Henry Raymond
Fairfax News => Current News & Events => Topic started by: Henry on October 25, 2009, 04:55:14 PM
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Ninety-one years ago this month, a worldwide flu pandemic was killing dozens of people in Vermont.
The virulent strain that came to be known as "Spanish influenza" killed an estimated 50 million to 100 million people worldwide and 675,000 in the United States. More than half the victims were ages 16 to 40. In less-developed countries, more than 5 percent of young adults were believed to have died.
According to John Barry's 2004 best-seller, "The Great Influenza," the epidemic believed to be "the deadliest plague in history" apparently originated in Kansas and began spreading to military bases that were marshalling troops during World War I.
One of the big early outbreaks was at Camp Devens in Massachusetts, where about 20 percent of the soldiers were reported sick in late September, three-fourths of them hospitalized.
The disease started showing up in Vermont that month, and by the first week in October, flu deaths were reported daily. Overall, Vermont had 437 flu deaths -- 184 in Barre alone, where granite workers were believed more vulnerable because the dust they inhaled compromised their lungs. Burlington lost 177 people.
I checked my records to see what might have happened here in Fairfax and found the following deaths. Looks like about 8 could have been the Spanish Influenza who died in October, November & December
INDIVIDUAL Deaths In 1918
Structured Date Name of Individual Event Detail 1
23 JAN 1918 Esther Ann KINSLEY
25 FEB 1918 Herbert David KENNISON Cerebral hemmorage
05 MAR 1918 Emma DRINKWINE Pelkey Recurrent carsinoma
08 APR 1918 Leilla KINSLEY McNally Cancer
09 APR 1918 Male DRISCOLL Stillborn, caused by a fall
10 APR 1918 Francis Felix MCGETTRICK Pneumonia
01 MAY 1918 Dr. Samuel Hewes PHELPS Chronic nephritis
09 MAY 1918 Cornelia UNKNOWN Gilbert Nephritis
17 MAY 1918 Edward MAXFIELD Valvular insufficiency of Heart
02 JUN 1918 Female DESMARAIS (Triplet) Premature birth
02 JUN 1918 Female DESMARAIS (Triplet) Premature birth
02 JUN 1918 Female DESMARAIS (Triplet) Premature birth
10 JUN 1918 Patty Celestia CLARK Cerebral tumor
13 JUN 1918 Abbie L. HULBERT Judd Angina pectoris
15 JUN 1918 Elanor G. GOODHUE Pneumonia
18 JUN 1918 Clara B. GIDDINGS Cancer of the breast
18 JUN 1918 Hattie A. HIBBARD Carcinoma of liver
25 JUN 1918 Lilah Retta DICKINSON Wilson Cerebral Endartritis
27 JUN 1918 Sarah M. BRUSH Northrop Organic heart disease
1918 Emma LEACH
02 JUL 1918 Benjamin Harrison KINSLEY
15 JUL 1918 Charles KING Acute dilation of heart
31 JUL 1918 Julia M. NICHOLS Rood Arterio sclerosis
29 AUG 1918 Douglas BUCK Ether Nephritis,Strangul Hernia
28 SEP 1918 Adaline WELLS Parah Myocarditis
10 OCT 1918 Dorris BENNETT Bronchial pneumonia
14 OCT 1918 Eva Lottie WILSON Daniels La Grippe, paralysis
15 OCT 1918 Sarah Maud CLARK Shepardson Pneumonia
18 OCT 1918 Charlotte CARROLL Stevens Cholera morbus
04 NOV 1918 Nellie (Ellen) DASHNO Bronchitis
15 NOV 1918 Lucy Cora CROSS King Acute nephritis
29 NOV 1918 Pvt. Roy Goodwin HOWARD Pneumonia
02 DEC 1918 Sewell Clair SPAULDING Pneumonia
06 DEC 1918 Robert Ernest KING Bronchial pneumonia
17 DEC 1918 Harold Burbank ROBINSON Stillborn, Premature