The Scourge of '78: The Stubborn Resilience of a Southern City

Before the 1870s, the bustling city of Memphis was among the strongest and most successful cities in the south after the Civil War, and things seemed as if they would only get better. Little attention was paid to the tiny female insects that preyed on the city's people. The impact of the yellow fever virus which they carried would have devastating results on the city's population and society. As with all disasters, there are individuals who always find a way to survive, and to better themselves in the process.

On Sunday August 10, 1878, a number of telegrams from Grenada, Mississippi reached the hands of Memphis city officials, pleading for help with an outbreak of yellow fever in the city. Memphians were stunned by the announcement, and the fear of a disease that they knew little about began to spread faster than the disease itself.[1]The first case announced to the public was the August 13^th death of a Mrs. Bionda, who lived at 212 Front Street. The report ran in the newspaper the next day. For the next four days, over have of the city's population, around 25,000 in number, left in a rush to escape the epidemic. What many of the residents did not realize, however, is that the fever had reached the city weeks before the initial announcement. Between July 21^st and August 13^th, there were more than ten cases of yellow fever, and at least four deaths. The epidemic would eventually involve nearly 17,600 and take 5,150 people with it, roughly about 10 percent of the city's population.[2]

At the time of the yellow fever epidemic in 1878, little was known about the disease that seemed to be creeping upon the southern city. Memphis was not entirely unfamiliar with the disease, having had previous outbreaks in 1828, 1855, 1867, and most recently in 1873. In that period, there was still much about science and medicine that was not fully understood.[3]There were many different theories and explanations of how the disease was transmitted. City officials often cleansed the streets of each town with carbolic acid, treated clothing and bed linen with zinc sulfate in an attempt to "disinfect" the area.[4] Many physicians were of the opinion that yellow fever was "miasmic" in nature, or putrid air which came from the swamp water and caused disease.[5] The fact that the disease was not directly contagious had actually been proven by a medical student in Pennsylvania in 1803, but many continued with their superstitious attempts to rid cities of the "germ". The true cause, however, remained a mystery to the medical field until the 1900 trip of Walter Reed to Cuba, where the relationship between yellow fever and aesdes aegypti, a species of mosquito, was demonstrated.[6]In 1929, the Yellow Fever Commission, which consisted of twenty two members, including Reed, were honored by the United States Congress for their work in discovering the source of transmission of the disease that had killed so many. The members of the team allowed themselves to be bitten by the mosquitoes and infected with yellow fever. All but one of them recovered and returned home.[7]While it was not spread directly between humans, it could be spread indirectly. If an infected person was fed on by a female mosquito, and the mosquito then fed on a person who had not been infected, there was a chance that the latter would then become infected. There is no exact cure for yellow fever, but there is an effective vaccine available. When a person became infected, nearly two weeks could pass before symptoms began to show. When they did, it could last anywhere from one to five days. The first symptoms generally consisted of body aches, cold chills, and high fevers. The victim then went through a period where they felt better, as if they might be starting to recover. Just when hope began to return, the last, and unarguably most distinctive symptom of the disease would occur: "Negroe vomito", or black vomit. This was usually made up of blood and stomach acids. It was the defining stage o the illness, and when it was reached, the victim was either close to recovery, or to death.[8] The most successful treatment for the victims seems to have been strict bed rest and the liberal consumption of fluids.

While over half of the city had left in a mass exodus, those that could not afford to leave were stuck, left to endure the worst of the epidemic. Many of those that had left had spared no concern for their household and belongings, leaving them for those unscrupulous enough to steal them.[9] While most of the city's population of white citizens had fled, the majority of the black community stayed within the city. Of those whites who stayed, 90 percent contract yellow fever, and about 70 percent died of it. Of the blacks who stayed, only about 7 percent died.[10] This discrepancy in death rates between the races, while not fully understood at the time, was generally known by the public. Blacks had a natural resistance to the disease, possibly due to the repeated exposure of their ancestors to the disease in West Africa.[11] A letter written by one officer was found some eighty-five years afterwards, in the police headquarters, reflected the dismal atmosphere of the dying city on the night of September 6^th. It was to be a letter to his sister living in Iowa:

This city is almost depopulated. The death rate is over 100 every day. The undertakers can't bury them fast enough. We find a lot that have been dead for three and four days. My God it is fearful. There are very few white people left in this city. Pretty much all the businesses are shut up. Give me all Memphis; I would not live here any longer. If I live to get through, I shall take my little family and come up to Iowa. I have all I want of this southern country. Memphis is a doomed city. Thousands of people that have left will never come back.[12]

The fears expressed in this letter were typical of those caught inside the city, unable to leave, and if they did, nowhere to go. With the majority of the remaining citizens being black, it opened a big opportunity for the black community in Memphis. This was most apparent in the police force. Although the majority of the policemen had stayed in the city, most of them came down with the disease.[13] Of the policemen the city had started the epidemic with, twelve died, taking out more than one-third of the active force. The city leaders, realizing the potential for problems, quickly integrated black officers into the force. Their decision was likely influenced by the push of black leaders. Another factor was the fact that the mayor, John R. Flippin, was known to have been sympathetic to the plight of black Memphians. There had been an earlier attempt at integration in 1874, when the previous mayor, John Loague had tried futilely to convince the fire department to hire three black men onto the force. The move to integrate a municipal force was somewhat unusual in the post-Civil War south, since other cities were consistently keeping a barrier between black communities and their white counterparts. White politicians were unlikely to announce their true motives for the integration of the police force, instead choosing to cite the rallying of a community by "common suffering".[14] Regardless of their reasons, Memphis had opened a doorway for blacks to gain the respect of the city's fairer skinned citizens. It was later stated by a Baptist minister that "in former epidemics in this city, the black man has always shown a magnanimous spirit, ready and willing to patrol the streets of our city day and night to preserve order and defend public and private property."[15] After the end of the epidemic, blacks continued to serve on the force for another seventeen years before segregationist city officials had them removed.

Those in the black community were not the only people to step up in the city's time of most urgent need. While most other types of commercial businesses had closed their doors for the duration of the outbreak, those establishments most crucial to the city's survival fought to keep their doors open. In Caper's article on the matter, he stated that "all business ceased, and of the numerous social and economic institutions, only the press, telegraph, railroads, steamboats, druggists, undertakers, doctors, and Catholic clergy made any attempt to continue functioning."[16] A number of civic aid groups were also active in the city, including the Citizen's Relief Committee, Knights of Honor, and of course, the Howard Association. This latter group was particularly involved, hiring 2,900 nurses and 111 doctors to care for the sick and spending more than $500,000 for the care of those inflicted.[17] The Howard Association originated in New Orleans, having been formed during an epidemic there in 1853 to aid in the care of the sick. In 1855, a group was organized in Memphis, composed of average men who wished to give something more to the community. Where the city's board of health was unable to provide for the city, the Howards picked up the burden. The members were personally involved with their work, wearing yellow armbands to show their membership in the Association, and regularly visited the homes of the sick. This, while admirable, likely contributed to the number of members, nineteen in number, who came down with the fever. Ten of these did not survive. Among the first to become ill was the Howard president, Butler P. Anderson, who even before his affiliation with the Howards was known for his extensive humanitarian work in both Memphis and Grenada.[18] A precursor to FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), the Howard Association took on other tasks beyond the simple nursing care of the fever victims. They hired drivers to pick up the bodies of the deceased and provided burial for those families who could not afford it.[19] Their efficiency in managing the epidemic in Memphis set a precedent for agencies across the country, and revolutionized the way that emergencies were handled by the government.

The Catholic Church was also an integral part of the city's relief effort. Priests, such as Charles Carroll Parsons, who had moved to Memphis three years earlier, found themselves in a very important position, administering the last rites to those who were preparing to die. Parsons had once been a soldier in the Union Army, but eventually felt a call to the ministry. He kept himself so busy with the ill, that when he became sick, there was no one to look after him or to take on his position when he died.[20] Nuns also sacrificed their lives in hopes of saving others. Two from St. Mary's Episcopal School, Sister Constance and Thecla, had rushed back from New York at hearing of the impending epidemic. Almost immediately, they contracted the virus and died days later.[21]

Another famous heroine, although considered initially less "saintly" than some, was Annie Cook. The proprietor of the "Mansion House", an establishment known to offer "commercial affections", she discharged her girls and opened the house to yellow fever victims and nursed a number of them before she died on September 11, 1878. Upon hearing of her deeds, a number of "wholesome" women praised her for her actions, and stated that she had redeemed herself.[22]

Although many Memphis residents know little or nothing about the traumatic events of the city's past, those that do can not help but acknowledge the mark it has left. The city's growth was significantly stunted during the period of the epidemic, and many business opportunities went to other cities, such as St. Louis and Atlanta. In 1879, the city lost its city charter, and until 1893, operated as a taxing district of Nashville.[23] Despite the setbacks, Memphis and its people have proven that they can survive through ordeals that today can not be fully fathomed.

[1]
J.M. Keating, A History of the Yellow Fever (Memphis, Tenn.:
Howard Association, 1879), 145.

[2]Thomas
H. Baker, "Yellow jack: The Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1878,"
Bulletin of the History of Medicine (May-June, 1968): 241.

[3]Christopher
Caplinger. "Yellow Fever Epidemics." The Tennessee
Encyclopedia of History and Culture. Tennessee Historical
Society.
http://http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/imagegallery.phpEntryID=Y002.

[4]
J.P. Dromgoole, Yellow Fever: Heroes, Honors, and Horrors of
1878, (Louisville: John P. Morton, 1879), 44-5.

[5]The
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth
Edition. S.v. "miasma." Retrieved March 22 2006 from
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Miasma

[6]Gerald
M. Capers Jr. "Yellow Fever in the 1870's." The
Mississippi Valley Historical Review (March 1938): 487-8.

[7]"Congress
Honors the Yellow Fever Commission." Science (April
1929): 381-2.

[8]Gerald
M. Capers Jr. "Yellow Fever in the 1870's." The
Mississippi Valley Historical Review (March 1938): 487-8.

[9]
Ibid, 494.

[10]Christopher
Caplinger. "Yellow Fever Epidemics." The Tennessee
Encyclopedia of History and Culture. Tennessee Historical
Society.
http://http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/imagegallery.phpEntryID=Y002.

[11]Ibid.

[12]Unknown.
Letter is Picture of Fear, Death. The Commercial Appeal. 8
Dec. 1963.

[13]Dennis
C. Rousey, "Yellow Fever and Black Policemen in Memphis: A
Post-Reconstruction Anomaly," The Journal of Southern History
(August 1985): 364-5.

[14]Ibid,
369.

[15]
Ibid, 370.

[16]
Gerald M. Capers Jr. "Yellow Fever in the 1870's." The
Mississippi Valley Historical Review (March 1938): 494.
[17]
Ibid.

[18]Perre
Magness, Elmwood: In the Shadows of the Elms (Memphis, Tn:
Elmwood Cemetery, 2004), 172.

[19]J.M.
Keating, A History of the Yellow Fever (Memphis, Tenn.:
Howard Association, 1879), 148.

[20]Perre
Magness, Elmwood: In the Shadows of the Elms (Memphis, Tn:
Elmwood Cemetery, 2004), 174.

[21]
Ibid.
[22]
Ibid, 176