I was just 13 but as the oldest child, Dad had taken me aside to profess his deep concern for Mother in her grief and for Mac’s recovery, stating that he would have to rely on me to fill his shoes as best I could. I was in my last year of elementary school and the nearest high school was in Carbondale. >> Coronavirus: Know the facts directly from the CDC. Quarantine signs were posted on the front doors and only medical personnel, family members and all too often, a funeral director were permitted entry. With the majority of Carbondale residents ill, a band of kindly ladies still on their feet and having a full cupboard, made great pots of soup which were carried to the doors with quarantine signs. He required medication every two hours. He was carrying his suitcase with hands, feet and ears severely frostbitten. George died about four o’clock in the morning. 1500 cases in Salem. Spanish flu-era diaries give Ohio family hope. Ruth Shaffer holds a diary of the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 kept by her great-grandmother Alice Koch MacLean. coronavirus diary: Borough battled NYC during 1918 Spanish flu too . At about 4 a.m., mother attempted to crawl out over me — I thought to attend to Mac. In … /2. At the time, Spanish flu was ravaging the world. “It just felt like a really good time to evaluate how bad this is, compared to how bad our ancestors had it,” Patterson told NBC News. In the United States, about 675,000 died from the pandemic. “Leslie Dixon’s wife died and left 10 children,” Cox wrote. He had placed in third place with the other examinees. Weinbrecht began transcribing the diaries years ago to preserve her family’s history. My Dad lost two older brothers to the flu. I was stunned and filled with anger that she should die. Spanish flu also afflicted some people with a psychosis that could lead to murder and suicide. Newspaper reports detailed some of these deaths, which the courts attributed to "delirium … © 2020 Cox Media Group. So the ranch was rented to a family who agreed to harvest the potato crop under mother’s supervision. He had convinced the examiners of the urgency for his return home and they had consented to his completing the exam as rapidly as possible. This story by Molly Wampler was published by Boise State Public Radio on Nov. 30. The COVID-19 pandemic isn't the first pandemic in recorded history. One merchant, Billy Pings, ran a general store in a rather haphazard fashion with his shelves loaded with generation-old stock, but Billy was a big-hearted man and he made deliveries of needed items in his old pickup to those who were ill. Dad’s recovery was very slow, coupled with utter exhaustion. Eugene F. went to the hospital Fri. with Spanish influenza. “They can’t stop. The current coronavirus or COVID-!9 pandemic, with its accompanying social isolation, shortages and fear. As we experience and restructure our lives during the coronavirus pandemic of 2020, it may … The Spanish Influenza, and the Armistice of that same year, 1918, were fresh in the minds of my parents and their contemporaries. ATHENS, Ga. - One hundred years ago, Mendota resident Hilda Dorothea Zapf kept a diary that detailed how she and her family of 11 survived the Spanish Flu pandemic. According to the Ohio Department of Health, there have been 14,694 confirmed cases of COVID-10 and 656 deaths. He had caught the first train to Glenwood Springs, arriving about 11 p.m. The decision was a difficult one as our main crop of potatoes was yet to be harvested in Colorado, but also, it had become unmistakably apparent that my father ought not to delay resuming his medical profession. Bradstreet Parker died of it yesterday. Spanish Flu. Billy Pings had unearthed a child’s white casket from his store and someone had obtained six pink rose buds from a florist shop but Helen’s only Sunday slippers had been outgrown and her sturdy little farm boots seemed unsuitable so the ladies had left her feet in white stockings. … “That year, a new strain of the flu spread rapidly around a world at war, ultimately infecting about 500 million people — one-third of the world’s population” at the time. The article in the Maple Leaf was written by Amy Patterson, a part-time reporter for the Maple Leaf who is the great-great-granddaughter of Cox, who died in 1964 when she was 84. She was one of 11 children, and has outlived her 10 siblings. She said he is up to 1935, NBC News reported. Suggested terms to look for include - diary, diaries, letters, papers, documents, documentary or correspondence. Family diaries kept during Spanish flu give Ohio descendants hope during coronavirus pandemic. “Sometimes, it’s fun stuff – like when she said she finished her Mother Hubbard, and I Googled that and found it was a dress that could be worn without a tight corset for working on the farm,” she said. It’s that time of life, like, they’re learning how to be social, and having been forced to do that in person to doing it across the screen is not ideal, but I feel that we’re almost more connected than we were before.”, ... "George died about four o’clock in the morning. Even when (Grandma Cox) says, ‘Oh, I feel really bad,’ she just has to keep going,” Weinbrecht told NBC News. A local’s diary of the Spanish Flu Locations: Opinion Published Apr. ❤️[My story: https://t.co/tQeHm5ak6M] https://t.co/7NEIwjAUGF. https://t.co/hsj76S0L05. This is a nice story - based on my @geaugamapleleaf story of Apr 16, but goes into more detail on the diaries and my mom, grandma, g-grandma. Patterson’s mother, Jennifer Weinbrecht, 63, preserved Cox’s diaries, which she wrote from 1899 until her death, NBC News reported. Parramatta Heritage Centre. The epidemic began in … Mac’s condition was still critical and recovery doubtful; and we were so alone with our grief in a new town and no close relatives near. … The diary entries from a woman in southwestern Ohio about farm work and life during the 1918 flu pandemic and World War I have … Little used real family diaries and did tremendous research. In that brief discussion, I literally grew to adult responsibility, assuring him of my competence to deal with the situation. "Also flu impact on WWI and public health policy. Meanwhile back at home, Lancashire and many other parts of the UK are fighting Spanish Flu. Volume 25, pages 158-159, Baekeland’s personal diaries, Leo Baekeland Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Diary entries kept by a woman in northeastern Ohio during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic and World War I is providing comfort to her descendants, who are dealing with the … By Lisa Powell Donald McKinney Wallace, a New Carlisle farmer, served in the Army at the University of Cincinnati in the fall of 1918 as the Spanish influenza spread globally. The Spanish influenza epidemic of 1918 killed upwards of 50 million … “I look up names or words in my great-grandmother’s rather sparsely worded diaries and learn a wealth of information,” Weinbrecht told NBC News from her home in Novelty, Ohio. Donate >, Carbondale's community supported, weekly newspaper, Waiting for the storm that ends fire season, Our citizens help decide the outcome with COVID, Virtual Author Talk: “Colorado’s Highest”. It takes community support to keep The Sopris Sun shining. Diary entries kept by a woman in northeastern Ohio during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic and World War I is providing comfort to her descendants, who are dealing with the … >> Coronavirus: Can the government make you stay home if you are sick? log in to manage your profile and account. A few days later, dad’s clothes were fumigated and he was allowed to leave the house and reluctantly boarded the train in Glenwood Springs for Denver to prepare for the State Medical Board’s Examinations, scheduled on Jan. 4, 5, and 6. The Vandervorts have lived in Clinton County since 1809 and lived in Hamilton County before that, when Cox’s great-grandfather, Jonah Vandervort, moved to Ohio. In fact, personal stories of the 1918 Spanish flu … And I think if brown, Spanish-speaking lives mattered in America, this would not have happened. Ed Stephens buried. I pushed her back and said I would give him his medicine, but she began struggling more violently and I thought she had gone mentally berserk with all the recent emotional stress and fought with all my strength to restrain her. Featured image: Face masks as both function and fashion are part of pandemic responses 100 years apart. Posted Jul 14, 2020. Dazed, he recalled little of the events for the entire time he was away from home and he could remember very little about the examination or to assess how he had acquitted himself, so it was cause for great rejoicing when he received favorable notification a few weeks later. Carbondale’s only doctor had been drafted into military service and as the contagion spread, the town council went to great lengths in developing preventative measures, but by late September victims of the disease were rapidly increasing and Town Council members approached my father with a request to come to their aid in providing medical services. “My kids are struggling with not being connected to their friends at school. By Eleanor Clagett Reed Reading his words today offers perspective on our current situation. My mother explained that his license to practice was only valid in the State of Missouri, however, the Council succeeded in obtaining from the State Board of Medical Examiners a temporary license for him to lend his services in their extreme emergency in that isolated community with the provision that he would take the State Board Exam due to be offered in January 1919. Share to Facebook Post to Twitter Email. But mother remonstrated that she couldn’t bear for her feet to be cold, so Billy Pings again rose to the occasion and provided a dusty pair of white canvas slippers sizes too large for her wasted little feet. In his anxiety for his family, he had walked 10 miles up the railroad tracks carrying his suitcase. A few days later, dad collapsed with unmistakable symptoms of influenza and mother readied us for the contagion with her dose of epsom salts all around. Frank is not well again today and has reported sick. Abstract: A small collection of items relating to the 1918-19 influenza epidemic. He kept a diary … With Helen’s death still painful and Mac’s recovery still uncertain, he could hardly bear to leave us but it was imperative that he obtain his Colorado state license, having cut all ties to the ranch and to set the course to resuming his profession. S.I. isn't the first pandemic to confront Australia's health systems. The COVID-19 pandemic isn't the first pandemic in recorded history. A newly identified diary from a soldier in 1918 describes aspects of a troop ship outbreak of pandemic influenza. During our fifth year, in the late summer and fall of 1918, the Spanish … The ‘Spanish flu… Patterson wanted to read through her great-great-grandmother’s entries to see if she could draw some parallels to this year’s pandemic. It’s flu season again. Made me feel hopeful for our situation in 2020. The Spanish flu’s first wave appeared in January 1918, with symptoms including fever, aches and upper-respiratory infections. This diary is the only known document that describes this outbreak and provides … From the Dear Canada childrens' series, this novel written in 2007 talks about the Spanish Flu of 1918 through the diary of Fiona McGregor. Zapf lived in … There are other echoes of the past. Topical Press Agency via Getty Images When officials in Seattle announced a citywide lockdown, 15-year-old Violet Harris was … Preserved in the Thomaston-Upson Archives in Thomaston is the diary of Mattie Lou Hightower, my great-great-grandmother. But she broke away crying, “Your father is knocking at the door,” and rushed to open it to the icy draft of the January dawn and there was my father! Mother was fearful that Mac would not be alive upon her return home, but he survived the crisis and very slowly began to improve. I wish I’d been able to give Carlos a flu vaccine. My father moved to Carbondale to a room provided for him and began the superhuman task of administering to victims on distant ranches as well as the townspeople. Many of Cox’s entries were grim. The Flu Epidemic of 1918: accounts from local diaries Written by Joel Alderfer on March 25, 2020. A woman in a flu mask during the 1918 flu pandemic. Tying #COVID19 to the 1918 flu pandemic, I wrote about my great-great-grandmother's 1918 diary, including quotes like:“Leslie Dixon’s wife died and left 10 children ... eight graves dug at Wilmington.”and... /1 https://t.co/LnL188QZof, Another entry that day notes that Cox "went to Collingham’s a while. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 50 million people worldwide died from the 1918 H1N1 flu pandemic, also known as the Spanish flu. >> Coronavirus symptoms: What you need to know. Anzac Day in 1919 was also disrupted by a major crisis in public health. Mother, Jim and I were soon on our feet again, but both Mac and Helen Louise were desperately sick and on Dec. 22, 1918, Helen died with the four of us holding her little hands just a month from her fifth birthday. The Spanish flu happened 101 years ago, in the fall of 1918, at the tail end of World War I. In fact, personal stories of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic exist deep in the archives. With two sons, ages 9 and 11, she thought the entries might bring some hope and add some perspective. Jim and I privately thought that she resembled Minnie Mouse, but it comforted mother. Ohio woman Spanish flu diary A diary kept by an Ohio woman during World War I sheds new light on the grief and difficulties caused by the Spanish flu.. April 26, 2020 at 11:06 am CDT By … But, these flu and death events … By Eleanor Clagett Reed Courtesy of Shelle DeBeque. She was accompanied by the Methodist minister and the fourth grade teacher, Teresa Pattison — Carbondale’s good samaritan. Now 107, he and his 100-year-old fiancée are living in lockdown together in Florida and have a decidedly long view on the … 21 yrs old. On Oct. 7, 1918, Lucy Vandervort Cox wrote there was “No school on account of ‘Spanish influenza,’” and noted the weather that Monday was “cloudy and a much cooler day" in Wilmington, Ohio, the Geauga County Maple Leaf reported. Angela Friedman was born on a ship bringing Italian immigrants to New York in 1918 and lived through the Spanish flu pandemic. A young man wrote down his thoughts and experiences back during the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-1919. Weinbrecht, who owns a bookstore called Jane Austen Books with her two daughters, has been transcribing and digitizing the diaries for posterity. The Spanish flu, also known as the 1918 flu pandemic, was an unusually deadly influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus.Lasting from February 1918 to April 1920, it infected 500 million … Mr. and Mrs. Myers and 10-year-old daughter all buried at once. For college students today … 8, 2020. “Eight graves dug at Wilmington.”, This one was straight from the heart! During our fifth year, in the late summer and fall of 1918, the Spanish Influenza swept into Western Colorado on its devastating march across the continent. “While a global pandemic shuttering schools and businesses feels like new territory, many of our families still bear the scars of the 1918 influenza pandemic,” Patterson wrote in the Maple Leaf. That is, until the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic shut down the Moscow campus. Image #AC0005-D25-083. The diary entries from a lady in northeastern Ohio about farm paintings and existence all through the 1918 flu pandemic and Global Struggle I’ve introduced her long run generations convenience and … Ed Stephens buried. The death toll was very high at that altitude if respiratory complications developed. This station is part of Cox Media Group Television. Learn about careers at Cox Media Group. Our father was a doctor; he wouldn’t let that happen. And, he felt strongly a humanitarian compulsion to lend his medical skills in the dilemma facing the community. Mr. and Mrs. Myers and 10-year-old daughter all buried at once.”. a.k.a. I have included here selected excerpts about the Spanish Flu… On the night of Jan. 5, two days earlier than dad’s date to return, mother and I were sleeping in the double bed near the single one in which Mac lay. By using this website, you accept the terms of our Visitor Agreement and Privacy Policy, and understand your options regarding Ad Choices. One by one, we fell to the illness. From my grandmother’s diary: Spanish flu 1918 April 8, 2020 EdwardM 3 Comments Selected text from my Grandmother’s diary in which she documented the Spanish Flu of 1918 (as well as family life and the end of World War 1). The diaries were passed down from Weinbrecht’s mother, JoAnne Womacks, the network reported. With mother the only one sufficiently able, she rode up the hill to the bleak snow-covered cemetery in Billy Ping’s old truck with the little white casket in the back. Spanish Flu. Courtesy of Shelle DeBeque. Bob D'Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk, Brianna Chambers, Cox Media Group National Content Desk, Jared Leone, Cox Media Group National Content Desk, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, David Lander, Squiggy in ‘Laverne & Shirley,’ dead at 73, NBA’s Karl-Anthony Towns says he lost 7 family members to COVID-19, including mother, Copycat mystery monoliths appear across the country, Disney Cruise Line extends cancellations again, Kia recalls 295,000 vehicles for risk of engine fire. Diary entries kept by a woman in northeastern Ohio during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic and World War I is providing comfort to her descendants, who are dealing with the coronavirus. On Thanksgiving Day, with the crops harvested, mother and children moved into the tall narrow two-story house that dad had been able to rent in Carbondale. U of I student Esther Thomas was a very social lady, according to her diary. In those days, no livery or taxi service was available and the daily train run was not due until mid-morning. An Oct. 13 entry was typical. Joe Newman was 5 when the 1918 flu pandemic broke out. It killed 1,513 people in Seattle; 6,571 statewide. >> Coronavirus checklist: 100-plus disinfectants that may kill coronavirus on surfaces. Included are letters and diaries from 44 individuals, almost all either members of the U. S. Armed Forces or their relatives and … This epidemic, … I feel very privileged to have these women in my family history. For the next three and a half months, he made house calls around the clock, grabbing snatches of sleep in the buggy or later a sled provided with a driver and team of horses by the council and eating sporadically the meals prepared by the housewives where he was administering to victims. Ignoring the quarantine signs, two neighbor women prepared little Helen for burial in the little white dress that Mother had helped me sew with cross-stitched roses on the collar and pockets.