Sinking into the Grave: the 19th Century's Tuberculosis Epidemic

A French illustration of a young consumptive from Le Journal Illustré, No. 34, October 2-9, 1864. Library of Congress.

In the 19th century, waves of epidemics such as cholera, smallpox, and the measles came and went, but tuberculosis—then known as consumption—remained ever-present. 

The infectious disease had plagued human kind for thousands of years. In the 1800s, tuberculosis reached epidemic proportions killing "one out of every seven people in the United States and Europe." (Centers for Disease Control) 

The disease was thought to be hereditary, unavoidable, and possibly caused by "bad air." The slow process with which people suffered and died was often characterized as "sinking into the grave." Its' true cause, a contagious bacterium—Mycobacterium tuberculosis—was not discovered until 1882. Advancements in treatment followed with diagnostic skin tests, chest radiographs (x-rays), and in 1921, a vaccine for use in humans. 

One of the earliest known deaths from consumption in Lake County was English immigrant Ann Daggitt, the 13-year old daughter of Moraine Township settler, Robert Daggitt. Ann died of "quick consumption" in February 1845. Her father, a carpenter by trade, made his daughter's coffin and buried her on the family's homestead in today's Highland Park. Ann was the first burial in what became the Daggitt/Grace Cemetery.

That same year Elizabeth Boyd McKay of Waukegan died of consumption. Elizabeth was the wife of Scottish immigrant James McKay (1808-1887). In 1841, the couple and their 1-year old son moved from Chicago to Waukegan (then known as Little Fort). The family gained in prestige as James became influential in the city's growth by building hotels and taverns, and his election to public office. (see my post on James McKay). 

When Elizabeth became ill she returned to Chicago, perhaps to be near family. She took residence at the Sauganash Hotel where the town's finest accommodations were available. It is unknown how long she suffered from consumption, but generally it was a slow death taking many months. 

Elizabeth Boyd McKay's death notice published in the Little Fort Porcupine, August 6, 1845. 

Newspaper Collection, Bess Bower Dunn Museum.

In the spring of 1850, young married couple Olive and William H. Gipson died in Waukegan from the dreaded disease. Both were born in Maine and had recently settled in Waukegan where William worked as a merchant. 

The 1850 mortality census lists William as having been ill with consumption for 150 days before his death. For a time, he may have continued to work at his business, unwittingly infecting customers and neighbors just by speaking to them and releasing droplets of the TB bacteria into the air. 

While caring for her husband, Olive contracted the disease. She died 30 days from the start of her symptoms. William died a month later at age 35.

The U.S. Federal Census of 1850 included a "mortality schedule" with a list of individuals who had died within the previous year. The 1850 mortality schedule for Waukegan included Olive and William H. Gipson (shown here). Ancestry.com

The classic appearance of a consumptive included flushed cheeks, pale skin and red lips (due to a constant low grade fever), shiny eyes, a chronic cough, and spitting up of blood. Victims also suffered from chills, fatigue, and loss of appetite. The person wasted away and was virtually "consumed" by the disease. 

Without a cure, people tried a variety of remedies including fresh air, vinegar massages, cod liver oil, and inhaling hemlock or turpentine. (Centers for Disease Control). Others found a way to make money off those who suffered by selling tonics that falsely claimed a "cure" for ailments including consumption. 

An advertisement for one of the many tonic "cures" for consumption, circa 1890.
Advertisement Collection (2013.0.97), Bess Bower Dunn Museum.

From a letter by Edwin P. Messer (1838-1915) of Libertyville dated April 19, 1860, we learn of the death of a young friend. Messer wrote to William Minto of Loon Lake (Antioch Twp.): "I suppose you have heard of the death of Mary Abbott she died about the middle of March."

Though Messer did not mention the cause of death, through genealogical research I found that Mary had died of consumption after being ill for three months. She was 18 years old.

1860 mortality schedule listing "Maria E. Abbott" dying of consumption in March 1860 in Waukegan. Ancestry.com 

Mary E. Abbott was born on the family farm near Millburn in September 1841 to William Abbott and Elizabeth F. Barry Abbott. 

Messer's letter indicates that he and William Minto (1837-1919) were acquainted with Mary. Since Messer did not live near Minto and Abbott in the Millburn/Loon Lake area, I wondered how the three became acquainted. From correspondence in the museum's Minto Family Collection I knew that Minto and Messer had attended the Waukegan Academy together. I suspected that Mary Abbott might also be connected to them through the Academy. 

Waukegan Academy on Genesee Street. Printed in the Waukegan Daily Gazette, March 22, 1915.
The Academy operated from 1846 to 1869.

As the first institution of higher learning in Lake County and with abolitionist-leanings, the Waukegan Academy attracted male and female students from throughout Lake County and also Wisconsin, New York and Australia. (see my post on the Waukegan Academy). 

A review of Academy catalogues confirmed that Mary Abbott attended in 1857 along with Edwin P. Messer and his twin brother Erwin B.

Waukegan Academy Catalogue for 1857, listing students Mary E. Abbott (top right) and Edwin P. Messer (bottom right).
School Collection, Bess Bower Dunn Museum. 

Young adults, such as Mary Abbott, were particularly susceptible to consumption, although anyone could contract the disease. In the following decades, another group would suffer from the disease at high rates—Union veterans of the Civil War.

Historian Brian Matthew Jordan noted that Union soldiers returned to their homes "prematurely broken down." Their bodies were "atrophied by years spent exposed to the elements and disease in unsanitary army camps." This led to veterans succumbing to consumption, and heart and kidney diseases at much higher rates than the general population. 

Union veterans at the dedication of the Civil War monument in Waukegan, August 1899.
Civil War Collection (64.39.2), Bess Bower Dunn Museum.

William Monaghan (1841-1871) of Wauconda mustered-in with Company B, 96th Illinois Infantry on September 5, 1862. He was the son of Irish immigrants, Eliza and James Monaghan, who came to Lake County in 1837 and settled on property within today's Singing Hills Forest Preserve. 

William was considered "an excellent soldier" and served with the 96th Illinois until the end of the war. The regimental history noted him as being 6 foot 4 inches tall and having "a powerful frame," which made it all the more difficult for his family to accept his death from consumption not long after the Civil War. 

By the late 1800s, the best cure for TB was thought to be fresh air and good nutrition. The growing realization that TB was likely an infectious disease led to isolating patients in hospitals and sanitoriums. With improvements in socioeconomic conditions, nutrition and living standards, public health initiatives, and the use of sanitoriums, a path to controlling the disease was on the horizon. 

Lake Breeze Sanitorium was established for TB sufferers in 1909 on a 16-acre parcel
east of Green Bay Road on Grand Avenue in Waukegan. 
Tuberculosis Collection 77.20, Bess Bower Dunn Museum.

Public health initiatives such as this poster educated people on disease prevention. Circa 1925. 
U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Lake County's Tuberculosis Sanitorium was established on Belvidere Road in Waukegan in 1939. In addition to providing the latest in diagnosis and antibiotic treatments, the facility had patient rooms that opened onto private balconies for fresh air. (see my post on the TB Sanitorium).

Nurses's station at TB Sanitorium in Waukegan, circa 1940.  
Tuberculosis Collection 77.20, Bess Bower Dunn Museum. 

For centuries, the origin of tuberculosis was not understood and contracting it was thought to be unavoidable. With the advent of germ theory and the discovery of the bacterium that causes TB, people began to understand how to control the spread of the disease through isolation, and eventually prevent it through antibiotics. 

Tuberculosis remains a public health concern in part to a rise in drug resistance. The disease has re-emerged as a pandemic killing 1.5 million people worldwide each year. However, in the U.S. the number of new cases continues to fall steadily. For more information visit the Centers for Disease Control https://www.cdc.gov/tb/. 

Telling the stories of Lake Countians who died from tuberculosis or worked to treat those with the disease is possible because official records and archival materials have been preserved and made available for research. 

Today, we are experiencing a struggle that is similar to the one our 19th century counterparts endured. To understand this moment in time, museums around the world—including the Bess Bower Dunn Museum—are collecting stories and photos related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Historians and researchers 10, 20 or even 50 years from now will benefit and find perspective from the stories we archive.

- Diana Dretske, Curator ddretske@lcfpd.org

Sources: 

Ancestry.com - 1850 and 1860 U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedules, Lake County, Illinois. 
Bess Bower Dunn Museum of Lake County. 
Centers for Disease Control https://www.cdc.gov/tb/ and https://www.cdc.gov/tb/worldtbday/history.htm.
Manoli-Skocay, Constance. "A Gentle Death: Tuberculosis in 19th Century Concord." ConcordLibrary.org. Accessed May 22, 2020.
https://concordlibrary.org/special-collections/essays-on-concord-history/a-gentle-death-tuberculosis-in-19th-century-concord.
"Died." Little Fort Porcupine and Democratic Banner, Little Fort, Lake County, Illinois, August 6, 1845. Newspaper Collection. Bess Bower Dunn Museum of Lake County. 
Jordan, Brian Matthew. Marching Home: Union Veterans and Their Unending Civil War. New York: Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2014.
Partridge, Charles A. History of the Ninety-Sixth Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Chicago: Historical Society of the Regiment, 1887.
Murray, John F. "A Century of Tuberculosis." Accessed May 28, 2020. ATSJournals.org. 

https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/full/10.1164/rccm.200402-140OE

Gwinn-Loring Christmas Romance

Among the oldest items in the museum's archival collections is a diary kept by Hannah Gwinn Loring (1791 - 1847) written between 1804 - 1807. Hannah kept the diary when she was living in her hometown of Salem, Massachusetts with her parents, Thaddeus Gwinn and Mercy Bradlee Gwinn.

Although the fragile pages of the diary have not been transcribed, we know that it was first required as a school exercise when Hannah was twelve years old, and later she continued to write in it voluntarily. The diary covers every day matters, especially focusing on community gatherings and church meetings.

One of the first entries in Hannah Gwinn's 1804 diary:

"I am again assembled with my young mates

and hope to pass my time agreeably."

Dunn Museum 93.45.349

In September 1807, Hannah wrote: "I left school with regret. My parents think it is time for me to commence assisting in domestic affairs for they think it very essential for a female to be well skilled in all the active comings of life."

Within two years, Hannah found a suitor in Samuel Loring, a ship's captain in Salem's profitable commercial shipping trade. As it turned out, Samuel was a bit of a romantic.

Samuel Loring (1785 - 1843). This carte-de-visite

photo was made from a painting of Loring.

Dunn Museum 93.45.349.5

On Christmas Day, December 25, 1809 Samuel wrote a poem to Hannah while "on Board the Jennifer at sea near Bermuda" over 700 miles away.

Good night good night and is it so

and must I from my Hannah go

Oh Hannah say good night once more

And I'll repeat it o'er & o'er

Till the first glance of Dawning light

Shall find us still saying good night

And still good night my Hannah say

But whisper still a minutes stay

and I will stay & every minute

Shall have an age of Rapture in it

xxx talk & speak in quick Delight

And murmur while we kiss good night

Good night you murmur with a sigh

And tell me it is time to fly

And I will now to kiss no more

Yet kiss you closer than before

xxxxxx

And then Dear Girl once more good night

Samuel Loring's poem to his sweetheart Hannah Gwinn.

Composed December 25, 1809.  Dunn Museum 93.45.349.4

Hannah and Samuel married two years later on Christmas Day, 1811. At the time, Christmas was not celebrated as it is today, and the families that did make note of it simply went to church or shared a special meal together. Hannah's marriage to Samuel made this a Christmas to remember.

The Lorings had six children: Samuel, Jr., Spencer, Mercy, Frank, Thaddeus and William.

In 1819, Samuel Loring took Hannah's diary with him to sea. He used the blank pages at the back of the diary for his ship master's log from December 28, 1819 - August 30, 1820. The log's entries detail his travels from his home port of Salem, Massachusetts to Baltimore, Superior, the West Indies, Curocoa (island in Carribean), and St. Lucia.

I like to believe that Samuel didn't take Hannah's diary just for the use of its blank pages, but wanted a sweet reminder of his wife while they were separated for weeks at a time.

Tragically, in 1843, Samuel Loring died at sea. The loss meant that Hannah would never see her beloved Samuel again, since his body was buried at sea.

Hannah and Samuel's only daughter, Mercy, invited her widowed mother to come live with her. Mercy Loring had married George E. Smith a pianoforte maker (from a long line of mariners and cabinet makers in Salem). The young couple had settled in Millburn, Lake County, Illinois with their two-year old daughter Susannah. ("Susie" married David J. Minto in 1869).

Hannah Loring made the long trek to Illinois to live with her daughter's family, bringing her childhood diary/Samuel's ship's log, and poems.

On September 18, 1847, Hannah passed away with her daughter and grandchildren around her. She is buried at Home Oaks Cemetery on Deep Lake Road in Lake Villa.

Grave marker for George Smith's and Mercy Loring Smith's

mothers who lived with them:

Hannah Gwinn Loring and Mary Ford Smith. 

The few mementos that Hannah brought with her from Salem were treasured by her descendants, who spent long hours re-reading Hannah's diary and Samuel's ship's log.

In 1993, Hannah's great-great granddaughters, Lura Johaningsmeir and Katherine Minto, donated these items, along with other Smith and Minto family heirlooms to the Bess Bower Dunn Museum of Lake County (formerly the Lake County Discovery Museum).

Civil War Veteran - William Bonner

William Bonner, 1841 - 1863
Courtesy of Bonner Family

William Bonner Jr. was one of thousands of Lake County men to enlist in the Civil War. By the summer of 1862, the war had become synonymous with death and privation, but Bonner heeded President Lincoln's call to preserve the Union.

Bonner was the eldest child of Scottish immigrants William and Margaret Bonner. In 1842, the family settled along Sand Lake Road south of Millburn (now part of Lindenhurst). Their farm is preserved by the Lake County Forest Preserves as the Bonner Heritage Farm. (See my post on the Bonner Heritage Farm)

William Bonner, Jr. grew up in this house.
John Bonner (William's brother) and family, circa 1900.
Courtesy of Bonner Family.

William was born in Canada on the family's trip over from Scotland. He grew up on the Bonner's Avon Township farm (shown above), working as a farmer. He most likely attended the one-room Dodge School (which his father William Sr. built) on the southeast corner of Sand Lake Road and Route 45.

The 21-year old William was recruited by John K. Pollock of Millburn into Company C of the 96th Illinois Regiment. On September 2nd, Bonner went to Waukegan to formally enlist in Pollock's Company. He most likely shared the wagon ride to Waukegan with other neighborhood enlistees, including George C. Dodge, and Henry Bater, a laborer on the Bonner's farm. After several days of training the regiment went by train to Camp Fuller in Rockford, Illinois for more intensive training before heading to the front.

During a portion of his first year of service, Private Bonner suffered from "camp illness." Soldiers were commonly sick due to poor sanitation, poor nutrition, and being exposed to a multitude of diseases. Several letters written by William's comrades in the Dunn Museum's collections note his ill health: 

George C. Dodge wrote: "Wm. Bonner don't seem over well now days his legs trouble him considerably." (Letter to David Minto in Millburn, April 17, 1863, from Camp near Franklin, TN - Dunn Museum 93.45.505.2)

"William Bonner has been unwell but is well now he does duty every day," (Letter of Chase Webb to David Minto, May 12, 1863 - Dunn Museum 93.45.519.2)

"William Bonner [is not very well] though he is on duty," (Letter of Captain John K. Pollock to David Minto, May 17, 1863, Franklin, TN - Dunn Museum 93.45.567.2) 

The 96th Illinois' first battle came at Chickamauga, Georgia on September 18 - 20, 1863. This battle claimed the second highest number of casualties of the war after Gettysburg. (See my post on Chickamauga)

The 96th Illinois lost half its men in one day's fighting on September 20. Bonner and his comrades of Company C were given a "terrible blow" while defending the Union's position on Horseshoe Ridge. Of the company's 35 men sent into battle, 25 were wounded and the remaining ten had bullet holes through their clothes and accoutrements.

According to the 96th's regimental history, William Bonner Jr. "was shot through the body" in the first charge on Horseshoe Ridge. He was "left upon the field, doubtless dying within a few hours." Bonner did not make it to the field hospital at the rear, but even if he had the wound was fatal.

For many months Bonner's friends and family clung to the hope that he was alive and would be heard from. The Bonners watched the road for any sign of their son's return home.

One of William's comrades, William Lewin of Newport Township, wrote on December 11, 1863, nearly three months after the battle: "I have not seen any one that has seen or heard any thing of Wm Bonner since the battle of Chickamauga." (below)

No news ever came. 

Excerpt from William Lewin's letter regarding William Bonner.
Dunn Museum 93.45.518.2

On the home front, families often never learned the fate of their loved ones. There was no system to identify the dead, notify families, or compensate them for their loss. William Bonner is one of hundreds of thousands of Civil War soldiers who have remained unidentified and their demise unknown. 

On Sunday, July 13, 2014 at 10 a.m., the Bonner Family will hold a memorial to honor William Bonner, Jr., whose body was never found. The grave marker (cenotaph) dedication is open to the public and will be at the Millburn Cemetery on Millburn Road east of Route 45.

For a list of Civil War veterans buried at Millburn Cemetery follow this link to the Historic Millburn Community Association website.  

Susie Smith's Civil War Romance

During the Civil War, Susannah Smith (1839 - 1914) of Millburn wrote letters to her brother, George, who was with the 96th Illinois Regiment. One of George's comrades, Richard Thain, was rightfully envious of the long letters and asked George for permission to correspond with his sister.

Susannah "Susie" D. Smith, circa 1865. Minto Family Private Collection. 

In Richard's first letter to Susie, dated July 9, 1864, he wrote:

"Respected Friend,

I suppose you will think me rather bold in addressing you in this manner but I hope you will not be offended. My object in corresponding with you is to have something to occupy my time and to relieve the monotony of camp life. ... I hope you will do me the favor to answer this poorly written letter and if you wish to keep a correspondence I will be very happy to answer your letters. Believe me, Your Sincere Friend." (Dunn Museum 93.45.433)

Richard S. Thain, circa 1885 from the History of the 96th Illinois Regiment. 

Thain was the Second Brigade's postmaster and was nearly killed by a Confederate scout.

It's difficult to see a romance blossoming in Richard's matter-of-fact letters, but in Susie's diaries there is plenty of evidence of her affection for him and the attentions he gave her following the war. (Susie's letters to Richard had been saved by the family, but unfortunately were destroyed in a fire at a family member's cabin in California in 1992).

The "soldier boys" were discharged and sent home in June 1865. On June 15, while taking a break from teaching at the Grubb School near Millburn, Susie wrote of her anticipation in her diary:

"Heard Richard was in... how I do wish that I could see him. I stand at the window a moment and then take a turn in the yard hardly knowing what to do... I can write no more for the girls are crowning me with oak leaves and roses, so, as they say, that their teacher may look pretty, if she should have company this afternoon." (Dunn Museum 93.45.290)

She did have company that afternoon, and recounted the moment in her diary: "I have seen Richard, he came up to the schoolhouse... I thought that he was very kind to do so, but I could hardly speak to him, I was in such a tremble of excitement." (Dunn Museum 93.45.290)

The old Grubb School where Susie Smith taught and Richard Thain visited her on his first day back from the war. Photographed in 1966. Image courtesy of Historic Millburn Community Association.

This was probably not Richard and Susie's first meeting. They had both grown up in and around the small community of Millburn. However, their correspondence most certainly changed the dynamic of that relationship. Several days later, Susie wrote that she had spent "the happiest day of my life" in Richard's company, singing and talking.

Despite their age difference, Susie was Thain's senior by six years, they spent the next year and a half together. Richard was often in Susie's company at church meetings, and spent evenings at the Smith family home.

Smith family home, north of Millburn on Miller Road. Photo circa 1890. (Dunn Museum 93.45.79).

In early fall 1865, Richard moved to Chicago to start in business, but continued to make frequent visits to Millburn. On April 13, 1866, Susie wrote: "After tea, looked out and saw Richard coming up the path, quite a joyful surprise. R staid at our house all night."

Their relationship continued until December 1866, when things noticeably changed. Susie received fewer letters and still fewer visits from Richard. On Christmas Day, she wrote:

"Christmas... Had a good time and yet there is such a blank when R is gone that I cannot enjoy my self as well. How strange it seems that one person can add so much to anothers happiness and become as it were a part of anothers existence. It seems as though the greatest happiness I have next to the knowledge of the love of God is the thought of the love of my Richard thoughts of him are ever in my mind."

And then Susie's heartbreaking entry for January 1, 1867: "Happy New Year was exchanged on every side, and we passed a very pleasant day and evening... When we reached home my disappointed heart which I had managed to keep down all day gave way and I had a hard cry. I did hope to see Richard to day and I know he would have come if it had been possible but I was so grieved over it seemed impossible to keep from crying. And so I did cry. May God forgive me for being so weak. When will I ever learn to control myself. Ned dear brother came and put his arms around me and tried to comfort me." (Dunn Museum 93.45.290)

Susie's diary ends on January 17th, leaving us with many questions, but from her tears we know she was not ready to lose Richard.

There is a happy ending for Susie, but it does not involve Richard Thain. He spent a couple of years traveling cross-country and building his business before settling down with Hannah Abbott in 1869 in Oak Park, Illinois. After Hannah's death, he married Emma Jenness in 1881.

In 1868, one year after the end of her romance with Richard, Susie began co-editing the Millburn Literary Association's publication with her neighbor, David J. Minto. They had been attending the same prayer meetings and evenings of singing at Mr. Hughes's for two years, and were both teachers.

Susie's one surviving letter is to David, dated May 7, 1869 from Chicago. Susie wrote to "Dear Davie" that her friend Mrs. Emerson wanted to "commence" the letter for her, because she knows "how to write love letters."

David J. Minto, circa 1870. (Dunn Museum 93.45.52) David enlisted with the 96th Illinois, and was honorably discharged due to illness in April 1863. On his return to Millburn, he farmed his family's land, and taught in the local schools.

In the same letter, Susie wrote: "Don't you think Davie that the 20th would be a good day for... you know." That "you know" referred to a possible wedding day. Indeed, they were married on that very May 20th by Rev. Thomas Lightbody of the Millburn Congregational Church, and remained married for 44 years.

Photographed in 1898 at the Minto family homestead are Susie and David Minto (seated) with their only surviving children, David Harold and Una (with kittens). (Dunn Museum 93.45.91)

Susie and David's granddaughters, Katherine and Lura, donated the family's letters and diaries to the museum in 1993. The museum's Minto Collection is hosted online by the Illinois Digital Archives.