A number of Matlock, Purcell and McPhail family members died during 1851 and many of them are buried at the Matlock Cemetery near Niota in McMinn County. Three or four members of one family died within a few weeks or months of each other. I am wondering if there was some catastrophic illness (cholera?) that swept through the county in 1851. Have other McMinn County researchers noted an unusual number of deaths in their families which occurred in mid to late 1851? Doug Purcell Eufaula, AL