Gone Missing? Look for an Epidemic — Kendrick King
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Volume 14, Number 3 Denver, Colorado July, August, September 2013 Gone Missing? Look for an Epidemic — Kendrick King Chances are good that some of your ancestors experienced life-changing incidents caused by disease. Yet, because of the advances made in medicine over the past 100 years, we are often not sensitive to the rou- tine hazards of living in an age before vaccines and knowledge of bacteria. My introduction to this situation came when I was researching my husband’s great-grandfather. He and his wife appeared in the 1860 census in LaGrange, Texas, but in the 1870 census the parents were gone and the 14-year-old son was designated head of household. An adult male with a different last name was part of the household. What happened? After much pondering and little research I prepared for a trip to Texas, during which we planned to visit LaGrange. James Jeffrey of the Denver Public Library located a history of the county for me and this offered an explanation. An epidemic of yellow fever in 1867 had taken the lives of 20 percent of the population of LaGrange in a short three months; with people dying so fast the bodies were buried in mass graves. There is no list of victims available because of the hasty buri- als, but in the LaGrange library was a newspaper clipping that lists the great-grandfather as a fatality. No newspaper clipping was found for the great-grandmother. Her death in January 1870 is unexplained. Mosquitoes transmit yellow fever. Most cases of yellow fever cause only a mild infection with fever and chills, headache, nau- sea and vomiting. However in about 15 percent of the cases a tox- ic phase follows with recurring fever. The toxic phase is fatal ap- proximately 20 percent of the time. The origin of the disease is most likely Africa, introduced outside Africa through the slave trade in the 1600s. Yellow fever was deemed one of the most dangerous infectious diseases in the 19th century. Walter Reed’s investigation of yellow fever led to the recognition of mosquito transmission and his research allowed the Americans to succeed in building the Panama Canal after the failure of the French. An effective vaccine has been available since the 1950s. Today nearly 90 percent of cases of yellow fever occur in Africa. Another disease transmitted by mosquitoes is malaria. Its symptoms are typically fever and headache, which in severe cases can lead to coma and death. Perhaps the first recorded incidence of malaria was in China beginning in 2700 BC. It was very common in most of Europe and North America in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries but less so in the 20th century. However it was a hazard to U. S. troops in World War II in the South Pacific, infecting 500,000 troops. The disease occurs most often in rural areas, especially in tropical and subtropical regions. The World Health Organization has estimated that in 2010, there were —Continued on page 37 www.wise-fhs.org W.I.S.E. Words 34 July, August September 2013 I think it is because we are coming to grips with a new way to collaborate, the Internet. The Internet President’s just had its 20th birthday: almost an adult. We are comfortable with our tried and true methods of Message collaboration, and now we are being asked to assimilate a new form of working together. We are not all web masters, and we may be concerned Collaboration and Genealogy about our capabilities. Can I keep my personal I just finished taking an online survey by information safe? Will someone hijack my FamilySearch about collaboration. Taking the sur- ancestor? “There are a bunch of crazy people out vey made me think about how much we use that there. I don’t want them to have my information.” term now, and why. Is it a new idea? Is it the hip I understand these concerns as I have had them all. term in genealogy? The survey included questions Nevertheless, over the years, I have come to about my research skills and level — what lan- realize that every one of my fears had become guages do I read, speak and write; do I have any reality before the Internet came along. It just web design experience; am I a writer; do I teach; took me longer to find out. In some cases, I didn’t and would I be willing to help lead a project? I find out about the problems until the Internet actually had to think about my answers. Yes, I do became reality. write, but not well. I can read and write French and speak a little. I am always willing to help, (but At first, the Internet was the Wild West. No rules, do I have time?) No, I am not a web designer, I’m an entirely open forum with no historical guid- a web user. If my contribution would help the ge- ance. Our first attempts at collaboration on the nealogical community, I’m all in. Internet left us open for all of our fears to come to fruition. Our ancestors were hijacked. They were I looked up the term collaboration at resurrected, remarried and forced to have several Dictionary.com. (I’m a genealogist and I always more children. Our cousins turned out to be the triple check my work.) Here is the definition: “the “on the dole” kind, and we very rarely solved any act or process of collaborating.” I genuinely dis- research challenges via the Internet. We became like definitions that use a form of a word to define resistant to change. the word. I like the synonyms: alliance, associa- tion, collusion, aid, assistance and backing. Some Today, the community has changed. We have fig- make me laugh, and some bring to mind the way I ured out how to make this collaboration thing chase my ancestors. work. At Ancestry.com and Family Tree at FamilySearch.Com, there are checks in place. We As family historians, we generally collaborate. attach images of original documents to our ances- We form alliances and associations. We aid others tors. We cite sources clearly, easily and consistent- in their research, and look for aid in our research. ly, with the aid of Tree Connect and other We certainly back subscription websites with software. We are able to communicate with people our memberships. I think of how many times working on the same lines through the website. I have passed the desk on the fifth floor at Denver We don’t have to risk our personal information. Public Library. Has it ever been without an We can evaluate the merit of the relationship be- individual waiting hopefully to ask the staff fore exposing ourselves to unwanted help. We can for help or guidance? No. Our conversations are discover relatives via DNA testing. Facebook has peppered with statements such as “I just found become a useful place, with societies, archives and a new cousin. Now I know we will break that surname projects all having their pages. Through brick wall.” We form surname societies to the Internet, we can communicate with someone in collaborate and assist in research and to back that Ireland, who knows the lay of the land, and Irish. research with more financial resources. We are We literally have the world at our fingertips. a community of collaborators, so why is that word used in every other sentence about Shall we all check our collaboration meters? I genealogy right now? encourage you to add just one new form of www.wise-fhs.org W.I.S.E. Words 35 July, August September 2013 collaboration to your collection and see whom you uncover. If you don’t currently index, you could Newsletter Staff start. What about adding a source to your tree at Newsletter Editor ..................................... Nyla Cartwright Ancestry or Family Tree at FamilySearch. How .............................................. [email protected] about asking a research question at one of the Brit- Book Review Editor ..........................Zoe von Ende Lappin ish Isles research pages on Facebook? I look Tech Tips Editor .......................................... Linda Pearce forward to running into you in the world of Proofreaders ..................... Jack and Zoe von Ende Lappin genealogy collaboration. Distribution Coordinator .................................. Sue Clasen —Barbara Fines Price Country Editors Wales ....................................................... Nancy McCurdy W.I.S.E. Family History Society Ireland ......................................................... Thyria Wilson Scotland ..................................................... Diane Barbour England .............................................. Tina Taylor-Francis W.I.S.E. Family History Society is dedicated to research in Wales, Ireland, Scotland, England, the In This Issue Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Attention is also directed to the emigration and immigration of these Gone Missing? Look for an Epidemic ................... 33 peoples as well as heraldry and one-name studies. Monthly meetings are generally held the fourth President’s Message ............................................... 34 Saturday of most months at the Central Denver Public Library, 7th Floor. Membership is open to anyone with Membership Report ................................................ 36 interest in family history and genealogy. Membership dues for the calendar year are $12 for an individual or Volunteers Needed for the 2013 Irish Festival ...... 36 $15 for a family living at the same address. The W.I.S.E. Family History Society publishes W.I.S.E. New Election Date .................................................. 36 Words four times per year, and a subscription is in- cluded with membership dues. Add $5 to the dues if you Summer Classes on Scotland, Ireland, Wales and want a printed copy of the newsletter mailed to you. England ................................................................... 36 © 2000-2013, W.I.S.E. Family History Society, P.O. Box 40658, Denver, CO 80204-0658 W.I.S.E.