Smallpox, Springfield, 1899-1900

When a friend of mine found the attached photo on property he purchased a couple of years ago, I was fascinated. The back of the photo, in barely legible pencil, is inscribed: "{illegible name} was in the pest house in Sep in 1900 in Springfield and was {illegible} {illegible} 14 Nov? 15 1900." I had never heard of a "pest house," so I looked for it.

Pest Camp Photo, September 1900.

On April 29, 1893, Springfield�s Finance Committee approved a survey by G. L. Crawford, county surveyor, on 3.64 acres of land located northwest of the city. The land included the east and west banks of Spring Branch which had its source at a spring located well within the city limits. Another spring was located within this acreage, but has since stopped flowing. The banks were very steep except a section at the northern end of the property where a low, relatively level, flood plain existed. I have not checked the 1893 city council records to find what the original purpose of the land may have been, but in 1899 it was designated as the city�s pest camp and continued to carry that name until at least 1925.

Location of Pest Camp, NW Springfield

Historical accounts report that the Sisters of Mercy (established St. John�s Hospital) who volunteered to live at the pest camp and care for the victims also had to bury some of the victims. Residents in the area of the former pest camp point to an area just north of the pest camp land where, according to neighborhood tradition, approximately 40 victims were buried. I have located several burials of victims in Hazelwood Cemetery records.

According to a page one article in the January 19, 1899, Springfield Republican News of a Day column: �The Board of Health at El Paso, Tex., reported that there is not a single case of smallpox in that city, the disease having been completely stamped out.� Three days later the Republican proudly reprinted an article from the St. Louis Star that read:

		Springfield claims to have the train robbers fenced in and

		the smallpox fenced out.  Lucky town.  Now let the train 

		robbers be elevated and the smallpox dissipated, and the

		state will be placed under lasting obligations to the beautiful

		Ozarks city.

Smallpox

Of the pestilence known to the generations of mankind, smallpox is said to hold all records. Within my lifetime, I have seen a most successful and fearsome virus become extinct, except as a pawn of power or a tool of terrorists. Smallpox controlled the population growth of Europe for centuries, along with its competitors, typhus and bubonic plague, and with its companions, tuberculosis and pneumonia. Two million people died each year in Europe during smallpox epidemics and the virus was a leading cause of blindness on the continent. The disease was also widely known throughout Asia, Africa and the Middle East. When introduced to the Americas by European explorers and colonists, the virus devastated entire native tribes.

The histories of the United States, county by county, frequently relate when outbreaks occurred at that place. One county in Tennessee reported a smallpox �epidemic� in 1850. During the Civil War, a United States Smallpox Hospital was established at Cape Girardeau, Mo., now Minton House on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University. The mid-century also brought reports of smallpox from the gold rush mining camps in the West. The earliest smallpox epidemic in British Columbia occurred 10 years before white men met the aboriginal inhabitants. The virus has already made its way along established trade routes, from village to village, northward from the Spanish Conquistador, through Mexico, through Utah to the Sto:lo.

Two attitudes appeared in smallpox reports and discussions at the end of the 19th century: optimism and denial. The mere rumor of smallpox in a community could be economically devastating to an area, hence one reason for denial. Often, however, reports that appear to be denial merely reflect that variations of the disease sometimes made diagnose difficult. Variations of smallpox (Variola) present themselves differently so a case seen in 1899 was not necessarily like one that had wiped out a family in 1850. One might easily believe that a mild case of variola minor was chickenpox and the cause of death listed as pneumonia. There was no mistaking the symptoms of variola major, also called hemorrhagic smallpox, in which the eruptions were so severe they split the skin and the victim bled to death within three to four days of onset.

Edward Jenner�s smallpox vaccine, developed shortly before the 19th century, was responsible for part of the optimism of the late 1800s. When the vaccinations were first developed many physicians did not trust the process and a few remained adamantly opposed to it well into the 20th century. The first vaccines were unreliable and, on occasion, as deadly as the disease they were intended to prevent. One must remember that the first inoculations were performed by cutting the skin and wiping contaminated pus into the open wound. The development of safer vaccines required a great deal of experimentation, mostly trial and error, frequently on unsuspecting populations.

The United States government began a program of vaccination among western Native American tribes in the early 1830s, long before doctors were recommending the procedure to their patients. As unreliable as the vaccine was during the early part of the century, it�s doubtful that smallpox infected blankets were necessary in the wars against the American Natives. These crude �vaccines� did the job very well and probably more effectively than contaminated blankets. One incident of the use of smallpox contaminated blankets against Native Americans has been documented. Lord Jeffrey Amherst, in 1793, bragged about that incident or it might never have been known by anyone. The blanket incident, however, worked twice--killing many with the initial viral infection; then, the survivors were presented with gifts of mirrors. After seeing their scarred reflections, many of the surviving Indians committed suicide.

Support for vaccination increased in the United States throughout the century and by 1890 many communities began required vaccination programs. Chicago claims in its history that there were no epidemics after about 1890, only sporadic outbreaks among the large number of unvaccinated new immigrants arriving from Europe. In 1895 and 1899, local newspapers reported that the women of Drury College in Springfield, Missouri, complained about the discomfort and inconvenience of vaccination but reported no smallpox among the student body.

In spite of increasing success during the latter decades of the 19th century, some doctors continued to question the safety and efficacy of vaccination. One German doctor, as late as 1947, stated that examination of the records of victims of a smallpox outbreak in that country showed that every victim had been vaccinated. Several 19th century physicians believed in a cause-and-effect relationship between vaccination and other diseases, especially tuberculosis. Some recorded that in their experience the practice of vaccination caused more outbreaks of smallpox than they prevented. J. W. Hodge, M.D., of Niagara Falls, NY, stated his firm belief that, �Vaccination protects from smallpox only when it kills the patient before smallpox.� (http://www.whale.to/2 vaccines/smallpox.html) Understandably, the general public was wary because, as the Republican�s editor puts the question in 1899, �When doctors disagree, who shall decide?�

Vaccination alone was not sufficient to conquer smallpox, containment and quarantine were also necessary. A report on the eradication campaign by the World Health Organization states that one and one-half years into a five year program in Africa, scientists switched from a program of mass vaccination to surveillance and containment. The story of the eradication effort by the World Health Organization is a treat to read, and those who participated in that campaign are true heroes of the 20th century. From the high-tech development of the bifurcated needle to the creative use of a child�s toy construction set to seal the first freeze-dried vaccine ampoules, it�s a marvelous story of imagination, dedication and humility.

Today, in the United States, no one can be quarantined without a day in court, eliminating one of the most successful steps in preventing epidemic or pandemic. Therein lies one great fear in smallpox as a biological weapon. The response to a reintroduction of the virus, by hundreds of thousands of individuals in whom the concept of �individual freedom� is thoroughly ingrained and distrust of government is rampant, could conceivably not only delay efforts of containment, but explode into class or race wars. An enemy no larger than a virus can affect the course of human life as much as a hundred Thomas Jeffersons, Bill Gates or Edward Jenners.

The bad news is: It�s very difficult to defeat a virus. The good news is: It has been done.

Some people estimate the smallpox virus has a life-potential of as much as 100 years outside a host, but that potential has never been documented. In some areas of Africa, scabs of smallpox victims were collected and inserted under the skin or thrust into the nostrils as protection against the disease. This method was apparently as effective as the early European �pus in a cut� method. The medicine men stated that scabs older than two years were of no value and they preferred scabs no older than six months. The longest documented life for the virus was 13 years in scabs stored at room temperature in a Dutch laboratory. If you�re looking for a Stephen King type of plot, you might consider the possibility of live virus in the bodies of smallpox victims buried in permafrost.

The reports of the World Health Organization state that scientists learned nothing from the eradication campaign if not humility and caution. They have advised that a low-income housing development in South Africa planned on the site where smallpox victims were buried, the last one 40 years ago, be approached with reasonable caution, as much to allay fears as to prevent an unlikely reemergence of the disease. The virus, they say, seems to know more about us than we know about it.

Springfield, 1899-1900

Springfield was a railroad town in 1899, hence the editor�s response to the St. Louis article, �Just watch our smoke.� Springfield and the Frisco Railroad were running full steam ahead into either a new civilization or a head-on collision. There were subscribers to both views. The �end-of-the- world� enthusiasts, armed with �scriptural proof� actively crusaded as they do in any year ending with 99, and there was a report that planet earth was in the path of giant meteor, the crash to be expected at any moment. These stories were not front page news. War, politics, disease and train robbers dominated the headlines.

Rail travel increased the numbers in crowds that thronged to public events, thereby increasing the likelihood of transmission of airborne and contact communicable diseases. The gunboat, Memphis, drew an estimated crowd of 40,000 visitors into St. Louis, May 1899, according to the Springfield Republican. I found no mention of a boat of any kind name Memphis in Navy on-line history of Spanish-American War vessels, so it probably served during the occupation period after the brief conflict.

After proving it had world class naval capability in decisive battles at Manila and Santiago, America celebrated en masse at every port-of-call. Expansionists and anti-expansionists duked it out in great verbal debates, but, in general, Americans were proud to think of themselves as world players. Young men resigned from railroad jobs and ran away from farms to enlist for service in the Philippines.

The economy was on an upswing as the country experienced a recovery from the panic of 1893. One Springfield bank set a city record of $1 million in deposits during 1899. Experts cited two major reasons for the growth of investment funds: 1) money from socks and fruit jars returning to the bank; and 2) a rise in the number of savings accounts, referred to as nesteggs, deposited by growing numbers of working men. Unions were active, strikes were violent and there was an �epidemic of wage increases across the nation.�

On the other hand, papers printed many stories about the Salvation Army who seemed to have plenty of poverty around to keep them occupied. The alms house was busy and the Springfield City Council had to come up with funds to care for the poor during the winter months.

On the local scene, there was a running joke about the �willibus-wallibus,� a steam-powered street roller that �spewed fire from its eyes.� One woman was killed by a horse and wagon when the horse bolted at the sound of the approaching machine. Pending lawsuits involving the willibus-wallibus, prompted a report in the newspaper that the machine was in the sheriff�s custody and the major problem was to get it suitably attired for its court appearance.

Springfield had telephones by the fall of 1899 and its first automobile by April 1900.

The St. Louis-San Francisco Railway offices contributed a weekly column to the Republican. Rail companies ran large, daily advertisements of standard rates and destinations as well as advertisements for excursions to places as close to home as Taney Game Park and as far as New York or San Francisco. Railroad men moved from job to job, creating challenging genealogy research for descendants. When Edward Fruness McElliyott, born 10 May 1879 in Plymouth, Pennsylvania, applied for a position with Frisco Railroad at Neodesha, Kansas, on 30 Dec 1900, he stated that he had worked railroads in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Kansas and Missouri--all by the time he was 21 years old.

Frisco opened its first company hospital, patterned after those of competing lines, in Springfield, Mo., August 1899, with Sisters of Charity from Notre Dame, Ind., providing nursing care.

William Jennings, Joe Sheppard and A. F. Kennedy awaited trial in Springfield for wrecking a train on the Memphis route at Macomb on January 3, 1899, and it was they the St. Louis Star hoped to see �elevated.� Springfield failed to impress the state, because the robbers were not hanged (Kennedy was sentenced to 17 years, but was allowed to attend the circus as honored guest of the circus proprietors before he left for prison); and the smallpox was not dissipated, in fact, it wasn�t even fenced out. The railroad quickened the pace, broadened horizons and served as vehicle for epidemic--and Springfield was right in the middle of the tracks.

One of the frequent tales told of the smallpox �outbreaks� at the turn of the century, was that the disease was brought home by returning soldiers. The brief Cuban engagement of the Spanish-American War was known for yellow fever--not smallpox. I located only one mention of a smallpox quarantine in the military during the period 1899-1900. That one occurred in San Francisco in a regiment scheduled for departure to the Philippines, recently recruited in Ohio and trained in Kentucky. Authorities were backtracking the trail of a recruit who had been absent without leave for several days and was ill when he returned.

There had been earlier reports of smallpox in the Midwest and in Mexico. The U.S. government posted additional guards at the Mexican border to stem the flow of those trying to flee the epidemic in Mexico. A January 1899 report from the Arkansas Board of Health stated that a terrifying condition existed in Salem, Arkansas, where citizens covered with the piths and pocks of the disease were walking the open streets and the disease had spread east and west along the rail line. There were an estimated 400 cases in Salem alone. It was reported that the disease in Salem originated with a returning soldier in November 1898.

The earliest known cases within Springfield during this epidemic, as reported by the Republican on September 20, 1899, occurred mid to late July, two months before publication of the report. Both Lieutenant Joe Armstrong and William Allen of Springfield served with Capt. Jesse Mayes� �company of immunes� in Macon, Georgia, in 1898. The �immune� troops were organized based on a theory that people of African descent had a natural immunity to tropical diseases. The theory was disproved when nearly a third of the �immune regiment� in Cuba died of yellow fever within a month of their arrival. I have not found the date (or dates) when Armstrong and Allen returned to Springfield from their tour of duty in Georgia. Armstrong, in an interview regarding Springfield�s 1899 smallpox outbreak, stated that the disease was exactly like the one he saw among the soldiers at Macon, none of whom were seriously ill with the �mild skin eruption.� Allen concurred with Armstrong�s opinion in his interview. At least these two men returned to Springfield from military service having been exposed to the virus.

I found no clear evidence to support a theory that smallpox came with returning soldiers from foreign shores although the movement of troops around the country certainly provided transmission of the virus. Captain Mayes� company of immunes were recruited entirely from the Midwest, so it�s possible that these soldiers, exposed in Macon, took the disease home with them but it�s unclear whether the infection originated within the recruits, from soldiers who had returned from Cuba, or from a program of vaccination. The devastation of the Native tribes along the upper Missouri River in 1873 is enough to prove that the virus was still alive and doing well in the United States in the later part of the century.

The increased mobility of the general population provided by improved roads and rail travel increased the likelihood of spread of infectious diseases. The 40,000 people who thronged into St. Louis to see the Memphis and the thousands who came to the fair in Springfield, and other fairs around the country, all increased the risk of transmission of a disease that could be spread by a sneeze if not by oozing pus.

You�ll find a great deal of indecision and denial in the early reports of the disease in the following clippings, but this outbreak was not what the �experts� expected from variola. The mortality rate of variola major, �Most Dreaded Minister of Death,� varied from 20 to 33% (or more) depending on the particular outbreak or outbreaks studied by each researcher, and, I believe, on the general health of the victims, the degree of sanitation within the community, the degree of immunity present within an ethnic group and the cultural traditions of the people. Those traditions that brought the community to the patient�s bedside to offer support and spiritual nurturing also transformed friends and family into ready victims of infection. The mortality rate of the outbreak in 1899 and 1900 did not approach anything close to those percentages.

By 1899, people were moving faster than ever by rail, jobs were plentiful if you were willing to relocate, there were new surges of European immigrants, and the pox moved along with all of them. The Springfield Republican and the Springfield Leader-Democrat carried reports of smallpox in the United States from San Francisco to New York but it was recognized as epidemic throughout the Midwestern states.

Smallpox behaved as any self-respecting parasitic virus acts, solely in its own best interest and unpredictably. Mild cases might be misdiagnosed as measles, eczema, chickenpox, �Cuban itch,� or �mild vesicular eruptions.� Severe cases were often accompanied by pneumonia and other secondary, but fatal, complications, so the cause of death as listed in mortuary records, coroner reports and mortality schedules does not always tell the whole story.

The Chinese were the first to describe smallpox about 1,750 years ago. Later, Al-Razi, (Rhazes, 864-930) distinquished the disease from measles and stated that �recovery conferred lifelong resistance.� We did not possess the knowledge that resistance to one strain of the virus does not provide protection from another strain. So, when Springfield residents who claimed to have already survived an infection of smallpox suddenly exhibited the pimples and pustules of the new outbreak, it was natural to assume that this was a strange new disease or a milder, less fearsome, disease. Many doctors argued that with this outbreak patients frequently recovered without any of the pock scars associated with smallpox.

The 1899-1900 smallpox outbreak in Springfield and the Midwestern United States is also a nearly �invisible� epidemic, with its greatest manifestation reportedly among the black population. (�700 cases reported in Memphis, only two are white,� �confined to the Negro colonies,� �harbored and hidden by the colored population,� etc.) Little research has been done on the genealogies of these victims, but most census information reported race as white, black or mulatto without regard to the genetic background of thousands of �blacks� who were descendants of aborigines of the West Indies and South America or Hawaiian and other Polynesian cultures, all of these populations having little or no immunity to the disease. Also, if the �immune� troops at Macon were exposed to smallpox, then it would follow that their communities would feel the greatest effect on their return from duty. Perhaps the outbreak was found mainly within the black population because increasingly overt racial hatred had already created separation and segregation of the races. It�s also possible that the disease was not as confined to one distinct population as the reports make it appear. The deaths from smallpox as reported in the records of Hazelwood Cemetery are split about fifty-fifty between the races, although the population of Springfield�s pest camp was reported to be overwhelmingly black.

The association between smallpox and the black population was so strong in the minds of some Springfield residents that during the outbreak of 1899, right after the order to �close the colored schools,� the City Council voted by a narrow margin to fence the �colored burial ground� at Hazelwood Cemetery from the white section. During a few months of panic, black Springfield residents were not allowed to walk the same road as whites to honor their dead who were carried along overgrown tracks through cornfields and brambles to reach to their resting place through the back gate of the cemetery.

Smallpox may have first entered the human environment as a result of mutation following the domestication of cattle thousands of years ago. No one is sure of its origin. �It seems that smallpox knows more about us than we know about it.� The lessons learned in the WHO eradication campaign have increased our chances against the emerging threats of HIV, ebola and other diseases across the world. Magic wands and magic potions are not the answer. Perhaps there is still much to be learned from the variola virus and much we can learn about what it is to be human when the Body Human faces such an opponent.

When a concerned doctor in South Africa recently asked if there might be any danger of creating a new outbreak by disturbing the smallpox burial ground for a low-income housing development, Prof. Frank Fenner, John Curtin School of Medicine, Australia National University, Canbara, and Chair of the WHO committee overseeing destruction of live virus replied, �...bones would certainly not harbour the virus.�

Smallpox lived on the flesh of our ancestors, but we may pick the bones.

Clippings, Council Meetings, Burial Records, etc.

The following clippings present a brief look at life in 1899 as presented in the media

and public records. I have included some information about typhus and yellow fever as

well as smallpox, because they were the �headline diseases� of the period.

27 Jan 1899
Springfield Republican, page 2: LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Jan 20-- Dr. H. D. Danavant, president of the state Board of Health, in speaking of the smallpox situation today told of a ________________ state of affairs in Fulton county. Dr. Danavant has just returned from that place where he held a thorough investigation. ________ that there have been at least 400 cases of smallpox in that locality within the last two months and a number _________________ _______________________________. He ___________ _____________ walking about with the disease, pock marked and piffed and others falling ill every day. The local physicians contended that the disease was not smallpox and little effort had been made to check its ravages. As a result, the disease has become scattered along the line of the Memphis and Cotton Belt railroad and many neighboring towns are now infected. The disease was first carried to Fulton County about two months ago by a returned soldier.
{Fulton County is in the northernmost tier of counties in central Arkansas. Salem is almost directly south of West Plains, Missouri.}

Springfield Republican issues missing Jan 28-May 3, 1899.

Feb-May 1899
Hazelwood Cemetery Sexton Records show four deaths from measles:
Unnamed; children�s home; d. 18 Feb. 1899; buried 19 Feb 1899
Burgess child {Clarence E. Burgess -per Cochran}; d. 19 Mar 1899; buried 19 Mar 1899.
Burgess child {Edna Burgess -per Cochran}; d. 24 Mar 1899; buried 25 Mar 1899.
Nitingale child; d. 14 May 1899; buried 16 May 1899

13 May 1899
Springfield Republican, Saturday, page 1. St. Louis, May 12: The Sixth Regiment Boys Arriving in St. Louis. Only One in the State to Touch Cuban Soil--Are in Excellent Condition.

14 May 1899
Springfield Republican, Sunday: ELY PAXSON IS PRESIDENT. J. M. WHITE ASSISTED IN ELECTING A SPRINGFIELDIAN. Next Meeting of the Funeral Directors� Association to Be in Kansas City, {sic} J. M. White returned yesterday from St. Louis, where he had been attending a meeting of the Funeral Directors� Association of the State of Missouri.
Mr. White says one of the most important measures discussed was the uniform regulations in regard to shipping bodies into and out of the various states. The undertakers, baggage agents and boards of health are getting nearer together in this matter. The sanitary arrangements are much better and there is a great improvement in the handling of contagious diseases. Mr. White, with the assistance of outside friends, succeeded in having Ely Paxson of Springfield elected president of the association. The next meeting will be held in Kansas City in May.

14 May 1899
Springfield Republican, Sunday, pg. 1: AND STILL THEY COME; Crowds of People Convene to Pour Into St. Louis; 25,000 Visitors in the City; The One Ferry Company Is Doing a Rushing Business; Collision with a Rival Boat; Entertainment of the Gunboat�s Officers Continue --Warship may leave Wednesday.
{The Memphis was in port in St. Louis.}

31 May 1899
Springfield Republican, Wed., pg. 1: Yellow Fever Quarantine; Texas Officials Will Not Allow New Orleans People in. Houston, Tex., May 30.-- State Health Officer Blunt, on hearing of the case of yellow fever in New Orleans, placed quarantine guards and inspectors at all points of entrance to Texas by telegraph orders and has sent the following telegram to every railroad entering Texas: �New Orleans, May 30--Do not sell tickets over your line from New Orleans to any Texas point. Do not bring any passengers or things from New Orleans either by express or freight, into Texas until further notice.�

2 Jun 1899
Springfield Republican, Fri., pg. 1: NO YELLOW FEVER. Marine Hospital Service Report no Cases in New Orleans. New Orleans, June 1.--By direction of the Louisiana state board of health, at their meeting today, the following telegram was forwarded to the several state boards of health interested in the reported case of yellow fever in this city.
�Representatives of this board with the representatives of Alabama and Mississippi, accompanied by Surgeon Murray of the United States marine hospital service, inspected all hospital and hospital records in New Orleans and found nothing suspicious. It is probably that the several hospitals will make their final report tomorrow.�
Nothing justifies the slightest apprehension.

23 Jun 1899
Springfield Republican, pg. 1: YELLOW FEVER OUTBREAK: Every Precaution is Taken to Prevent Its Spreading; Mayor Howard {sic} Believes It Is Under Control--Santiago, Medical Department Prepared. Washington, June 22.-- Maj. Valery Havard has reported to the surgeon general�s office of the war department regarding the outbreak of yellow fever among the troops at Santiago. It shows that every precaution has been taken to prevent the spread of the disease, the yellow fever patients and suspects being put in special hospitals and troops which were quartered in the old Spanish barracks being in camp on the hills near the city. The medical department at Santiago has been fully prepared for any outbreak of the disease and Maj. Havard believes it is under control. Its cause, however, has not yet been positively determined. Extensive precautions to keep yellow fever from the troops in Cuba have been taken by direction of the authorities here and the belief is expressed that the present visitation of the disease will not develop into an epidemic.

23 Jun 1899
Springfield Republican, Fri., pg. 1: TYPHOID: The Board Busily Engaged in Arranging Report; The Collection of Statistics is About Completed and Report Will be Made About June 1 {sic}; Water Supply Not the Cause; Was Transmitted Through the Atmosphere, the Wind Carrying the Dreaded Germs. Washington, June 22.--The board appointed by the war department to study the distribution of typhoid fever in army camps is busily engaged in arranging the data collected preeparatory {sic} to making its final report. The collection of statistics is about completed and the members of the board hope to have their information charted and tabulated by the end of July. It can be said that the charts so far prepared presage an interesting report when the board�s work is completed.
The report will indicate that the water supply has practically little to do with the spread of typhoid. This is contrary to all previous medical theory in typhoid propagation. The appearance and spread of the disease, the report will say, indicates that it was transmitted through the atmosphere by the wind carrying about dust containing the dread germs of typhoid and by the agency of flies.
The report of a certain British medical officer with one of the English expeditionary forces, where there was an epidemic of camp typhoid in spite of the fact that the troops used only distilled water.

23 Jun 1899
Springfield Republican, Fri., pg. 1: Under Their Control: Physicians Believe They Can Check Yellow Fever Outbreaks. Santiago De Cuba, June 22.--In consequence of the outbreak of yellow fever the garrison of United States troops has been removed from the old Spanish barracks to a comfortable camp in the hills. Four soldiers have died of the fever and there are 18 cases in the hospitals. Only four companies of the Fifth infantry. All have been disinfected on fumigating ship. The doctors believe they have the outbreak under control.

8 Jul 1899
Springfield Republican, pg. 2: NO YELLOW FEVER: United States Entirely Free From the Malady; Soldiers Brought No Germs; A Medical Officer Sent to Mexico to Guard Against Peril From That Source. Washington, July 1.--There is not a case of yellow fever in the United State.� This statement as made this afternoon by Surgeon General Wyman of the Marine hospital service. �We are now well into the first week of July and no case has yet been reported although,� added the doctor, �it quite frequently happens that reports are not made as soon as the illness appears.
�But your officers are on the watch!�
�Yes, and we are all the more apt to speedily know of the existence of fever because the people of the South are not so averse to announcing a suspicious case as they used to be. They recognize that it should be acknowledged quickly and measures taken to prevent a spread of the fever, as was done at McHenry. That was an object lesson to the South, which taught them that by isolating all cases promptly the danger of an epidemic is removed.�
�Have any ill effects resulted form the unusual amount of communication with Havana last winter and spring?�
�No,� was the reply, none whatever. It was very wise to remove the volunteer troops from Cuba last March and April. The president and secretary of war both insisted that the removal should begin early in order to avoid all danger, and when the troops landed in the United States every bit of baggage and camp equipment was disinfected and the men were subjected to a detention of five days. Only three attempts were made to evade the quarantine regulations and each of these failed, even though the appeals reached the president himself. I am confident that not a single germ of yellow fever entered the United States through any of the belongings of these 25,000 men.
�And then,� continued the doctor, �we not only have complete control of the ports of this country, but we have a thorough grip on the situation in Cuba. Our officers are stationed at every port in the island. Every piece of baggage is inspected and labeled before it leaves the island, and, if necessary, is promptly disinfected. At Santiago we have a dismantled ship, called the Rough Rider, which is equipped with two large steam chambers and every other appliance necessary for killing fever germs. We are not only protecting this country from Santiago, but all the cities of Cuba as well, so that the disease cannot spread.�
Havard (Chief Surgeon at Santiago) telegraphed today: Total cases, about 100, with 21 deaths. Surgeon Clendenin died yesterday; another medical officer is sick and three nurses. Of our two camps, one is safe and the other, located in the foothills, five miles away, and will probably be removed in a few days. One case is reported from Manzanillo.

27 Jul 1899
Springfield Republican, Thurs., pg. 1: HAVE SMALLPOX; There Are Two New Cases at Red Oak and it May Spread. Mt. Vernon, Mo., Jul 26.--the little town of Red Oak is quite agitated over two new cases of smallpox. About two weeks ago Robert Carl came from Colorado to the home of his uncle, Joe Carl, and not knowing that he had the dread disease went to church the following Sunday and shook hands with a large number of people. Shortly afterward he took sick, and he died last Friday.
Word reached here this morning that two young ladies named Carr, with whom he had shaken hands, have the disease. Steps are being taken to quarantine the town.

4 Aug 1899
Springfield Republican, pg. 1: QUARANTINE EFFECTIVE; Dr. Wyman Says It Is Too Early To Predict; But He Thinks It Can Be Confined to the District Where It Now Is--The Origin of the Fever. Washington, Aug. 3.--The marine hospital officials have succeeded in tracing and locating a former inmate of the Soldier�s home who is believed to have brought yellow fever to that place. His name is William Thomas. He arrived at the home on a transport from Santiago, where he had been visiting between July 2 and 5 last. He was admitted to the home as a veteran and shortly after developed chills and fever. In the light of subsequent events experts believe there is little doubt that he was affected with a mild case of yellow fever, although it was not diagnosed as such at that time.
When well enough to travel he left the home and his baggage was sent to Phoebus. The man himself went to Columbus City, Washington, where he now is.
Sergeon {sic} General Wyman regards it as fortunate that Thomas went to such a high altitude, as it greatly lessens the danger of the infection.
Another change was made today in the destination of the troops at Fort Monroe. General Merritt telegraphed the war department that at the earnest recommendations of Surgeon General Wyman he would direct that the troops be sent to Plum Island in Long Island sound.
The quartermaster�s department is experiencing considerably difficulty in making arrangements for the transportation of the Fort Monroe garrison. It is quite likely that the transport McClellan, now at New York, will be sent to Fort Monroe to take the troops away....

6 Aug 1899
Springfield Republican, Sun., pg. 1. SIXTY-TWO PATIENTS; And Eleven Have Died of Yellow Fever; It Will Yet Be Controlled; There Are No More Cases And Only One More Death; Troops Aboard the Transport; All Danger of the Epidemic Getting Outside the Soldier�s Home is Passed. Washington, Aug. 5.--Surgeon General Wyman of the Marine hospital service tonight received a telegram from Dr. Vickers of the Hampton Soldiers� home, in which he said the epidemic seemed limited. No new cases developed today and only death occurred last night.
Surgeon Wasdin, the yellow fever expert, also telegraphed Dr. Wyman to the same effect. He had conferred with Mr. MacMahone and Col. Smith of the home board of managers and all agreed that the situation was reassuring. Inmates of the home are being moved to tents and barracks, which are thoroughly disinfected. Dr. Wasdin reported 62 cases and 11 deaths to date...

Aug 1899
Hazelwood Cemetery Sexton�s Record; Robertson, J. H. {colored, son of Asa Roberts per newspaper}; age 22; #72; pg. 80; d. 10 Aug 1899; cause, chicken pox or smallpox; interred, 11 Aug 1899; public grounds.

7 Sep 1899
Leader-Democrat, Thurs. THOUSANDS AT THE FAIR. The Excursion Trains Dump in People From All Points. ...

12 Sep 1899
Springfield Republican, Tues., pg. 3: SMALL POX CASES. Joplin Herald: All the small pox patients at the quarantine three miles south of town, are getting along as well as could be expected and it is probable that Mrs. C. B. Tyner, the little woman who has gone through the ordeal of smallpox and childbirth at the same time, will be discharged Monday or Tuesday, at the latest.
Ed Poindexter, the last patient sent to quarantine, is convalescing nicely, but will probably have to remain a couple of weeks yet. Mrs. Tyner, the wife of the blind musician who was sent to the quarantine station about ten days ago developed some kind of braking {sic} out yesterday, but the health officer says he will not be able to determine the disease for a few days.
It will be remembered that Mr. and Mrs. Tyner came here from Springfield and upon their arrival the authorities learned that they had slept in a bed previously occupied by a smallpox patient at Springfield, and they were at once sent to the quarantine station as a matter of precaution. It is likely that Mrs. Tyner�s case will develop into genuine smallpox.

12 Sep 1899
Springfield City Council: Mayor Hall called the attention of the Council to the numerous cases of charity, sickness and destitution that occurred in the City, and the lack of authority to deal with same.
On motion of Mr. Wren, the Mayor was authorized to attend to all such chases as he thinks best, to make such expenditures as he deems necessary, and also to confer with the County Court and make such arrangements with them for assisting in the care of such cases as he can.
Mr. Merritt moved that it be the since {sic}of the Council, that they pledge the Mayor and Health Commissioner their full support and the full power of the City, financially and morrally, {sic} in caring for any sickness that may occur in the city, and any action they may take in the matter. Motion was adopted.

18 Sep 1899
Springfield City Council: Council met in Special Session pursuant to the following call.
Notice of Special Session of the Council. Office of W. A. Hall, Mayor. To Alfred Adams, Alfred Ball, Kirk E. Baxter, C. E. Brooks, T. G. Cowan, John Cowell, G. W. Good, J. B. Gooch, E. D. Merritt, H. G. Myers, W. C. Tompkins, John Wall, W. N. Waugh, Wm. Weaver, T. B. Williams and J. W. Wren, members of the Council of the City of Springfield, Missouri, you, and each of you, are hereby notified that, by virtue of the authority vested in me by law, I hereby call a Special Session of the Council of the City of Springfield, Mo: to meet in the Council Chamber in said City on Monday night: September 18th, 1899, at seven and a half oclock for the purpose of considering the sanitary condition of the City, and taking such action regarding the same as may be thought necessary. Done at my office in the City of Springfield, Mo., this 18th day of September 1899. W. A. Hall. Mayor. Attest: G. W. Hackney, City Clerk.
I hereby certify that the above notice has been served on the within named Councilmen. W. M. Bishop, City Marshall, by Luke Dodson. September 18th 1899...
All the members of the Council were present except Mr. Williams.
Mayor Hall called the attention of the Council to the present sanitary condition of the City and the alarm of the citizens for fear the prevailing disease was Small Pox and that it would become epidemic. Also stating that no cases had been officially reported to the Board of Health as required by law.
Doctors Ross and Bartlett, members of the Board of Health, were present and addressed the Council.
On motion of Mr. Tompkins the Printing Committee and City Clerk were directed to prepare and have printed a blank form for Physicians to notify the Board of Health of any contagious disease coming under their observation.
On motion of Mr. Merritt, the Board of Health were given a vote of thanks for their attendance at this meeting and their advise to the Council.
On motion the Council adjourned.

20 Sep 1899
Leader-Democrat, Vol. 32, #264. NO SMALLPOX. Dr. Roberts States His Opinion Positively.
Widely exaggerated street rumors relative to smallpox have created much unwarranted excitement in Springfield and vicinity.
Dr. Roberts, an expert on smallpox, cholera and yellow fever, is authority for the statement that there is not a single case of smallpox in Springfield today and that there has not been a case of such disease here within the present year.
Joe Armstrong, the colored policeman and ex-lieutenant in Capt. Jesse Mayes� company of immunes concurs in the opinion of Dr. Roberts and explains that the eruptive disease prevalent here now is exactly such as appeared among the soldiers in the Spanish-American war stationed at Macon, Ga.
Officer Armstrong paid particular attention to the soldiers who were afflicted and he says none of them were seriously ill....no doubt that the disease that is now causing such excitement here is the same that was treated so lightly in the army.
Ex-Policeman Isom Snow, whose father died with smallpox many years ago, says there is no smallpox here.
�All this scare is over a harmless vesicular eruption that is nothing like smallpox,� said Dr. Roberts. �And I stake my reputation on it. I know we have no smallpox. In years gone by, I have see hundreds of cases, and I ought to know.�
Mayor Hall doesn�t believe it is smallpox, but in order to be on the safe side, he is having every precaution taken and the disease, whatever it is, is well under control.
�We will have it entirely stamped out inside of two weeks,� said the mayor today.

20 Sep 1899
Springfield Republican, Wed.: WILL ACT IN CONCERT; City and County Authorities and School Board; In The Present Emergency; A Number of Shameful Falsehoods Shown Up; A Harmless Skin Disease; But No Pains Will Be Spared to Prevent Its Further Spread in the City. The Republican has not heretofore mentioned the skin disease which a number of people in the city have had, for the reason that it appeared in its operations to be more nearly harmless than any other disease. So harmless, in fact, as to be unworthy of notice.
As there has been some spread in the disease, a hundred stories have been put in circulation which have been wholly false and calculated to excite the fears of people. It is because of these shamefully false statements that the Republican determined to print the facts, and all the facts obtainable. The following statement therefore is given and being founded wholly on facts, the Republican will stand by it.
About two months ago, two children of this city were attacked with a sort of skin disease which broke out in pimples and pustules resembling the chicken pox more than anything else with which the people are familiar. About the same time the news came of a similar breaking out among the people of Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and other states.
The patients referred to, and members of the family, afflicted with the same disease, had little or no fever, no pain and no sufficient indisposition of any sort to confine them to bed for even a day or two.
Since the first cases there have been a number and the fact is established that it is contagious. There are about fifteen cases in the city now, confined to about six families and only two of them have been sick enough to go to bed, and they are in no serious condition. From the first there has been a decided difference of opinion among our best physicians as to what the disease really was. They differ yet and the old question recurs, when doctors disagree who shall decide?
Up to the present time, including prisoners at the jail, there have probably been twenty-five or thirty cases in the city, and the only kinship thus far manifested to any type of disease of a dangerous character is the element of contagion. But all dangerous diseases are not contagious, and all contagious diseases are not dangerous. {sic}
Thus far not a single death has occurred in the city from the disease in question and if this is disputed, the Republican will publish the certificate of any reputed physician to the contrary. The facts herein stated are the result of a painstaking investigation by the city board of health, members of the city council, a representative of the Republican, detailed to hunt down the facts, and others.
Hardly any sickness is the result of the affliction and the breaking out soon disappears without leaving any marks. It ought to be stated in this connection that the health of the city has never been better and justifies the statement that Springfield is the healthiest city in the United States.
Place after place has been visited where it was alleged the people were seriously sick with the disease referred to and in almost every case the very bloom of health was found. It has been said that a negro in the imploy {sic} of Link died with this skin disease. Investigation showed he died of pneumonia. It has been widely circulated that three negro prisoners died in the jail and that two of them were secretly buried at night, when not a death has occurred at the jail from any cause since the first case of this malady occurred.
As to what it is, the Republican does not say, but it does say that it is in no sense dangerous to life, and carries with it but little danger to health. People who are literally covered with the breaking out eat and sleep as usual and would go about their business but for the danger of spreading it among those with whom they come in contact.
Lieutenant Armstrong, who served in the late war with Spain, says that while in the service nearly the entire regiment had the same disease, and that other regiments had it, but very few were sent to the hospital, and of those who were, but one or two remained absent from duty more than one day. The first cases reported in the United States occurred after our soldier boys returned from Cuba and those are reasons for believing that it is a sort of skin disease imported by the returning soldiers. Whatever it is, it is not dangerous.
The city and county authorities have determined to do all that can be done to prevent a further spread of the disease and will leave nothing undone to that end. The school board has ordered that all children shall be dismissed from school unless they are vaccinated. It is thus apparent that all the authorities are acting in concert to prevent the spread of the disease. As a final fact to establish the harmless character of the infliction all the doctors who were consulted by the school board and they were our ablest physicians, advised the board to open the schools.

20 Sep 1899
Springfield Republican, Wed., pg. 1: TRANSPORT DELAYED. San Francisco, Sept. 19.--The 31st Infantry, which was scheduled to sail on the transport Grant today for Manila, has been held back by a case of smallpox within its ranks. John G. White, of Company M, was discovered to have smallpox. He was immediately put into quarantine and every precaution was taken to prevent a spread of the disease. The 31st has been detained until a thorough investigation can be made. The regiment came here at the end of August from Ft. Thomas, Ky. It was recruited in Ohio. Where White was infected is not known. He was absent without leave for several days, and the theory of the regimental officers is that he exposed himself to infection somewhere in the city.

20 Sep 1899
Springfield City Council: (Called Special Session): ...for the purpose of considering the sanitary condition of the City and passing such Ordinances as may be necessary to enforce the orders and rules of the Board of Health, and such other business touching the sanitary condition of the City as may be thought necessary...
All present except Ball, Baxter, Brooks and Weaver.
Bill to amend Article 16 of Chapter 3 of the Revised Ordinances of the City of Springfield, Missouri, approved Nov. 3, 1897, entitled �Board of Health,� by adding {illegible} 18 new sections.
Bill amended by inserting the word �abode� in fourth line of Sec. 10; the words �together with all other occupants of said dwelling or place of abode� and inserting after the word �disease� in the fifth line of Sec. 10 the following words, �or occupant of such premises.�
Bill amended by inserting after the word �passed� in the twelfth line of Sec. 13 the following: �All persons are hereby prohibited from going to or within or leaving or coming out of any house, dwelling, store or shop or other place, at which any person is afflicted with any contagious or infectious disease, at any time prior to the disinfection of said house, store, dwelling or other place.�
Bill amended by adding the following section: �Said Board of Health shall have the right and power with the consent of the City Council to close any street, alley, square or public place in this City, when in their judgement the prevalence of small pox, varioloid, or other contagious or infectious disease in the vacinity of such street, alley, square or public place, shall require the temporary closing thereof: and such places so closed as aforesaid shall remain closed until ordered opened by the Mayor.�
Bill amended by adding the following new section: �That Sections 258 and 262 of the Revised Ordinances of the City of Springfield, Missouri, approved Nov 3, 1897, be and the same are hereby repealed.�
Passed by the following vote:
Ayes: Adams, Cowan, Cowell, Goad, Gooch, Merritt, Myers, Tompkins, Wall, Waugh, Williams and Wren.
Absent: Ball, Baxter, Brooks and Weaver.

22 Sep 1899
Leader-Democrat, Fri. Pg. 5. (San Francisco) TROOPS MAY STAY IN QUARANTINE. Seven members of the Thirty-first regiment are now sick with smallpox, while eleven more suspects are in the detention camp... The regiment is quartered in the big quarantine camp on Angel island, where they will be held for two weeks or longer if new cases of smallpox develop among the men.

26 Sep 1899
Springfield City Council, #5943: Bill amending Section 259, Article 16, Chapter 4 of the Revised Ordinances...by inserting after the word �disease� in the forth line of said section the words �giving the name of said contagious disease.�
Ayes: Adams, Ball, Cowell, Goad, Gooch, Merritt, Myers, Wall, Waugh, Weaver, Williams, and Wren.
Absent: Baxter, Brooks, Cowan and Thompkins.

27 Sep 1899
Leader-Democrat, Wed. Vol 32. #268. (Washington) SMALLPOX IN MEXICO ....In some localities the epidemic is so terrible that considerable numbers of the population have fled, and are trying to get out of the country.

27 Sep 1899
Springfield Republican, Wed., pg. 1: That Mysterious Epidemic. Springfield, Mo., Sept. 26.--A pest camp for suspected smallpox patients has been established on the Bolivar road, north of Springfield, and about twenty-five persons are held there under quarantine restrictions. The nature of the disease is still unsettled, and some members of the Board of Health maintain a stout opposition to the smallpox theory. It is claimed that some persons who have had smallpox are now taking the strange disease. Persons who have recovered from the breaking out have no well-defined marks on their faces such as smallpox usually leave.

6 Oct 1899
Leader-Democrat, Fri. Pg. 8. (Joplin, Mo.) THE DISEASE IS PECULIAR. Joplin is Excited Over the Strange Skin Eruption, Possibly Smallpox. Doctors of the City Are Not Agreed as to Just What it Is. ---vaccinations ordered for public school children...Eight cases of smallpox exist: five persons are quartered at the quarantine station, while the three remaining are in the city.

6 Oct 1899
Leader-Democrat, Fri. Pg. 1, Vol. 32 #275 PEST CAMP REPORT. A Number of Patients Will Be Discharged This Week. The patients at the pest camp are improving rapidly, Dr. Roberts reports. If the weather continues fair a dozen or more of the convalescing members of the quarantined district will be discharged the last of the week....Dr. Woody�s camp of prisoners has now about seven tenants. They are getting well.
{County prisoners were held in a separate pest camp under the supervision of Dr. Woody. Dr. Roberts, at this time, oversaw the city�s pest camp. I have not located the county�s camp but there may be mention of it in records of the county or circuit courts.}

Oct 1899
Hazelwood Cemetery Sexton�s Book: Larkin, Ward colored {Larkin Ward -per newspaper} #86; pg. 80; d. 6 Oct 1899; cause, smallpox; interred, 7 Oct 1899; public grounds.

7 Oct 1899
Leader-Democrat, Sat. Pg. 1. COLORED SCHOOL OUT; Seeking to Check the Spread of the Contagious Disease; Mayor Hall has ordered the colored schools closed as a precaution against the spread of smallpox. As the disease is yet mostly confined to the negro population, this measure is considered a very timely one.
Dr. Coffin of Kansas City was sent for a few days ago to make a diagnosis of the disease. He visited the pest camp and said there could be no doubt about the nature of the contagion. It was real smallpox.

10 Oct 1899
Springfield City Council, #5962: Mr. Tompkins presented and had read �A Resolution authorizing the appointment of a Small Pox Committee, Inspectors and City Physicians.� On motion of Mr. Baxter the Resolution was amended...to provide for the appointment of a City Physician and an assistant Physician at a salary of $100.00 cash per month. On motion of Mr. Tompkins, the Salaries of Inspectors and Fumigators was made $45.00 per month. On motion of Mr. Gooch, the Resolution was amended by adding...the following: The mayor shall also have authority to employ additional Physicians when he deems it necessary, provided Dr. E. A. Roberts is not employed.
Ayes: Adams, Baxter, Brooks, Cowan, Cowell, Goad, Gooch, Merritt, Myers, Tompkins, Wall, Waugh, Weaver, Williams, and Wren.
Absent: Ball
#5963: Mr. Tompkins presented and had read the following communication: Springfield, Mo, Oct. 10, �99. We the undersigned hereby certify that we regard Dr. J. W. Love and Dr. R. M. Cowan as competent, energetic and suitable in every way to perform the duties of Physicians to those sick with Small Pox. N. T. Terry, W. P. Patterson, Lee Cox, J. E. Tefft, C. E. Fulton, D. B. Farnsworth, J. H. Fulbright, J.P. Ralston, J. R. Boyd. Communication was placed on file.
Mr. Merritt moved that the Small Pox Ambulance be kept at the Pest Camp when not in use. Mr. Baxter moved as a substitute, that the Small Pox Ambulance, when not in use, should be kept at such place as the Mayor and Small Pox Committee shall designate.
Mr. Baxter�s substitute was adopted.
Dr. J. W. Love elected City Physician (unanimous, Ball absent)
Dr. R. M. Cowan and Dr. Warden nominated as Assistant City Physician.
Nomination of Dr. Warden withdrawn after discussion and Dr. Cowan elected.
Mr. Baxter moved that a committee of whom the Mayor shall be Chairman, be appointed to prepare and distribute a circular letter {giving} the true state of the small pox in the City. Motion adopted.
#5970. Bill establishing the boundaries of Hazelwood Cemetery and South Hazelwood Cemetery, fixing the prices and size of lots therein was introduced by Mr. Baxter. Passed by the following vote:
Ayes: Baxter, Cowan, Cowell, Goad, Tompkins, Wall, Waugh, Weaver and Wren.
Nays: Adams, Brooks, Gooch, Merritt, Myers, Williams.
Absent: Ball
#5973. Bill conferring police authority upon the Small Pox Committee this day provided for by resolution. Introduced by Mr. Williams. Passed unanimously, Ball absent.
#5974. Bill conferring police authority upon Small Pox Inspectors in certain cases. Introduced by Mr. Williams. Passed unanimously, Ball absent.
The Mayor appointed as Small Pox Committee, Tompkins, Baxter and Gooch.
The Mayor appointed as Committee on preparation of circular letter, Baxter and Williams.

14 Oct 1899
Leader-Democrat, Sat. Pg. 7. REPORTS FAVORABLE The Disease Is Not Gaining Much Headway. Dr. Woody has a letter from the state board of health saying that the case of the county prisoners now held here under quarantine is under consideration. A report will soon be made... Several of the prisoners are under sentence to the penitentiary. They can not be sent away till the state board of health gives a permit. The prisoners are getting well. Some of them will be brought back to the city in a few days. No additional information has been received about the cases reported near Langston station. A yellow flag is reported out in the Haseltine neighborhood. The patients at the city pest camp are still doing well. Many false rumors are afloat about new cases in the city. Inspector Bob Davis says his ward, the Third, was never in better health. From South street on Walnut to the city limits and back to the square on College, he examined every house and did not find a single sick person. Foster Burns is stirring up the Second ward and ordering some festering heaps of filth cleared away. Around the restaurant on the corner of West Walnut and Campbell strets {sic} the inspector found an unsanitary condition of affairs. Some of the streets were washed yesterday and last night. The weather is very favorable for the check of the disease and the people are not much excited.

14 Oct 1899
Leader-Democrat, Sat. Pg. 1, Vol. 32 #283. (Joplin, Mo.) �NOT ALL AGREE� The Joplin News has carefully investigated the reports as to smallpox in that city...

Oct 1899
Hazelwood Cemetery Sexton�s Record; Infant (no name); #101; pg. 81; d. 24 Oct 1899; cause, smallpox; interred 25 Oct 1899; public grounds.

14 Nov 1899
Springfield City Council, #6003: Mayor Hall presented the following communication: Hon. Mayor Hall, City of Springfield, Kindly inform the Council that the services of the 2 Sisters of Mercy of St. Johns Hospital are rendered gratis and voluntarily to the City to aid you and authorities in stamping out the disease now in our midst. Respectfully, Sisters of Mercy. On motion of Mr. Williams, the Mayor was requested to extend the thanks of the Council and City authorities to the Sisters of Mercy for their valuable services.
{For more information about the service of Sisters Mary Veronica Fitzpatrick and Mary Xavier Kinsella see St. John�s Regional Health Center newsletter �In Touch� of 7 Feb 1991. �When Sister Mary Xavier contracted a mild form of smallpox, 24 year-old Sister Mary Josephine Foerster arrived to relieve her.� According to this publication 280 victims were cared for during the 1899-1900 epidemic. Other sources estimate the number at 250 to 400. The estimates of deaths also range widely--up to 40 during this outbreak. Most of the sources refer to this nine-month period only, despite the fact that the pest camp was reopened a few weeks after closing in 1900 and continued to be used as a smallpox containment camp until at least 1917.
The St. John�s publication indicates that these Sisters not only cared for the patients but buried the dead, including digging the graves. Hazelwood sexton records show that some of the camp�s patients were buried at that cemetery. The current property owner has found no sign of burials on the old pest camp land, but I have not found records of burials for the estimated 40 who died during this period.}

17 Nov 1899
Leader-Democrat, Fri. Vol. 32 #311. TOPEKA AND �CHICKENPOX�. It is Now Causing the Schools Considerable Trouble There. Some of the Doctors Believe That it is Actually Smallpox. Superintendent Davidson, of the city schools, has notified teachers that children must be closely watched for symptoms of �Cuban chickenpox.� All suspicious cases, regardless of the symptoms, are to be reported at once for examination by the city physician....

17 Nov 1899
Leader-Democrat, Fri. Pg. 3. Vol. 32 #312. TOPEKA HAS SMALLPOX. Publicity Given to a Fact Which Has Long Been Known. Still There is Some Misleading Talk About �Cuban Itch.� While the Kansas state board of health was quarantining Oswego, Galena and other towns against Springfield, The Leader-Democrat called attention to the fact that when the Kansas board of health met and declared it was dangerous to go to Springfield that there was smallpox within half a mile of where it was sitting. These facts were known to the Kansas board, but were kept still because Topeka had arranged a big demonstration for the returning Twentieth regiment, and it was feared that publicity would make a failure out of the enterprise. The Twentieth Kansas has come and gone now and the facts are coming to light. The cases at Topeka are the same as those throughout the United States, very mild, but still smallpox....

Nov 1899
Hazelwood Cemetery Sexton�s Report; Horse, Pest J_____ {?}; #125; pg. 81; d. 18 Nov 1899; cause, smallpox; interred 18 Nov 1899; public grounds. {According to Cochran, a man named Judson died of smallpox in Joplin. He was a brother of Mrs. J. Frank Walker.}

20 Nov 1899
Leader-Democrat, Mon. Vol. 33 #1. A GOOD SUNDAY. One New Case of Smallpox Was Reported Yesterday.
Ever since the smallpox outbreak, Sunday has been the day to which the authorities looked forward with anxiety. On that day the number of cases reported would take an unaccountable leap, and it even happened once or twice that the number of Sunday cases equaled the entire number reported during the week. It is therefore a very hopeful indication when only one case is reported on Sunday, as was the case yesterday. No cases were reported early today. The number of cases at the camp is now below the record for many weeks past. All known cases, with one exception, are at the camp.
{The leap in figures on Sunday may not be completely unaccountable. Any family not showing up for church would attract concern and attention.}

21 Nov 1899
Leader-Democrat, Tues. Pg. 2. SUFFERING WITH SMALLPOX. (St. Louis) Henry Raymon of Garner, Ark., was yesterday sent from the Missouri Pacific hospital to quarantine suffering from a well developed case of smallpox. He arrived in St. Louis on the Iron Mountain train at 7:30 o�clock Saturday night. To his companions, D. L. Crowell of Little Rock, Ark., and Michael Christian of Memphis, Tenn., he complained of being sick upon arrival here. An ambulance was summoned and they accompanied him to the Missouri Pacific hospital. He was received there, but no examination of his case was made until Sunday morning. Then it was ascertained that smallpox was his ailment and he was hurried to quarantine. ...entire hospital fumigated and all of those exposed vaccinated. ...effort to locate some of the passengers who were exposed, but his efforts were unavailing.

22 Nov 1899
Leader-Democrat, Wed. Pg. 1, Vol. 11 #1. GREAT ALARM. Armed Guards to Keep Out Smallpox Suspects. (Marion, Ill.) Armed guards have been posted on roads leading to Marion to prevent suspicious persons from going there and to arrest all those exposed to smallpox, which now exists in at least a dozen localities in Williamson county. The disease is spreading and the people of Marion are becoming greatly alarmed.

22 Nov 1899
Leader-Democrat, Wed. SMALLPOX ON A TRAIN. Gus Ramey Taken From the Cars to the Pest Camp. There was a lively chase after a new case of smallpox last night in which Mayor Hall and several of the city police took a part. Gus Ramey had been down on Current river hunting. He got sick at the club house and started home. On the train his case became very suspicious and the smallpox scare spread among the passengers. The sick passenger soon had a car all to himself and the trainmen telegraphed to Springfield that they had a patient for the pest camp. The mayor was down at the depot when the train came in and Ramey was put in the pest wagon and sent out to the quarantine colony. The car was sidetracked and disinfected.

23 Nov 1899
Leader-Democrat, Thurs. 700 CASES IN MEMPHIS. Two are white. The Tennessee City Had Lots of Smallpox Last Year. Has it Now and is Guarding Against a General Spread. "...sanitary ordinance introduced. "...to control the spread of smallpox and protect the general public from infection as fostered in negro colonies, where it is harbored and concealed. (Long article.)
{There are also more reports regarding vaccination for smallpox. Women students at Drury College were complaining of the discomfort and inconvenience caused by inoculation. A religious group in Georgia was under fire for refusing inoculation for children. The disease continued spreading through poor communities (there was no free vaccination program), �Negro colonies� and among citizens more frightened by the vaccination than the disease.}

24 Nov 1899
Leader-Democrat, Fri. QUARANTINE IS STILL ON. Judge Philips Will Not Allow Prisoners Confined in the Jail. Marshal Durham Has 52 Warrants for Offenders Now at Large. ...can�t make arrests because Judge Philips refuses to allow prisoners to be committed to the Springfield jail. The judge is still suspicious of smallpox germs and thinks it safest to give the violators of law the benefit of the doubt as to dangers of catching the disease...for two months and over the executive of the government has been thus stayed by the epidemic and many a trespasser on federal authority is still at large... Judge Philips will be in Springfield on the 18th of December to hold court unless he again postpones his sitting on account of the smallpox situation.
The Springfield jail is considered entirely free from disease germs by the local authorities and for some time it has had the usual number of prisoners...

24 Nov 1899
Leader-Democrat, Fri. Pg. 2. --reports of smallpox from Joplin, Mo., McCune, Ks., and New York City.

5 Dec 1899
Springfield City Council: Mr. Cowell, Chairman of the Sewer Committee, reported that he Committee recommended the appointment of John F. Cunningham as Sewer, Plumbing and Factory Inspector and Health Commissioner. Appointed by Mayor at salary of seventy five dollars per month. Appointment confirmed.

6 Jan 1900
Leader-Democrat, pg. 1: Colored baby born at the pest camp.

Jan 1900
Hazelwood Cemetery Sexton�s Record; John Brown, age 25; #151; pg. 82; d. 6 Jan 1900; cause, smallpox; interred 7 Jan 1900; Lot 203.

11 Jan 1900
Leader-Democrat, pg. 2: Mrs. Clara Mitchell, colored, had a baby at the pest camp on Jan. 6.

16 Jan 1900
Springfield City Council; minutes; Bk. 18; 1899 Financial Report: Sanitary Expenses = $6,415.85.
#6139: Mr. Goad presented the following report: To the Honorable Mayor and Council of the City of Springfield, Missouri. We, your Printing Committee, respectfully submit the following estimate of printing and supplies for the next six months, to wit: 300 Vaccination Certificates; 250 Certificates of Patients Discharged; 1000 Letterheads for Chief of Fire Department; 1000 Envelops for Chief of Fire Department; 5 Warrant Books with 1000 Warrants {per} book and 5 warrants {per} sheet.

18 Jan 1900
Leader-Democrat, pg. 3: Another baby has been born at the pest camp.

6 Feb 1900
Records of the Proceedings of the City Council, Springfield, Mo.; Bk. 18; pg. 205:
#6165 Mr. Waugh presented the following report:
Hon. Mayor and City Council,
We, your Cemetery Committee to whom was referred the communication of Ely Paxon, August Lohmeyer and J. T. White, Funeral Directors, requesting that the entrance to South Hazelwood Cemetery be changed from where it now is to the place where it was prior to the time of erecting the division fence in said Cemetary {sic}. We would respectfully report that we deem it for the best interest of the Citizens of Springfield that said change be not made as the entrance to said South Hazelwood as it now exists--is practicable and the roadway can be made 1st class by the expence {sic} of but a small amt. of money.
Respectfully submitted,
W. N. Waugh
F. G. Cowan

#6166 Mr. Adams presented the following report:
To the Hon. Mayor & City Council:
Gentlemen:
As a member of the Cemetary {sic} committee to whom was referred the reasonable request of the funeral directors of the City, asking that the entrance to that part of Hazelwood set apart as a burying ground for the colored people be changed from where it now is, back to the place where it has been ever since Hazelwood Cemetary {sic} was set apart for a burying ground, I would respectfully report this as a minority report of such committee.
1st. That the prayers of the petitioners be granted;
2nd. That the Ordinance now pending for the change of said entrance in accordance with said report be enacted into a law of this City.
In support of these recommendations, I would respectfully submit that if we will but eliminate prejudice from the consideration of this matter, that no argument can be brought to bear upon the question against the returning to the condition which has always prevailed by common consent, of allowing whites and blacks alike from traveling the same road on performing for their loved dead ones, the last sad rights humanity can perform for its kind.
Not only has it always been the custom at Hazelwood to allow all alike to travel in sorrow this road to the City of the dead, but we do not have to go outside our own City and County to find the family graveyards of the pioneers of our State, The Campbells, the Berrys, the McElhaneys, the Fulbrights, the Hubbles and last but no means least, our late distinguished and well beloved Governor Phelps, to find the graves of their onetime slaves touching foot to foot with those of their masters, their wives and families.
And why should we, at this late day, declare that one class of citizens, citizens under the same laws that make you all citizens, should be discriminated against?
Call us �Niggers� if you will, we care not.
That as a race we have not reached the standard you would prescribe, we admit and deplore. But does it follow that we should be compelled to cross sloughs of cornstalks and ockers of Cocle Burs to reach the last resting place of our dead loved ones.
Respectfully submitted,
A. Adams

Mr. Adams moved that the minority report be adopted.
Mr. Cowan moved as a substitute for Mr. Adams motion, that the majority report be adopted.
The Ayes and Nays being called on Mr. Cowan�s motion it was lost by the following vote:
Ayes: Ball, Baxter, Cowan, Goad, Waugh, and Wren.
Nays: Adams, Brooks, Gooch, Merritt, Myers, Thompkins, Wall, Weaver, Williams.
Absent: Cowell
The question recurring on Mr. Adams� motion, the minority report was adopted by the following vote:
Ayes: Adams, Brooks, Cowan, Goad, Gooch, Merrett, Myers, Thompkins, Wall, Weaver, Williams, Wren.
Nays: Ball, Baxter, Waugh.
Absent: Cowell.

19 Feb 1900
Leader-Democrat, pg. 7, Sun.: Nute Goodson died at Hartville of smallpox.

Mar 1900
Hazelwood Cemetery Sexton�s Record; George Hood; age 24; #199; pg. 84; d. 16 Mar 1900; cause smallpox; interred 17 Mar 1900; came from Newburg; public grounds?

17 Mar 1900
Leader-Democrat, pg. 7, Sat.: George Hunt, 24, a white man who came here from Newburg, died last night at the pest camp.

18 Mar 1900
Springfield Republican, Sun.: George Hand, 24, of Newburg died at the pest camp Friday.

Apr 1900
Hazelwood Cemetery Sexton�s Record; Amanda Mitchell colored; age 30 {?}; #215; pg. 84; d. 12 Apr 1900; cause, smallpox; interred 13 Apr 1900; public grounds.

14 Apr 1900
Leader-Democrat, pg. 8, Sat.: Maggie Mitchell, colored, died last night at the pest camp.

17 Apr 1900
Springfield City Council; minutes; Bk. 18:
Sanitary Committee appointed by Mayor Walker: J. B. Gooch, Chrmn.; John McNatt, H. T. Myers.

May 1900
Hazelwood Cemetery Sexton�s Record; Mary Taylor; #237; pg. 85; d. 11 May 1900; cause smallpox; interred 11 May 1900; Lot 219.

11 May 1900
Leader-Democrat, pg. 2, Fri.: Mrs. H. A. Taylor, wife of the dairyman who lives two miles west of the city, died this morning at the pest camp of smallpox.

15 May 1900
Springfield City Council, #6318: Communication from Vaughan and Coltraine, Attorneys for Mr. and Mrs. John McKain, claiming damages to the amount of six hundred dollars, sustained by the reason of the establishment of the pest house, adjoining their land. Mr. Tompkins moved that the matter be referred to the County Court. Motion was lost.

7 Jun 1900
Springfield City Council, #6358: Bill to prohibit the bringing of things or persons infected with a contagious disease, or from an infected place, building or locality into the City of Springfield was introduced by Mr. Williams. Passes amended (changed �City Physician� to �Board of Health�) unanimously, Myers and Weaver absent.
#6369: Bill to abolish the office of City Physician was introduced by Mr. Goad. Bill withdrawn.
#6370: Bill amending Ordinance No.___ approved ____ 1899, by reducing the Salary of the City Physician to $50.00 per month, was introduced by Mr. Goad. Passed unanimously, Myers and Weaver absent.

13 Jun 1900
Springfield Republican, Wed. �SMALLPOX EXPENSES� A Delegation of Tax Payers Will Wait on the County Court This Afternoon. Want Money From County. Pest House Closed Yesterday--Business Men Want the Court to Remove Beggars From the Streets.
A large number of taxpayers of Springfield will appear....to endeavor to have the county judges pay for part of the expenses arising from the smallpox epidemic. A number of patients from the county were cared for at the pest camp established by the city officials and the taxpayers believe...
The pest house was closed yesterday by Mayor Walker as all the inmates have been discharged. The camp has been thoroughly fumigated and there is no danger of the smallpox breaking out again.

14 Jun 1900
Springfield Republican, Thurs. Pg. 8. �SMALLPOX EXPENSES� A Delegation of Tax Payers Waited on County Court Yesterday. Asked That the County Help Pay for Maintaining a Pest Camp: Matter Taken Under Advisement.
The mayor and tax payers of Springfield are very determined in their efforts to have the county help pay the expenses caused by the smallpox epidemic and yesterday Judge Walker at the head of a North Side delegation of leading citizens waited on the court. The North Side gentlemen were, A. J. Eisenmayer, G. P. Peale, Z. T. Bradley, John Wall, Councilmen Gooch and Goad, A. B. Conkling and several others. A number of well known South Side tax payers were also present. ...They have the legal right to appropriate a sum of money under the pauper law.

14 Jun 1900
Springfield City Council: Mr. Tompkins moved that the Sanitary Committee take an inventory of all property at the Quarantine Camp and make recommendations regarding caring for and disposal of property. Motion adopted. On motion of Mr. Gooch, the Mayor and Mr. Tompkins were added to the Committee.

21 Jun 1900
Greene County Court Record Book Y, pages 24-26: In the matter of the liability of Greene County to the City of Springfield in smallpox case; opinion of county prosecuting attorney, A. Johnson. To the Judges of the county court of Greene County Missouri--I have been asked by your court for my opinion as to the legality of the following claim:
The City of Springfield Missouri during the year 1899 acting under the ordinances of the city of Springfield and under section 5838 of the Revised statute expended a large amount of money in abating the small pox. The city established a pest camp and employed doctors and guards and special officers the expense of which was voluntarily paid by the city. A few of the patients at the pest camp came from the county outside of the city of Springfield and the city voluntarily took them with the rest of the patients who lived in the city. The county did not in any way authorize any of these expenditures and had no part whatever in contracting the debts on which the expenditures were made...The city now demands of the county $2500.00 and asks that the amount be appropriated out of the county funds to reimburse the city for what it voluntarily paid out to abating the small pox. {General synopsis: Most of the patients at the past camp were also poor and under the pauper law, no one who voluntarily takes in and cares for a pauper has a legal demand against the county and �in such manner become its creditor without its consent.� No legal demand was found.}
{Also in record book Y, report of county expenses:
page 33; W. L. Purselley, M.D., listed as county physician--2 July 1900;
Page 35; J. H. O�Bryant listed as superintendent of alms house, reports 0 admitted, 4 discharged and 69 inmates.}

3 Jul 1900
Springfield City Council #6400: Mr. Gooch presented the following report, To the Mayor and Council: Your Committee appointed to make an inventory of the property of the City at the Quarantine Camp, beg leave to report that we have attended to the business assigned us, and report said inventory as follows:
1 Iron Wash Kettle; 10 Stew Pans; 12 Water Buckets; 10 Quart buckets; 4 3-gal crocks; 6 Coffee Pots; 1 Butcher Knife; 2 Milk Pans; 6 Bake Pans; 3 Tea Kettles; 90 Tin Plates, 30 Tin Cups; 24 Knives; 24 Forks; 24 Spoons; 10 Dish Pans; 8 Flat Irons; 3 Coffee Mills; 3 Wash Boards; 7 Wash Tubs; 1 Axe; 2 Wood Saws; 1 Sledge hammer; 1 Drill; 1 Grind Stone; 1 Monkey Wrench; 1 Hand Saw; 2 Hatchets; 1 Case Lantern Globes; 4 New Brooms; 12 Cane bottom chairs; 1 Well pump; 5 Cook stoves; 22 King Heaters; 20 Lanterns and lamps; 4 Empty Barrels; 20 Tents; 150 Comforts; 40 Blankets; 40 Bed Ticks; 33 Towells; 20 Pillow slips; 20 Sheets; 100 Spring Cots; 12 Packages Lion Coffee; 75 Packages Gold Dust; 10 Packages Oats; 2 gals. Syrup; 4 lbs. Tea; 4 pairs Overalls; 2 cords sawed wood; 25 rough tables; 2000 ft 12� boards; 50 2x4x12 Boards; 2 Wagon loads scrap lumber; 1 Fumigating house 4x8x?; 1 Guard House 4x6x?; 4 Outhouses 4x4x?; 1 4-horse stable; 1 Farm Wagon; 1 Team of Horses; 1 comb and brush; 1 Hydrant; 2 Pest Houses 24x50; 1 Covered Mail Wagon; 1 set double Harness; 2 halters. J. B. Gooch, J. R. McNatt, H. T. Myers, H. C. Tompkins, Ralph Walker. On motion the report was adopted.
Mr. Gooch, Chairman of the Committee further reported that the Committee recommended that the comforts and bedding at the Quarantine Camp be burned, and that the other supplies etc. included in the inventory, be turned over to the Health Commissioner to be disposed of. On motion the report and recommendation was adopted.
On motion of Mr. Gooch, the Finance Committee were directed to ascertain if the houses at the Pest Camp can be Insured and at what price.

10 Jul 1900
City Council, minutes, Bk. 18; pg. 413: Semi annual Financial Statement; Small pox care = $35.00; tents = $12.00.

21 Aug 1900
Springfield City Council, #6497: Mr. Gooch presented the following: Hon. Mayor and City Council of City of Springfield, Mo. The undersigned agrees to lease the Ground and Building Known as the Pest Camp North West of City, subject to the City�s use for Pest Camp purposes on demand, also subject to sale of any or all Bldg�s at any time and removal of same from said grounds by City.
And in consideration for such use of said premises and buildings I hereby agree to take care of said Buildings by having some reliable person to occupy one at night so as to protect the same as far as possible from any wanton and malicious destruction, also reserving to the City the right to use any room for storage of any or all of its pest camp furniture and {illegible} as now stored. Term of lease one year. Geo. T. Davis. On motion the matter was referred to the Buildings and Grounds Committee, with power to act.

12 Sep 1900
Springfield City Council: Mr. Merritt reported that the Buildings and Grounds Committee had accepted the proposition of Geo. T. Davis, relative to rent of land and caring for Pest Camp. That the Committee had considered the proposal to inclose the lower part of the Light Tower, for a Police Station, and reported adversity to the proposition. On motion the report was adopted.

24 Oct 1900
Springfield City Council: On motion of Mr. Tompkins, Mr. Hayse was retained as watchman of Pest Camp.

18 Dec 1900
27 SMALLPOX PATIENTS. Dr. I. Jankofsky, city physician, reports that there are now 27 smallpox patients at the pest camp, 9 of whom are white. Four patients have recently been discharged, and none of those now at the camp are in a dangerous condition. Among the patients are several small children and one suckling babe. The latter is convalescing.

Jun 1901
Hazelwood Cemetery Sexton�s Record; Albert Hampton; #451; pg. 91; d. 30 May 1901; cause, smallpox; interred 31 May 1901; public grounds. {Cochran: Hampton, Andy H., 32, died June 12)

Mar 1905
Hazelwood Cemetery Sexton�s Record; James Trusty; age 50; #1376; pg. 117; d. 26 Mar 1905; cause, smallpox; interred 31 May 1905.

Feb 1908
Hazelwood Cemetery Sexton�s Record; Mrs. Ryan; #2036; pg. 134; d. 17 Feb. 1908; cause, smallpox; interred 18 Feb 1908; Lot 300. {newspaper-- Anna Ryan}

16 Jul 1967
Sunday News/Leader, Pg. B5. �The Good Old Days� {Information taken from 1917 editions of paper--Fifty years ago today} Pest camp closed and reopened. Four cases of smallpox in city, quarantined in their homes. No patients at the pest camp. Although some demands were being made to move all infected people to the camp, the physician in charge announced that for those families who preferred to care for the patient at home and could afford the expense of an armed guard, this seemed to be the best possible remedy.

For the curious, measles was making a deadly appearance on the Sexton�s records by 1908 and tuberculosis was on the rise. Tuberculosis was listed on the records as cause of death in nearly 10% of the burials at Hazelwood.