Hello, Maybe the disease was smallpox. There's a book called Pox Americana, The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775-82 by Elizabeth Anne Fenn with an extensive review by Christie Carrico, PhD at http://molinterv.aspetjournals.org/cgi/content/full/3/6/344 Carrico says that the key to the spread of the disease was a 12-day incubation period in which someone who was infected appeared healthy but was contagious. The map she shows of the spread of the disease does not pinpoint middle Tennessee as a hot spot though. Joan On May 1, 2008, at 12:01 AM, tnbedfor-request@rootsweb.com wrote: > > 3. Re: 1882 - Was there an epidemic or widespread illness in > Bedford Co? (cosgenealogy@united.net) > 4. Re: 1882 - Was there an epidemic or widespread illness in > Bedford Co? (S. D. Gopalan) > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:47:14 -0600 > From: "S. D. Gopalan" <clansearch@comcast.net> > Subject: [TNBEDFOR] 1882 - Was there an epidemic or widespread illness > in Bedford Co? > To: <tnbedfor@rootsweb.com> > Message-ID: <NGBBJDIBELPJGGHKNEAMGECLELAA.clansearch@comcast.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > As I was inputting some new data on one of my family tree branches > from > Bedford County, I noticed that in just 4 related families living in > Bedford > Co. in the early 1880's, there were 11 deaths in October and > November of > 1882. All 11 deaths were in children ages 2-9, with 4 of those > deaths in > just 1 family. Looking further into my Bedford Co. families, in > just a > quick look-see, I find at least 22 deaths of children in that same > age group > in the October-December 1882 time frame. > > Does anyone know if there was an epidemic or widespread serious > illness in > Bedford County during that time frame? > > Thanks in advance :) > > > > > Message: 4 > Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2008 22:58:14 -0600 > From: "S. D. Gopalan" <clansearch@comcast.net> > Subject: Re: [TNBEDFOR] 1882 - Was there an epidemic or widespread > illness in Bedford Co? > To: <tnbedfor@rootsweb.com> > Message-ID: <NGBBJDIBELPJGGHKNEAMGECPELAA.clansearch@comcast.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > That's always a possibility, naturally. But the reason I'm wondering > particularly if it was some type of epidemic, such as influenza, > smallpox, > cholera, etc., is because whatever it was seemed to come on fairly > quickly > and kill just as quickly, and seemed particularly lethal to smaller > children, which is usually not indicative of tuberculosis/ > consumption. I > have notations and indications on most of the children I mentioned > in my > original post that showed they were healthy and normal enough up to > at least > the end of the summer of 1882, but then they were dead by the end of > the > year (notations found in family letters of the time which referred > to a > family event during that summer). Also, 3 of these families had > physicians > in the family (the fathers and 1 uncle), so I would assume their > general > health was maintained well enough. So it just seems that whatever > killed > all these children during October/November/December 1882 must have > come on > quickly and was not lethal to the adults in the families. That's > why I'm > wondering about a possible epidemic in the area. It's very curious. > > Dawn > > -----Original Message----- > From: tnbedfor-bounces@rootsweb.com > [mailto:tnbedfor-bounces@rootsweb.com]On Behalf Of > cosgenealogy@united.net > Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2008 9:14 PM > To: tnbedfor@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: [TNBEDFOR] 1882 - Was there an epidemic or widespread > illness in Bedford Co? > > >