Life is Hard; Then You Die

 Earlier posts on this blog share the deep dive research not only from the local newspapers, but newspapers from the surrounding counties concerning Lawrence County during 1878. That year was chosen because it was the first year the state required death and births to be recorded.

There were 205 births recorded that year, with three stillborn and three sets of twins.  The birth of twins could be particularly dangerous both to the health of the mother, but also to the babies. The Miller twins were premature; one died an hour after birth and the one 12 hours. One of the Bird twins was stillborn, and one died seven days later. 

Childbirth itself was dangerous.  The birth of George Paddock, the first child of R and M A Paddock, had been induced by riding on horseback two days prior to confinement resulting in both his and his mother’s deaths. Mrs. Eliza Jane Water died from exposure to cold and lack of food during pregnancy. Mrs. Laura Cunningham died of anemia from previous childbirth and exhaustion from a new pregnancy. Eliza Petty’s death record merely said, “mother too small, baby too large.” The daughter of Pike and Withenia Wade died of a premature birth. (Mrs.) Martha Ann Sandifer died of childbirth fever.

The deaths were only recorded at the courthouse if a doctor was present at the time of death so we can’t know what the cause of any unattended deaths was. But the death records available give us a pretty good idea of the types of things from which people died.

Parents of children were more likely to pay a doctor for a house call if their child was sick or injured as evidenced by the 96 records for children’s deaths out of the 197 total recorded.

Pneumonia, typhoid, malaria, cholera, and “congestion of the brain” were common causes of death among young children. There were two cases of Diphtheria, one of scarlet fever, one of whooping cough, and one case of measles, all easily prevented today.

Often the death record merely said, “cause of death unknown”. Five death records stated this for infants under the age of one.  Other causes were more detailed. Alma Zehner, died at age 14 months, of an inoperable abscess on her vertebrae. Edwin E Osman, 3 days old, died of malnourishment. Thomas Bryant, 2 years and 9 months, died of worms.

Several deaths involving children were caused by accidents. Solomon Black, age 4, fell into a kettle of hot lard.  Willie Allender, age 6, drowned in the Embarrass River when he slipped while throwing rocks into the water. Mary Bell Shinn, age 3 and ½ years old, died when a chicken bone she had swallowed, passed into her lungs giving rise to an abscess. Eva Shaver, 15-year-old, died from internal bleeding caused by a fall. Johnson Anderson, 14 years old, died of tetanus after receiving an injury on ankle joint.

Weather played more of a part in the type of deaths than we had imagined. The year of 1878 was to be remembered for its extremely mild winter weather and the remarkable heat during the summer months. Mild temperatures during the winter months caused several cases of pneumonia among the adults resulting in death.

The unbearable heat that summer caused Cora Ellen Harris (5 months old) to die of sunstroke. James Trimble (18 months old) died from inflammation of the brain caused by excessive heat. Mrs. Cornelius (Sarah E) Organ died of congestion of the lung caused by intense heat that prevailed at the time of her death according to her death record.

The weather’s affect on the crops can not to be discounted on the health of Lawrence County’s residents either. Not only were good crops of wheat, corn, and garden produce necessary for farmers’ income but also for family consumption. The newspapers reported that “blight struck the growing wheat. Corn crops were bad, too much rain and not enough cultivation.  Copious rains followed by several weeks of mid-summer sunshine made the prospective corn crop the shadowy outline of a coming famine.  The year 1878 bore ominous signs of a general “food” failure. Late potatoes and cabbage crops were poor.”

The long-term effect of these failed harvests on Lawrence County residents is unknown, but glimpses of it, short term, can be seen. Bertha Monjar, 6 years old, died from eating indigestible food while convalescing from scarlet tina. Nyrane R Yocum, 15 months old, died of malnourishment caused by poverty according to the newspaper article.

“Dust on Main Street in Bridgeport was 6 inches deep.” This affected breathing problems and lung conditions causing several deaths. The tidal wave of Temperance meetings and people abstaining from alcohol didn’t prevent liver damage from long term prior use of alcohol. Horseflies and rats carrying diseases were commonplace.

The lack of rain, making wells dry up, forced people to draw their drinking water from the river. Typhoid resulting from contaminated food or water took fourteen lives that year.

When traveling by horse, if a thunderstorm occurred not only did one get wet, but there was always the possibility of being struck by lightning or a falling tree limb if one sheltered under a tree. Benjamin F Caughran was killed this way when a limb fell on him.

Workplace accidents happened. Lewis Keitz was caught between two railroad cars forcing the need to amputate his leg. This operation resulted in his death. John McCarty fell into a well at his home and was drowned before he could be rescued.

Just living in houses with open fireplaces were hazardous. Edward Sunter, an aged man of 68 fell into an open fireplace and extensive burns caused his death. A child of John Pettiford was burned to death when its clothes caught on fire.

There was no specialized treatment for women’s problems. Henrietta Hook died of carcinoma of the womb. Mrs. Sarah Jane Meiure died of complications resulting because of “change of life.” Mrs. Rebecca Milligan died from the removal of a cancerous tumor on her breast. After an autopsy the doctor concluded that Jemmia Dunn had died of “glandular swelling in her lower pats”.  Mrs. Levi (Sabra) Cunningham died from the removal of an ovarian tumor after a miscarriage. Mrs. Phillip Binnier (Martha) died from a tumor in her bowels.

The elderly of Lawrence County didn’t fare that well either. C. Green, age 71, died of paralysis as did Wm D Adams, age 70. David Hutchinson, age 75+, died of congestion of lungs and asthma. "Grandma” Cooper, age 81+, died of congestion of the brain followed by apoplectic coma. (Neither the death record nor her death notice in the paper ever identified her by any name other that “Grandma”.) Thomas Clegg, age 78, died of pneumonia. Eli Cole, age 78+, died of an abscess of the knee joints and general infirmity from old age. Edward Bonnett, age 81+, died of dropsy, a term used then for edema or fluid retention. The cause of death on the death records of Samuel Ross, age 76, Mary M “Grandma “Maxwell, (no age given), and Eli Clubb age 85+, merely stated they had died of “old age.”

So, for all of you who had ancestors living in Lawrence County in 1878 life was not easy.  Death often came suddenly and painfully, leaving families torn apart by its appearance.