather also had an uncle who died at the age of 19 in 1914. His death certificate listed the cause of death as tubercular meningitis.
Smallpox
My 6th great-grandfather Lemuel Barnes enlisted in the Continental Army during the American Revolution in 1777 for a three-year term. According to an article appearing on the National Park Service website, 1777 was the year George Washington mandated innoculation against smallpox for all soldiers in the Continental Army. According to Revolutionary War pension records available on fold3.com, Lemuel applied for an invalid pension after contracting smallpox during the army’s retreat from Canada. It’s unclear if he developed the disease naturally, or if it was a side effect of innoculation, but the disease affected his eyesight and he was awarded $3.33 1/3 per month.
Diphtheria
Diphtheria is caused by a bacteria which attacks the respiratory system, making it difficult for sufferers to breathe, according to the CDC. While searching records at my grandmother’s house, I found some information written about my 2nd great-grandparents, Judd Kennedy and Grace Riffle. This was likely written by their daughter, my great-grandmother Kathryn Kennedy Loughridge. She wrote that when her father was young his family was hit hard by smallpox, which killed three of his siblings. I found entries for the children on FindAGrave.com. They all died within the span of eight days.
- Cynthia, 11 years old, died on 18 March 1882
- Charles, 7 years old, died on 21 March 1882
- Frederick, 8 years old, died on 25 March 1882
The website identified their cause of death as diphtheria, not smallpox. The information was initially uncited, so I contacted the user who managed their pages. They responded that they found the information in the Wellsboro Agitator newspaper. I couldn’t find the death notices in the newspaper while searching by name, so I manually searched issues published shortly after their dates of death. The 9 May 1882 issue confirmed that the cause of death was diphtheria.
Diarrhea
While collecting data for the 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880 federal censuses, information was also collected about people who had died in the last year. These were called mortality schedules and included causes of death. The 1850 mortality schedule revealed my 4th great-grandfather Michael Link’s cause of death was diarrhea.
My 3rd great-grandfather James Loughridge enlisted in the Union Army when he was 16 years old. I found an account of his experience during the Civil War among records at my grandmother’s house. He wrote about going to Harrisburg to be mustered into service, receive his uniform and begin training. Going to a training camp filled with many other young men, was likely a shock to the small town boy’s immune system and he became ill.
“But i was taken sick with dirreah[sic] and came neigh to death.”
James Loughridge
I suspect he contracted dysentery, which was very common in camps during the Civil War. He survived the illness, and a gunshot wound at the Battle of Fredericksburg later in the same year.
Influenza
According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, the grippe is an antiquated word for “an acute febrile contagious virus disease,” especially influenza. According to the 25 February 1901 issue of the Chester Times, my third great-grandmother, Catherine Breckenridge Morgan, was “confined to her home with an attack of the grip.”
Typhoid Pneumonia
Typhoid is caused by bacteria and can be contracted by contaminated food and water, or coming in contact with someone already infected with the disease. It can cause a fever, headache, and stomach pains, among other symptoms, according to the Mayo Clinic. Pneumonia can also be a complication caused by typhoid. When my 4th great-grandmother Alma Beckwith Oldroyd died in 1870, her death notice in the local newspaper reported her cause of death as typhoid pneumonia.
Rheumatism
My 4th great-grandfather Charles Henry Ball, a Civil War Veteran, reported on the 1890 Veteran’s Census that he suffered from chronic rheumatism, a form of arthritis. His pension application from the National Archives provided details about how he contracted the disease.
“[I]n the winter of 1864…We made a raid from what was known as Muddy Camp near Winchester, Va. It was a heavy fall of snow at the time. I caught a bad cold, and when I got back…I was very sick, pains in my limbs back and shoulders, and was five days that I was perfectly helpless…After that I suffered from rheumatism all the rest of my service in my back and shoulders, tho I did duty after I was so I got round. It was about 3 weeks that I was off duty.”
Charles H. Ball
Do you know about other sources that include ancestors’ diseases and health issues? Share what you’ve found in the comments below.
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