>From the Centennial History of Cincinnati by Charles Greve: The Cholera of 1849 In 1849 the terrible scourge, cholera, returned and devastated the city to a much greater extent than ever before. In September, 1849, the Board of Health of the city reported the deaths for four months preceding September 1st as 6,459, of which 4,114 were from Cholera. Mr. Mansfield estimates the death from the middle of April to the middle of October as 7,000, of which 4,600 were from cholera. The mortality for the year was about 8,500, which counting the population as 116,000, was one in 14. He further estimates that the deaths among the Germans and Irish were almost fourfold the number of deaths among the Americans. Of the 4,114 above mentioned, 2,896 were Germans, Irish, and Hebrews, while but 1,218 represented the other nationalities who formed 60 percent of the population. "During the prevalence of this pestilence, a deep gloom and solemn fear pervaded the city. Many plans and suggestions were made to mitigate the disease. The greatest mortality was in the hot month of July, yet great fires were made in some streets, with the idea of driving off the poison; but the disease went on with its fearful fatality, and the long funerals blackened all the way". (Mansfield's Memories pp 258-261) The Cholera returned again the following year in 1851 and 1852. The panic which followed its recurrence in 1850 threatened for a time almost to depopulate the city and did materially affect the census then taken. Phyllis PS My understanding is that many folks left the city for a while and moved to outlying areas in the country where Cholera was not so prevalent. So if you cannot find your people in Cincinnati City Directories for the few years following the epidemic, this may be the reason why. In addition, this epidemic affected many major cities around the country at this same time period. It was not isolated to Cincinnati.