Regarding the query about illnesses in 1870- There was a significant smallpox outbreak that resulted in many deaths in the eastern US from 1868-1875. That doesn't necessarily mean this is what killed your people. My gg-grandmother died about that time with three other family members all in one day, when her wagon overturned in a stream west of Danville on their way home from church. They are all buried together under one headstone.