A Summer of Pestilence in Norfolk, Virginia
Yellow Fever
One thing to consider when discovering genealogy is what happened to family members. Because of the effects of plagues and fevers, whole families could disappear from the records. This is a significant reason to search old graveyards for evidence of small children and other relatives. Noting that a later number of biographical and county histories were published during the early 19th and 20th centuries, this is a valuable resource for learning minute details familiar to the author.
On August 1, 1855, the yellow fever overtook Norfolk, Virginia. The terrible disease has been revealed in Gosport, with cases also occurring across the river in Portsmouth.
In Norfolk, it was known as “Upshur fever,” named after Dr. George L. Upshur, who treated many cases yet did not know what he ought to do. Although yellow fever had been present in the city since July, Dr. Upshur was unwilling to admit it until the disease showed its true nature.
Some blamed him for not knowing about these cases earlier, as the instant the first case occurred, provisions might have been made to remove the sick beyond the city limits.
In those days, this was the means of treating fevers.
T. Broughton, Sr., Editor of the Herald and Secretary of the Board of Health, appeared to have about as cool a head upon his shoulders. He published an article stating that several poor families were removed from Gosport to "Barry's Row" in Norfolk and that the disease was confined.
The fever's origin in Gosport was ultimately traced to Ben Franklin, a steamer bound from the Island of St. Thomas, where the fever prevailed, to New York but compelled to put into Hampton Roads in distress. This vessel arrived in our waters on June 7, 1855, and after remaining at quarantine for twelve days, came up to Gosport on June 19th and was at once taken to Page and Allen's shipyard to have certain repairs made upon her. From the time she left St. Thomas, she is said to have been in so leaky a condition to render constant pumping necessary. During that time, two deaths occurred among her crew, which her captain reported to health officials as being caused by other diseases, but it was yellow fever.
This much is certain: the passengers of the Ben Franklin left her in Hampton Roads, not one of them remaining to meet our health officer when he visited. This, together with several other suspicious circumstances attending her entrance here, led to the exaction of a promise from her captain, as a condition for allowing her to go up to Gosport, that, in effecting her repairs, her hold should not be broken up. This pledge was violated, and the first case of fever in Gosport is said to have been that of a laborer employed in breaking up her hold, who, after a short illness, died on July 8th, exhibiting all the characteristic symptoms of yellow fever.
As soon as this case was reported, the vessel was ordered back to quarantine, where she remained, flying the yellow flag at her masthead. As the disease spread, the infected district in Gosport was fenced in. Meanwhile, Page and Allen's shipyard located in the southern part of Gosport, adjoined the main entrance to the navy yard. The row of buildings where all the first cases of fever occurred is the same general character as "Barry's Row"; the buildings were small, sadly out of repair, overcrowded with inhabitants, and filthy in the extreme.
Infectious diseases onboard ships were commonplace. As soon as they landed or were in port, diseases such as measles, yellow fever, malaria, smallpox, typhus, and rat-bite fever quickly spread throughout the population.
Source: Summer of the Pestilence. HISTORY OF THE RAVAGES OF THE YELLOW FEVER IN NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, A.D. 1855. BY GEORGE D. ARMSTRONG, D.D. PASTOR OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN NORFOLK. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. (1856).
Online Genealogy of Norfolk County, VA
