Flu, now & then

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Did your area get hit with the flu like we did here in SW Mich? Awful, awful. My whole family had it, and then I personally got hit a second time last week. No fair! So happens that while I was down, I was reading a book in which the main character died during the 1918-20 flu epidemic. Spanish flu, I think it was then. This got me thinking, as I often do, about the facts of life during that time. In the book, people were losing their entire families. Folks were too sick & weak to even take the bodies of their loved ones out of the house! Fathers left for work in the morning and came home that evening to a dead and dying family. Hard to even imagine the grief of that time. Suddenly, I was feeling a whole lot better about my measly little fever and tummy ache.

I suspect most of us on the forum are much too young to have firsthand experience with such tragedies as that. But I'm curious (morbid, maybe?) about it...if anyone does recall experiences or family lore about such things as flu or other epidemics. I'm really not morbid, though...I'm actually awe-struck by the mettle of those folks, and like to hear about them.

-- Shannon at Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary (gratacres@aol.com), April 08, 2002

Answers

I have been doing genealogical research for the last couple of years. Proof of what you talk about in your post can be found in census records, in graveyards, in death records, etc. Not unsusual to find the death of a parent and four or five children within the space of a month. It sure does emphasize the strength and determination of the early settlers doesn't it?

I have been paying attention to where people on this forum are from. Has anyone else noticed that there are very few (if any) people from Nebraska that post here? I'm looking for a friendly soul from Nebraska (Valley County) to tell me what it's like - geography, history, nature of the the people, etc. as I've recently found some of my husband's family settled there.

I know I'm slightly off topic, but they were true homesteaders who lived in soddy's and were helped through difficult winters by natives, etc.

Shannon - I've been ill myself this winter - and I did get a flue shot in the fall. I hate to think how sick I would have been had I not had the shot. Because I have asthma, I ended up with a type of pneumonia. And adding insult to injury, it snowed again last night. Depressing. I bought some daffodils on Friday night, and my Easter Lily is finally blooming. Helps a bit, but not as much as a good rain followed by a nice sunny day would!

-- Bernie from Northern Ontario (bernadette_kerr@hotmail.com), April 08, 2002.


I bet if you talk with the local oldtimers in your area you would find a lot of information. I am finding there are fewer and fewer oldtimes in my area lately !!! But...one thing about living in these times is the medical treatments we can all receive. I like the old timey way of life and doing things but nice to know that last week with my sore throat I took a few penicillin tablets and lived. Probably would have died a hundred years ago. There is an old abandoned cemetary down the road from me that I sometimes visit on my daily walks. Only a couple headstones you can read now. One is of a 29 year old wife and mother named Margaret. All the little children headstones !!! Husbands had 2 or 3 wives etc. Makes you thankful for the flu shots !! Maybe life is so tough for us after all !! Glad to hear you are feeling better !!!

-- Helena (windyacs/@npacc.net), April 08, 2002.

Children and young adults commonly died before the 1920's in my family (all the way back to the early 1700's). It was not unusual for six to nine children dying before age 21. Many different causes, scarlet fever, diphtheria and at or shortly after birth (many young mothers in child birth). No flu deaths. Most of my ancestors only had three to six children survive out of at least twice those many. After World War I things changed drastically, especially in the 30's and 40's.

-- Joe (CactusJoe001@AOL.com), April 08, 2002.

We had the flu in our house as well. Bounced in and out of me for a month. In addition to modern medicines, the flu was very differant than what happen in 1918.

Spanish flu was much more than just a flu. Most link the influenza outbreak (commonly called the spanish flu) to WWI veterns returning from the front. There was a lot of chemical weapons being used during that time and a mutation from the chemicals is suspected. THe virus Infected 1/2 billion people 40 millions around the world died due to the spanish flu. Almost 1/4 of the worlds population was infected. The flu killed more people than died in all of WWI on all sides.

-- Gary (gws@columbus.rr.com), April 08, 2002.


When I was young, long, long a go in a foraway land, if a man got pnemonia and you had buisness with him you better get it done. Almost no one survived it. I have been in some places and seen how bad it is with out modern medicine. Most of the sick, really sick just don't make it. Home remedies just are not effective for most virus attacks, broken bones, cancers and so on. With out modern medicine most of us would not be here today. Whooping cough almost killed me when I was four years old. We should be thankful. David

-- David in Norht Ala (bluewaterfarm@mindspring.com), April 08, 2002.


I did a project in college which involved studying the cemetery. Wow...do it and see, many babies died and women.

-- julie (jbritt@ceva.net), April 08, 2002.

O.K. Shannon, now I have to know what book you're reading! Last week I almost bought a book about the flu outbreak in 1918, but it was more about the scientific aspect of it, no story to it. My g-g grandmother and her 18 yr son both died in the epidemic, This was in north west PA.

-- Tricia (rosie71@alltel.net), April 08, 2002.

He's been dead for some years now but my grandfather on my mother's side of the family used to tell me about what the spanish flu was like. Said it very nearly killed him and from looking at the dates of death of his brothers and sisters I think it did kill one of his brothers. Started doing a small bit of geneaological research and was appalled to see how many of his brothers and sisters did not survive past the Great Depression. I'm not sure what the causes of death were but I can tell you that most especially before the First World War communicable disease was a major, major killer here in Florida.

One day when I have the time I'm going to spend some real time researching that part of the family since I know only a small part of the history. We've been here since before Florida was admitted to the Union and I'd really like to know more than just names and dates of birth and death. Alas I didn't ask all these questions before he died in 1984 (he was born in 1900)but we are too soon smart and too late wise.

......Alan.

-- Alan (athagan@atlantic.net), April 08, 2002.


Read Plagues and Peoples by William McNeill. Great history of epidemics.

-- Elizabeth (lividia66@aol.com), April 08, 2002.

Saw an interesting show on t.v. couple years ago, researchers were digging up bodies of Eskimos in the Arctic who had died supposedly of the flu. Because of the deep-freeze conditions in the perma- frost, the scientists were hoping to extract some blood from the bodies with the flu virus intact. They're hoping to study it, find out why that particular virus was so deadly, and hope that by knowing more about it they can prevent another killer virus from spreading.

A friend and I had an afternoon off during high school exams, we had nothing better to do so wandered around the town where the school was located. We went into the cemetary and started to explore. We were shocked to find whole families, 5 or more kids buried in one grave, died within days of each other. These were at different times during the late 1800s and early 1900s. We asked around about it later, some of the old timers told us there had been various epidemics that had gone around and wiped out whole families. The one-room school house where kids sat closely together and scooped drinking water out of the same old bucket was ideal for spreading germs.

I'm sure glad to be living in these days of modern medicine. My mother, who grew up in Austria, lost 2 younger sisters to diseases like measles and flu that could have easily been cured today. My father, from Germany, lost a younger brother to pneumonia, he had flu or measles along with complications.

My older brother and I had a real scare when we were kids, my parents caught the "Asian flu". Both were very ill, were bedridden for 3 days. My brother, who was 11 at the time, stayed home from school to look after them. I remember telling the bus driver that my brother wouldn't be coming to school because my parents were very very sick, I think she stopped by later on to check with my brother. We were out in the country, no relatives nearby, and didn't have a phone in those days. I peeked into my parents' bedroom a couple times, but my brother kept me away so I wouldn't catch it. Seeing my parents laying there, zonked right out of it frightened me badly, especially since they were always so healthy and strong. I can't imagine what it was like for some homestead families way out in the middle of nowhere when they were all stricken down by some disease.

-- Chelsea (rmbehr@istar.ca), April 08, 2002.



Shannon - I've always found this subject interesting since during a geneology search I discovered and uncle who died in the Spanish flu epidemic. It is rumored that he returned from the war and was planning the wedding to his finacee when he died of the flu just 2 weeks before the wedding.

-- Jackie (jlynne058@cs.com), April 08, 2002.

Heres a creepy story from our town that is related to the Great Flu Epidemic: Theres a bar/restaurant downtown that occupies an old building that was originally a big transfer company and warehouse back around 1917 owned by a family named Chester. Well one evening about 5:15 a bunch of us were sitting there and we noticed a man in a white coat standing at the door at the back of the room that led to the kitchens and the coolers. He stared in and then walked to the kitchen and we heard the clunk of the beer cooler door. Ruby the barmaid said, Now who is that and she went back to investigate. About 5 mins later she comes back out pale as can be and a bit shakey...Who was it? where is he? we all said and Ruby said No one is there the cooler is empty and hes not in the kitchen...and there is no way for him to get out of there. Well we had all seen him and we all went to have a look. NO it was only 5:15 and we were all sober as judges....Well it just creeped us all out bigtime. Well next day, I happened to run into old mr chester, he was about 80 and his dad had founded the original company .I told him the story and he sorta grinned and said OHHh thats Pasquale the Flu ghost. Seems that during the Flu Epidemic they had used the Chester Warehouse as a temporary morgue as people were dying like flies. Pasquale was a porter in one of the big fruit warehouses nearby and he keeled over dead at work and they brought him in and laid him out with the others. Well the next day, they found Pasquale propped up against the side door..Seems he hadnt been quite dead and came too and tried to get out....You guessed it that side door was where the walk in cooler was in our day though the door was blocked up decades ago. Mr Chester even showed us an old newspaper clipping about it. Pasquale would turn up now and then and scare the beejezus out of someone but never did anyone any harm.....NOw go to sleep and make sure to check under the bed....heheheheehee

-- mark chenail (chenail@uiuc.edu), April 08, 2002.

My great-grandmother died in the big Flu Epidemic... leaving 3 young children who ended up fending for themselves while their father went off for months sometimes to find work. It was a rough time

-- Toni (tuwamare@aol.com), April 08, 2002.

My grandfather was a marine in WWI. I believe mom said he was in Guadacanal. So many men were striken and dying so quickly that they had men going thru the wards measuring the dying for coffins. When they measured my Grandpa it made him so mad that he made up his mind that he was not going to die! He survived the war, went home and married his childhood sweetheart (they ran away together when they were 3). they had 8 children and 21 grandchildren and I'm not sure how many greatgrands. Grandpa lived to be 94. He was quite a character. Back when all the kids in school shared a cup, he told his never to use it because it would make them sick. He grew collard greens all winter each year and made the kids eat them at least once a day. None of his kids died without growing up.

-- kim in CO (kimk61252@hotmail.com), April 08, 2002.

Lack of postings from Nebraska may be due to not many people west of Lincoln, Omaha/Lincoln is largely a metro area and that is about it for Nebraska. Three of the four poorest counties in U.S. are in central Nebraska.

-- fred (lookin38@hotmail.com), April 12, 2002.


Shannon, There is a book about the Black Death written as a diary by Daniel Defoe called A Journal of the Plague Year, 1165. There is also a book written by Cynthia DeFelice about tuberculosis in New England a couple hundred years ago called The Apprenticship of Lucas Whitaker (I think that is the name.) The book is juvenile fiction placed in an historical time frame. The boy's family all dies and he moves away and comes across a doctor looking for an apprenctice. The story looks at fears and superstitions of the time too. A good short read.

We are re-learning to live through more of our illnesses instead of running to the doctor for little things. One really can "sweat out" a fever. I have seen my child have a fever for a day or two and then "break" and be gone. It takes patience and also knowing the real signs for something that goes beyond just waiting it out. I don't pretend to know or be good at it. I don't like the unsurety of waiting for the fever/illness to run its course. But then again...when is life ever sure?

Your suspicions are correct as to age here at least. My family has been blessed to not really experience any deaths other than from old age.

We are looking forward to watching Frontier Family on our local PBS station starting April 29th. The 1900's House family will probably look like wimps compared to the Frontier Family!

-- Lavender, Central Maryland (lavenderbluedilly@hotmail.com), April 14, 2002.


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