SMALLPOX and MILTONSBURG,
OHIO
Working with the records of
the Board of Health of Miltonsburg, Ohio, photographs, and some of his own
sketches, Paul E. Young created the following historical snapshot of how the
Village of Miltonsburg coped with the crisis of Smallpox in the winter of
1896. In preparing this document, Paul
Young has captured some of the scenes, the people, and the feelings of the
period. He has added visual perspective
to his work with a number of sketches that he made based on historical records
and some buildings and features of the village that have survived.
As a setting for the
document, Paul Young provides a pictorial plot plan of the Village of
Miltonsburg. To this he has added
original pictures of sites and events that made up the everyday life in the
village.
The document that follows
is an approximation of Paul Young's original document. The text has been preserved without
edit. Pictures have been enlarged where
possible and placed in the approximate location where they appear in the
original document.
A work by Paul E. Young, Jr.
Professor of Architecture Emeritus
The Ohio State University
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Difficult Days in the Winter
of 1896
How a small Ohio village
dealt with a threat from smallpox
Paul E. Young, Jr.
Plot Plan of Miltonsburg in
about 1900
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Miltonsburg Plot Plan |
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Miltonsburg, Looking North from about Lot 29 |
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Miltonsburg looking north
from about Lot 14. Building with
cupola is Town Hall |
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Click on the picture for an
enlarged view |
PREFACE
Names and dates on the tombstones in the cemetery south
of town correctly suggest that the early settlers of Miltonsburg, Ohio were
primarily Germans but with a fair sprinkling of other Central Europeans. You
can follow the lives of families through two or three generations by noting the
birthplace of immigrating parents, and the birth, marriage, and death of their
children and grandchildren. While these markers often note the early death of a
child, for the most part they record the normal life expectancies of the
time. But one tombstone stands out
because it records the death on the same day of a thirty-four year old daughter
and a nineteen year old son. One would assume an accident occurred; however, as
noted in the following account, they died of smallpox during an outbreak of
this disease that dominated the lives of all people in this community during
the Winter of 1896.
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Old Section of the Miltonsburg Cemetery - photo 2002 |
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Laudenberg Monument Laudenberg family monument found in the Miltonsburg Cemetery located about one-quarter mile south of town on State Route 145. For a larger view of this monument, click on Laudenberg here or click on the picture. |
This document grew out of my interest in exploring
the daily lives of people whose names often surfaced in the stories my parents
and grandparents told of the early years of this small town of my childhood.
The detail may be of interest only to persons who share memories of
Miltonsburg; however, I suspect others may be intrigued, as was I, by the
remarkable economic, social, and political independence of small 19th century
Ohio villages that is suggested by the way the Board of Health handled this
difficult time in the winter of 1896.
The minutes of the Miltonsburg Board of Health were
among the ledgers that were retrieved from a trash pile in the 1950’s.The seven
members of the board were initially appointed by Mayor Simon B. Luley, and, at
their first meeting on May 4, 1893, they, in turn appointed Dr. J. H. Pugh as
Health Officer and Alex Hardesty as clerk. On May 9th they met to establish
rules and regulations that consisted of fifteen sections covering items ranging
from the drainage of privies and cellars to the sale of meat and dairy products
from diseased animals to the control of conditions surrounding contagious
diseases.
The Board met only a few times between 1893 and
1895; however on January 2, 1896 they began a series of meetings that dominated
the lives of the 132 persons who lived in Miltonsburg, as well as most of the
population of Monroe County, Ohio.
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Miltonsburg Town Hall about 1896 Board member, Philip Wengert, lived in the house on the left (Lot 17) |
On Thursday, New Year's Day, 1896 the citizens of
Miltonsburg learned that a local farmer, whose illness had been diagnosed first
as chicken pox, was now known to have smallpox. While news of smallpox cases in
Wheeling and other towns along the Ohio River had been sporadically reported in
the Monroe County newspapers since early autumn of 1895, people felt little
threat because these towns were about fifty miles away. Alex Hardesty's minutes of this and
subsequent meetings describe how the people of this village dealt with the
threat of smallpox:
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Board of Health Meeting held January 2,
1896 The Board of Health met. A
quorum present. Whereas by appearance of
smallpox in Malaga Tp. and which may become epidemic. Be it resolved that any person
residing or being outside of the corporation except physicians on duty (and
the U.S. Mail) shall be prohibited from coming into the corporation of the
village of Miltonsburg without permission of the board of heath. Wengert aye Muller, aye Menkel, W.O. aye Menkel, Philip,
aye Friday, aye Adopted Resolved that the Board of
Health proceed to consult Dr. Kernion? of Malaga to proceed to vaccinate all
persons as necessary inside of the Corp. of Miltonsburg at once and those
perons too poor to pay for the services that the Bd. of Health will pay the
same. Wengert aye Muller, aye Menkel, W. O. aye Menkel, Philip,
aye Friday, aye Adopted Adjourned to meet [Friday]
Jan 3rd 1896. Sam Groux, President of
Bd. Alex
Hardesty, Clerk |
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Board member Samuel Groux, who lived in the
house on Lot 5 and operated a small store on Lot 4, was a village elder
statesman when he served as president of the Miltonsburg Board of Health. Born
in Switzerland, he came to this country in 1853 and worked as a mate on
steamboats on the Ohio, Mississippi, Missouri, and Cumberland Rivers between
1853 and 1860. During the Civil War he served in the 7th Missouri Regiment
fighting skirmishes in Missouri and Kansas. He established his mercantile
business in 1870 and was elected Justice of the Peace for Malaga Township in
1875. In 1896 he was serving his third term. J. E. Caldwell, Atlas of Monroe County (Mt Vernon,
Ohio, 1898). |
The reference in the minutes to smallpox having
appeared in Malaga Township refers to the illness of George Laudenberg who
lived on a farm about one mile south of Miltonsburg along what is now State
Route 145. His farm was outside the corporate limits of the town but within the
township that included the villages of Miltonsburg and Malaga. Mr. Laudenberg
had apparently contacted the disease during a trip to Wheeling.
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George Friday's Shop and House c 1896 (Lot 28) Board member George Friday was an innovative entrepreneur
with a wide range of interests and businesses. He owned and trained race
horses, made brooms, and invented a horseless carriage headlamp that turned
with the wheels so "you could always see what was in front of you." He operated his own shop and made his own
tools and machines as he needed them. He had a physical disability which he
partially corrected by making his own shoe with a built-up platform. |
Early on January 3rd, before the scheduled meeting, Alex
Hardesty recorded the following notation in his ledger:
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Jan 3rd 1896 8 o.clock AM Postmaster notified to not receive any mail from
infected houses Alex Hardesty, Clerk |
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Miltonsburg
Board of Health Ledger |
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Portion
of Alex Hardesty entry for January 2, 1896 |
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Board member Alex Hardesty lived in the
house on Lot 21. In the 1950’s this was one of the three log houses that
still existed in Miltonsburg. He was a dealer in tobacco which was a major crop
in Monroe County in the late nineteenth century. Alex Hardesty was described
by those who knew him as “a very witty man.” |
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Tobacco Hogshead Ready to be exported. Stalder's House on Lot 6 in background |
Until this emergency meeting on the second day of
1896, the only indication that members of the Miltonsburg Board of Health ever
had concern about smallpox was a special session held in January of 1894 when
the Board considered an order from the State of Ohio to vaccinate all school
pupils. In this meeting they resolved that “ in the opinion of the board of
health it would be best to postpone vaccination of said pupils until winter
term of school classes unless it becomes necessary by approach of smallpox.”
Although vaccination was voluntary for adults at this time in Ohio, it was
apparently compulsory for children.
The first indication of the problem that was to
reach Miltonsburg in January was reported in the Spirit of Democracy in
September of 1895.
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The Spirit of Democracy Thursday, September 12, 1895 Smallpox is spreading in Wheeling, several new cases being reported last week from the south side. It is wise for people to keep away from Wheeling at present. The Wheeling daily papers are deserving of censure in the matter as they try to belittle the danger and lead outsiders to believe the condition of affairs is not as bad as The Spirit of Democracy Thursday, December 26, 1895 The smallpox scare still keeps
up. There are about 75 cases in Bridgeport and martins Ferry, about two
thirds of the number being in the latter place. The quarantine precautions in
all the neighboring towns have been kept up, and it looks now as if the
disease would not spread, but the greatest care should still be taken. Some
of the towns are going to a great extent in their zeal in quarantining.
Beallsville will not allow anyone from Bellaire to come there, and yet there
is not smallpox at Bellaire. At St. Clairsville, the health board has refused
to allow any public meetings of any kind, which appears to be an unnecessary
precaution form the fact hat there is not smallpox within several miles and
has not been. It was reported that there was a case at Miltonsburg, George
Laudenberg being |
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The Spirit of Democracy Thursday, December 19, 1895 Woodsfield has ordered a strict quarantine against Bridgeport, Martins Ferry, and the other smallpox towns, and no one from those places is allowed to enter our gates. Woodsfield has no smallpox now and we do not intend to have if caution and care can prevent it. Our town board of health has shown itself efficient on this important occasion. Last Thursday, two girls, who claimed to be from Wheeling, but who were thought to be from Bridgeport, came into town but were immediately sent out by Mayor Walton and Health Officer Littel. Martins Ferry does not seem to
act with intelligence at a critical time. They have allowed smallpox to get a
strong hold in that town, there being over forty cases there. … Wheeling loves
the almighty dollar so well that she would not quarantine against the
smallpox district until |
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Menkel’s Furniture Shop and Undertaking Business (Lots 35 & 36 in the
center of this sketch) Board members Philip and William Menkel were part
of a family that made furniture and operated a funeral, embalming, and
monument business. Many of the tombstones in Monroe County have their mark
and occasionally a piece of their furniture turns up on the antique market. The store on the right, which was owned by
Edward Young in the 1930’s, had a meeting room above. |
Other accounts in the December 19, 1895 edition of
the Spirit of Democracy reveal an accelerating concern regarding the smallpox
threat.
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The Board of Health of Green
Township desires the assistance of all citizens of said township to aid them
in preventing the introduction of smallpox into the township by reporting any
suspected persons. By order of the Board S. J. Devaul, Clerk |
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Fresh vaccine quills received every day. Drs. Armstrong & Perry |
Incidents of smallpox were recorded in the United
States as early as 1625. Subsequently, fresh outbreaks appeared about every
seventeen or eighteen years. During
most of the 1800’s, smallpox was more or less continually present in New York,
Philadelphia, and other large cities. Before Dr. Edward Jenner’s development of
the smallpox vaccine in 1796, the only known way to be free of the threat of
smallpox was to survive a light case of it. In the 1700’s almost 200,000 people
died of the disease in London alone. By 1896, although the vaccine had been
available for 100 years, outbreaks were still serious threats to communities
where many persons had not been vaccinated. Since the disease is very difficult
to diagnose accurately in its early stages, it was often already present before
it was identified. (Author's note:
While I have no reason to doubt this information, I cannot document the
source.)
The approach to the control of the disease is
suggested in the following excerpts from Hygiene and Public Health,
a book edited by Dr. Albert H. Buck in 1879. “The belief in [the epidemic
nature of smallpox] has arisen from the fact that it spreads through a large
community in a remarkably short space of time, and when the protection offered
by perfect vaccination has not been afforded, and in districts where sanitary
control has been lax, or when careless management of cases has existed, the
disease has raged so furiously as to leave the impression that is was decidedly
epidemic. … [Even though a recognizable spread of the disease] is so rapid as
to appear almost inexplicable by the ordinary theory of contagion and exposure
… in every case it has been found that the …disease cannot possibly appear
unless the individual has been exposed to the contagion in some way.”
References such as Hygiene and Public Health would almost
certainly have been in the medical library of individuals such as Dr. Pugh, who
was practicing in Miltonsburg at this time. (Albert H. Buck MD, ed Hygiene
and Public Health (New York: William Wood & Company, 1879 pp
517-18)
The
day that the Miltonsburg Board of Health met to deal with the threat, the
Spirit
of Democracy was reporting the situation as follows:
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The Spirit of Democracy Thursday, January 2, 1895 Woodsfield has the smallpox
scare now, and not without reason. It has developed in the last few days that
George Landenberger of Miltonsburg, who was exposed to the disease at
Wheeling and who was suspected of having the smallpox, really did have a
light attack. He claimed he was not exposed to the disease and no attempt was
made to keep him away from other people. When word came that some of his
children were sick, the health board of Woodsfield immediately quarantined
against people from that section of the county and placed guards at each of
the roads leading to town. Today, Dr.
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Way was sent to Miltonsburg to make an investigation and found that Laudenberger, three of his children, his housekeeper, and one other case in all had smallpox. The board of health must now maintain a quarantine of the strictest kind against the infected district. It is better to be over-cautious now, than to wish we had taken more care if the smallpox gets started here. In the meantime the chances of the disease spreading are greatly lessened by vaccination. Out of the 47 cases noted at the river, 40 of the victims had never been vaccinated and the others had not been recently. (Author's
note: The "Landenberger"
spelling is used consistently in newspaper accounts, however, the family
tombstone in Miltonsburg Cemetery carries the name, :Laudenberg.) |
In their meeting on Friday, January 3rd, members of the
Miltonsburg Board of Health took actions that, based on contemporary newspaper
accounts, must have been typical of most of the boards of health in each
village and township in the county.
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Board of Health Meeting held January 3, 1896 The Board of Health met. A quorum present. Resolved: that all dogs within the corp. be ordered quarantined by owner or killed against 10 o.clock A.M. [Sunday] Jan 5th and to remain in quarantine until released by the Board of Health. Wengert aye Muller, aye Menkel, W. O. aye Menkel, Philip, aye Friday, aye Adopted Resolved: that all persons under 50 years of age shall be vaccinated if thought necessary by physician. All such who refuse to comply will be quarantined until released by the Bd. of Health. Wengert aye Muller, aye Menkel, W. O. aye Menkel, Philip, aye Friday, aye Adopted Resolved: that three guards be appointed by the President to enforce quarantine measures as follows: To be on duty from 7 o.clock A. M to 6 o.clock P.M and to receive 75 cts pr day. Also 1 boy at 25 cts pr day for errands. Wengert aye Muller, aye Menkel, W. O. aye Menkel, Philip, aye Friday, aye Adopted The president proceeded to appoint as follows: George Friday at north end. Frank Hardesty at south end, and George Reller at middle of town. Adjourned till Monday evening Jan 6th Sam Groux, President Alex Hardesty, Clerk |
It is not clear why only persons under 50 years of age
were ordered to be vaccinated under threat of quarantine. It is possible that
the largely German population of Miltonsburg carried some of the concerns Dr.
Buck referred to when he describe incidents of smallpox in New York City in
1872-73.
Many of the patients were
Italians, Irish, and Germans, the latter being especially subject to small-pox.
Ignorance and superstition seem to partially account for this increased
susceptibility of certain nationalities, and the disbelief in and fear of
vaccination invite the spread of the pestilence. As an example of the former,
it may be mentioned that, among a large proportion of the German population,
the month of May is believed to be the only time when the operation of
vaccination may be successfully performed; and no matter how close may be the
proximity of the person to a case of the disease, he will often refuse the
advantage of protection held out, preferring to run the risk. (Buck
1879, p. 518.)
Buck also observed that small-pox is markedly
controlled by extremes of temperature . . . it seems to flourish during cool
weather, and is usually abated during the summer months, reappearing in the
fall, . This observation is consistent with the first newspaper accounts of
smallpox in Wheeling and other Ohio river towns in the autumn of 1895.
On Monday, January 6th, the Board of Health agreed
to seek advice in establishing a quarantine. Despite the fact that every town
and township in the county was dealing with the same problem, there seemed to
be no thought of contacting other county boards of health and sharing
information.
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Board of Health Meeting held January 6, 1896 The Board of Health met. A quorum present. The minutes of the previous meetings were read and approved. Resolved: as 3 guards are considered not necessary that two guards only be used viz. One guard at the north and one guard at the south end of town. Adopted Resolved that a delegate be sent to Bellaire O. on the 8th inst. To meet a commissioner of the State Board of Health to arrange methods of quarantine. Adopted Resolved: that W. O. Menkel act as said delegate. Adopted Whereas Philip Menkel has tendered his resignation as a member of the Board of Health, Resolved that the resignation be accepted to take effect when successor is appointed Adopted Adjourned to meet Thursday evening 9th inst. Sam Groux, President Alex Hardesty, Clerk |
Apparently William Menkels’ assignment was to attend
a meeting in Bellaire that was called by the State Board of Health to help
members of boards of health in southeastern Ohio deal with smallpox cases that
had now spread well beyond the Ohio river communities where they were first
reported in September of 1895.
It is clear from the newspaper accounts that each
community, including the
county seat, was acting fairly independently during
this crisis. The editorial tone of the smallpox reports in the January 9th
edition of the Spirit of Democracy, which was a “county newspaper,” clearly
reflected the concerns of Woodsfield as a community, rather than concern for
the county as a whole.
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The
Spirit of Democracy Thursday,
January 9th The smallpox situation is attracting general attention
hereabouts now, and is the universal theme of conversation. The situation in
Miltonsburg is about the same as it was last week. The latest report is that
outside of the Laudenberger family, where five persons have the smallpox,
there are no cases except Fred Stalder and a little daughter of George
Schroeder, and Fred Huff at Monroefield. Mails to and from Miltonsburg are
stopped so that definite information cannot be obtained. One death has
resulted in this county from smallpox. Will Laudenberger, a son of George
Laudenberger, who carried the disease from Wheeling, was the victim. His
death occurred on Wednesday, January 8. He was a young man of 22 years of
age. Adam Meyers of Jackson Ridge, who caught the disease from Mr.
Laudenberger, has been getting along pretty well, but was worse on Wednesday.
The above are the only known cases in Monroe County, and the nearest of them
to Woodsfield is six miles away. On account of the great amount of travel to
the county seat from all over the county the Woodsfield Board of Health
decided last week to place a guard on each road leading to |
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town and at the railroad depot and admit no one
that had been in any infected district. While the principal danger was from
the north, guards were placed all around and they have the authority to
give passes to persons who had business in town and had not been near the
smallpox. These passes are dated and signed by Mayor Walton and the police
guard. The plan has worked satisfactorily so far. Some of course complain, but
there is not reason for this. The public health must be
protected even if some inconvenience is caused to individuals. It is not a
light matter for a community to have a scourge of smallpox and the cost in
dollars and cents is a small part of the total loss from such a condition. George Walker, a whisky drummer form Wheeling, is
the only person so far who has been detected in violating the quarantine
laws. He was brought before Mayor Walton and fined $5 and costs. He told
officers he had not been at Bridgeport recently, but his postal cards to his
patrons were dated and post marked at Bridgeport. One case of unnecessary severity in quarantining
was in the case of a man sent here by the Malaga Township authorities. He
carried a note from the clerk of the township asking for medicine and
stating that he had not been near the smallpox. |
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The guard refuse to admit him and would not leave
his post to get the medicine even when the man agreed to stand guard and keep
people out until the policeman returned. In a strict sense
the guard was performing his duty, but it was certainly harsh and cruel to
send a man way from town without medicine which he could probably not obtain
elsewhere. Since writing the above we learned that the messenger returned
again Wednesday and the guard made arrangements to procure the medicine for
him, so that he returned home happy and no harm was done. The churches were all closed last Sunday [January
4th] on account of the smallpox scare, and school has not taken up since the
holidays. These are precautionary measures. No one is allowed to go in or out of Lewisville.
Beallsville is quarantined against Miltonsburg and also against Woodsfield. A guard is kept on the Malaga and Barnesville Road
and allows no one from Monroe County to cross the Belmont County line. Drs. Way and Huth are vaccinating all the school
children of Center Township. |
As is still the practice in
rural county newspapers, many of the small communities had weekly reports, or
“letters,” written by local residents. The following “letters” from other
villages in the January 9th edition of the Spirit, suggest the extent to which
the entire county was affected by these cases of smallpox.
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Beallsville The smallpox scare is not abating.
It is the all-absorbing topic among our people. … A few of our boys went to
Miltonsburg some days ago seemingly without business and now have to stay
indoors. |
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Jerusalem We have our town quarantined against Center Township on the south, the Grizzel Ridge Road on the west, and Bellarie, Bridgeport, and Martins Ferry on the east. |
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Thursday, January 9th , the Miltonsburg Board of Health met to hear William
Menkel’s report on his trip to Bellaire to learn of the procedures for establishing
a quarantine. An understanding of the way the outbreak was being handled comes
from the minutes of this meeting and subsequent meetings on January 10th and
11th.
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Board of Health Meeting held January 9, 1896 The Board of Health met. A quorum present. The report of W. O. Menkel, delegate to the Bellaire meeting,
set forth that the decision (and instructions) as to quarantine measures,
authorizes local boards of health to establish measures of quarantine. Resolved that an assistant be appointed as guard at the south
end of town. Adopted Resolved that the guard at south end of town be allowed 25 cents
extra on the 10th to employ a boy as assistant. Adopted Adjourned until Friday eve. 10th inst. Sam Groux, President Alex Hardesty, Clerk Board of Health Meeting held January 10, 1896 The Board of Health met. A quorum present. Resolved that the Guards be discharged and that quarantine be
discontinued. Adopted Resolved; that the guard at the south end of town be continued
until Bd. of Health appoints guards for infected houses. Adopted Adjourned to meet on call Sam Groux, President Alex Hardesty, Clerk |
The following records suggest the range of activities
and authority of the Miltonsburg Board of Health.
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[Friday] January 10 The Board of Health authorized that 10 bu. of coal be borrowed from Bd. of Education for use of Fred Stalder. [Saturday] January 11 The above received. 16-1/8 bu. weighed by Philip Wengert. Alex Hardesty, Clerk |
Despite the fact that the minutes of the Board of
Health suggested that the situation was coming under control in Miltonsburg by
January 11th, it appears from the lead article in the January 16th edition of
the Spirit of Democracy that people in Woodsfield, which was only six miles
away, had no idea what was going on.
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The Spirit of Democracy Thursday, January 16 SMALLPOX NEWS Reliable news from Miltonsburg is
extremely difficult to obtain, and reports from there cannot be verified.
What news we give here may not be correct, but is believed to be reliable,
and as nearly correct as can be obtained. All direct communication with
Miltonsburg is shut off. During the past week one death has resulted from
smallpox, and that was Louise Laudenberger, second daughter of George
Laudenberger and a sister of the young man who |
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died last week. It is not believed that any others at Miltonsburg have died. The Schroeder children are said to be getting along all right, and it is not believed that there are any other new cases. Rumors that Mr.Cramer, and Dr. Pugh’s wife, of Miltonsburg, and Mrs. L. Sebach of near Middle Church are down with the disease cannot be verified and are probably untrue. Dr. Probst, the secretary of
the state board of health, visited Miltonsburg last week and upon return to
Columbus reported twelve cases and two deaths. Dr. Probst was thrown from his
buggy and painfully injured. |
The Laudenberg
tombstone records the deaths of William and Lousia on the same day, January 8,
1896. Dr. C. O. Probst was secretary of the Ohio State Department of Health
from 1886, the year it was established, until 1911. It seems strange that a
visit to Miltonsburg from such a high-ranking state official would not be
mentioned in the minutes of the Board of Health. Subsequent newspaper reports,
however, confirm that he did visit the village.
Other excerpts from the January 16th edition of the
Spirit of Democracy provide insights into conditions in other parts of Monroe
County and southeastern Ohio.
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The reason assigned for the quarantine of Toronto, Jefferson County, against Miltonsburg is that Elmer Truax and family are visiting at Miltonsburg and the Toronto people want to prevent them from returning home for a while. The St. Clairsville Chronicle says: Our quarantine was on just 29 days and the total cost was $549, as is shown by the report to council. This averages to nearly $19 a day to the town not counting the individual losses sustained by business men through the tying up of trade. Stafford We have no smallpox here yet and do not think we will have unless someone is sharp enough to evade the health officer and his assistants. … It was reported on the street that John Okey was in company with George Laudenberger at Woodsfield; however, it is twenty-five days since and Mr. Okey had developed no symptoms yet. … |
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There is no case of sickness here except Bill Barnett who is suffering from a nervous cold. Cameron Smallpox is the topic of conversation now-a-days in our Village. Why be scared when you live eight miles from the infected place? Jeries The school at this place will be vaccinated some time this week. Benwood Several persons in this neighborhood who have had a chance to get the smallpox have been quarantined so that it is hoped the disease will not spread further here. Griffith Times are somewhat dull in our
little village on account of the smallpox scare. But we do not get scared as
bad as the editors of our county papers. |
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When they hear of the smallpox they get to shaking in their boots so bad they don’t know the difference between Wayne township and Jackson ridge. Both papers say Adam Myers of Jackson ridge has the varioloid. We wish to inform the public that we have no smallpox or varioloid on this ridge. Adam Myers lives in Wayne township and is a least one mile and a half from Jackson ridge. … Quite a number of the school
children assembled at the Agin school house Friday to meet Dr. Huth, but the
doctor did not show up and caused quite a disappointment; but it saved the
children sore arms and several half dollars. … The schools are all closed for
a short time. We do not know how soon they will be reopened. |
Members of the Miltonsburg Board of Health continued
to deal with the crisis by making arrangements to hire a professional nurse.
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Board of Health Meeting held January 21, 1896 The Board of Health met. A quorum present The minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved. Whereas it appears that nurses will be required for small pox cases, Resolved that a delegate be appointed (Sam'l Groux) to go to Wheeling and arrange for procuring nurses as necessary. Adopted Resolved that a guard be appointed at Stalder's house Adopted Resolved that W. O. Menkel & Chas. Reller be appointed to notify Dr. Pugh that his clothing worn in infected homes must be thoroughly fumigated before using again. Adopted Frederick Kirsh was appointed as a guard at Stalder's house at 75 cts pr. day. Adjourned to meet on call Sam Groux, President Alex Hardesty, Clerk |
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Charlie Reller was a buggy and wagon maker. His shop had a
hand operated elevator used to hoist finished buggies to the second floor for
painting and drying. Local historians note that his wife, Cum (short for
Columbia) had the town's first washing machine, which was turned by hand.
They also report that Cum smoked a pipe which, on one occasion, caused a fire
in the drawer where she stuffed it when a proper neighbor lady dropped in
unexpectedly. Charlie and Cum lived in the house on Lot 22. |
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Reller's Shop and Carriage
Works (Lot 29) |
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By January 23, the situation was sufficiently under
control to permit political and personal disagreement to surface publicly in
the newspaper.
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The Spirit of Democracy Thursday, January 23, 1896 IMPROVING is the smallpox situation in Monroe County. The boards of health throughout the county are feeling much encouraged in regard to the smallpox situation from the fact that the disease has been confined to the houses where cases already existed. At Miltonsburg there is one new case-a daughter or Fred Stalder. All other cases there are getting along as well as could be expected. There is one new case in Wayne township. Ed Meyers, a son |
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of Adam Myers, is down with the smallpox and has a severe attack. He caught the disease from his father. It is also reported that the father and mother of Fred Huff of Monroefield have the disease but this information is not reliable. There is no foundation for the report that there were several cases in Lewisville. We publish among our correspondence today two letters from Miltonsburg giving a detailed account … We should say in justice to the parties concerned that some of the reflections [in these letters] are very unfair. No attempt |
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has been made to injure the businesses of Miltonsburg as far as we know, and the charge against the county papers is exceedingly unjust. We were shut off from all direct communications with Miltonsburg and our information necessarily had to pass through many hands. From the amount of rumors flying around we believe we should be commended, rather than criticized, for the reports given by us. Considering the difficulties under which the papers labored in obtaining the news any disinterested person will concede that the accounts in The Spirit
and Gazette were remarkably accurate. |
One of the letters the Spirit editor was referring
to was written by T. J. Kremer.
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Smallpox at Miltonsburg Allow me to dedicate this letter to the public, to correct the rumors that are circulating. The first case was that of George Laudenberger, residing south of town. He having a very light case of varioloid, making it difficult for our physicians to recognize as all physicians are aware. Consequently his family, Lousia, Jacob, Lucetta, William, Mollie, and Daisy were also stricken. Louisa and William died January 8, the only deaths that have occurred. Daisy, daughter of Louisa, has almost recovered. The others, after having a very severe time are expected to recover. Peter Barnes and his brother from Malaga are attending to their wants. Fred Laudenberger, residing about 50 yards from his father, has also been deprived of liberty by being infected with the dreadful disease. He has a light case and no danger is anticipated. Two young men residing with him took their abode in the smokehouse to escape the disease. George Schroeder's child has a
very light case and is expected to be about in a few days. The |
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only case in town is that of Fred Stalder. He is now convalescing. Yesterday the sad but not unexpected news of his daughter Freda being confined with smallpox came to our hearing. We are not able to prognosticate her case. Fred Huff Jr. has a light attack and is getting along nicely at his home in Monroefield. Fred Huff Sr. is indisposed but is not thought to have smallpox. Our officials are alert and a rigid quarantine is enforced. Those families that contacted the disease had a very severe exposure and as no others have been exposed for about four weeks, we are feeling much easier. Smiling faces are to be seen again on our streets. We are not expecting any other families to be unfortunate. Our neighboring towns are aware
that there is no danger and are opening their doors to us again. Barnesville
and Malaga no longer refuse our mail and the lovers of the town can again
communicate with their esteemed friends. For a couple of weeks we |
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were shut off from the world. We could not communicate with anyone beyond the corporation limits by any means whatsoever. As Dr. Probst truly remarked, that the quarantine was more severe than the smallpox. The critics were too severe on our officials and physician. Would any other body of men in this town, or any other town, not being infected since 1840, have acted without caution and reason? "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you" would have been a good maxim for our neighbors, in our unfortunate condition. But instead they quarantined their physicians, who were willing to come, making it almost impossible to be vaccinated at the proper time, a virus was as scarce as the physicians. The report that Philip Kramer and Dr. Pugh's wife had the smallpox is untrue. This is the full details of the smallpox situation up to January 20. Hoping the public will be benefited with the same. T. J. Kremer |
The problems faced by Dr. Pugh in diagnosing the
disease were documented in nineteenth-century medical literature: “In some
mixed forms [of smallpox] it is almost impossible to say with certainty that
the eruption in a given case is that of smallpox … varicella [chicken pox] is
perhaps most commonly mistaken for the more severe diseases of the same general
character.” (Buck
1879, p. 515.)
The second letter, which was probably written by the
regular Miltonsburg correspondent, confirms the conditions reported by T. J.
Kremer and then presents his own editorial comment as follows:
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… Our community feels not any
too grateful to the authorities of Woodsfield who flatly refused, in time of great
need, not only to aid us in procuring medicine, but actually prevented us
from getting it until a part went back the second time, pled, and begged for
some. Also our county papers by printing all kinds of unverified reports
about smallpox injured our place, making relatives and friends living away
from her |
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feel uneasy; and further,
injured business for this place and surrounding places. Last summer when
Wheeling was plague stricken their papers didn’t try to make it look darker
than it really was. Last Thursday evening Uncle Sam notified our post master
to again forward our mail which went out Friday morning, January 17, for the
first time in 1896, which caused a sigh of relief to spread over the faces |
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of our energetic citizens. The quarantine was more
objectionable (or at least as much so) as the smallpox. A month ago a number
of people about here did not believe in vaccination. Quite a number of them,
or nearly all, have changed their views and have been vaccinated. |
Other notices in the January 23rd edition of the
Spirit suggest also suggest that conditions are beginning to improve in other
parts of the county.
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Cameron … the smallpox scare has almost blowed away. Hope it will stay away for good. |
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Jerusalem Jerusalem has lifted her quarantine against all places except Miltonsburg and vicinity and if no new cases are reported prior to the meeting of the health board this evening it is expected that it will be lifted on that vicinity. It is well enough to take proper precautions … |
The edition of the Spirit for January 30, 1896 once
again placed smallpox in the number one column where it had been all month;
however, the tone was beginning to change form crisis reporting to human
interest and performance assessment.
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THE DOCTOR Wasn’t Afraid of Smallpox and Now He Has an Attack Himself Dr. J. W. Weber of Lewisville
has been attending some of the smallpox patients at Miltonsburg, and has
frequently boasted that he is not afraid of the disease. The fact that smallpox
doesn’t care whether a man is afraid or it or not, if it wants to attack him,
does not seem to have entered the doctor's |
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head. And then, too, it is
certain that he did not take the precautions that very physician attending a
smallpox patient is expected to take. Last Sunday Dr. Way received a telegram
from the Lewisville board of health requesting him to come to that place and
inquire into a suspected case of smallpox. Dr. Way upon his arrival found
that Dr. Weber as they [thought] did not take ordinary precaution and freely
associated with the people of the town before being stricken. They regarded
him |
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as criminally careless. And it looks to an outsider as if they were not far wrong. The quarantine at Woodsfield
against Bridgeport and Martins Ferry was raised last week and also against
the Miltonsburg people excepting those who have been infected. The
Miltonsburg people have things under good control now and the disease is not
spreading outside of the families already infected. A quarantine has been
laid against the Lewisville people. |
The January 30th edition of the Spirit once again a
contained letters from T.J. Kremer and the regular Miltonsburg news reporter.
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Miltonsburg, Jan. 27 “There
is a beauty in the sunlight, And
the soft blue heaven above; Oh,
the world is full of beauty, When the heart is full of love.” The sun, that great consoler, is now permitting his rays to beam through our windows and make our firesides happy, but the sultry weather is surrounding our village and would, no doubt, make the temporary hospitals a dreary place if it were not for the magnanimity of our officials and citizens. The board of health passed a resolution to acquire the service of a couple of competent nurses. Samuel Groux, representing the board of health, went directly to Wheeling and secured the assistance. One is displaying her ability at the home of Fred Stalder and the other at the home of Fred Huff, near Monroefield. They are, no doubt, making it more pleasant and jovial for the patients and at the same time relieving the public from anxiety. Not that we are in dire need of them but we now have the consolation of knowing that the patients are under the care of experts. … Our friends need not hesitate to receive mail from our village as no mail is accepted here from suspicious persons. We can travel with freedom to all northern towns but when we try a southern course [toward Woodsfield] we meet a man to greet us with a -halt! .. T. J. Kremer Miltonsburg |
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After the setting down in your last issue upon the Miltonsburg correspondence of the smallpox report etc., I feel somewhat timid in again sending the following report. I am endorsed by the people in my former report as regards to the county papers. Queen Victoria once accosted her prime minister for a certain transaction, saying she did not approve of it, etc. In reply he said, “Your majesty, the people approve of it.” The smallpox scare has subsided and we feel confident that we have it in bounds. All the parties that were first taken with it have recovered, except three cases at George Laudenberger’s, which are still, according to the doctor’s report, “in bad shape.” Since our last report three new cases have appeared-two at Hoff’s at Monroefield and Ed. Laudenberger, all being infected houses, two being only light cases. Mrs. Fred Stalder has varioloid, also in an infected house. So far we have, and have had, in all 16 cases, in five different families-two deaths. They now have two trained nurses from Wheeling who will see after the suffering victims. The people are still in the dark as to where George Landenberger contacted the disease, Wheeling, Bridgeport, or Bellaire. Different reports have been recorded, but none appears to be satisfactory. It would be source of
satisfaction to the community to know the straight of it. Any information
would be |
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thankfully received by our people. Smallpox has been the all-absorbing topic of conversation in our community since it was known that it was in our midst. Oil and politics were not thought of. Even town gossip entirely vanished. What at a former time would have caused sufficient gossip for a fortnight or more passed unnoticed by all except parties directly interested. As the loathsome disease is abating, people are giving other subjects some of their attention. Our community being of an appreciative nature, their first thoughts naturally turned toward our health officer who so heroically (when it was announced that smallpox was in the Laudenberger family, stationed four guards around the town of Malaga at the township’s expense, and left the infected part of the township at the mercy of the disease as though the taxpayers and others of this community paid their tax to guard other communities and not their own. Every family in our
neighborhood had just as much right to protection as the taxpayers of Malaga,
as we were in greater danger being near infected places. Having Malaga
guarded and the Miltonsburg mail stopped from going out are the two things we
must acknowledge ourselves to be under obligations for. |
Apparently this sarcastic criticism is directed
toward an unnamed health officer who probably lived in the village of Malaga,
which is about two miles north of Miltonsburg. Township trustees also received
criticism.
SMALLPOX
AT MILTONSBURG
Two of our township trustees have
endeared themselves to our community by making themselves conspicuous by
their absence during our calamity, when they well knew that some of our
victims were in the township. We think not to save expenses to the township,
as that is not following the precedent set by them in other cases (not
infectious) heretofore, but simply because |
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they were afraid. Why not
resign? By their action they threw all the burden upon the shoulders of the
other trustee, who now must bear all the blame for blunders, etc., which in
such cases are numerous. We think every person in our vicinity, and our
doctor, especially, deserves credit for the interest he is taking in fighting
the disease, say nothing of the risks he is running of becoming infected
himself. |
Other items in the January 30th Spirit include an
editorial jab at the Miltonsburg correspondent and reports from other Monroe
County towns.
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Our Miltonsburg correspondent has not had the smallpox, but he is evidently troubled with dyspepsia. He would take a prize at a country fair as the champion growler. Beallsville … The smallpox has vanished;
taken the wings of the morning and flown to the uttermost parts of the earth,
it is hoped never to return. We are sorry that some very hard feelings are
engendered with a few of our citizens not likely to soon be forgotten. |
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Missouri Letter MARYVILLE, MO., JAN 21 We are sorry to hear about the
smallpox being so bad but hope that it will soon abate. Just about this time
last year Marysville had the dreaded disease but by strict precaution it soon
died out with but few deaths. |
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Board of Health Meeting held [Monday] Feb. 3rd, 1896 The Board of Health met. A quorum present The minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved. Resolved that the schools be opened on Monday the 17th inst. Friday, aye Muller aye Menkel no Schafer aye Reller no Wengert no President aye Adopted Resolved that the privilege of holding church be granted for next Sunday. Friday, aye Muller aye Menkel aye Schafer aye Reller aye Wengert aye Adopted Resolved that the nurse at Stalder.s be discharged after 2 more days Menkel aye Reller no Muller aye Wengert aye? Schafer aye Friday aye Adopted On motion to adjourn Adopted Adam Groux, President Alex Hardesty, Clerk |
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Board of Health Meeting held Wednesday, Feb. 5th, 1896 The Board of Health met. All present The minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved. Whereas by contract with Miss Gertie Brown of Wheeling W. Va. for services as a professional nurse in small pox cases in Stalder family, at three dollars pr. Day and that services rendered are thirteen days, to the amount of thirty nine dollars. Resolved that the above amt. be allowed and paid. Menkel aye Muller aye Reller aye Schafer aye Friday aye Wengert aye Adopted Resolved that amt. of $2 20/100 be allowed as railroad transportation for Gertie Brawn. Menkel aye Muller aye Reller aye Schafer aye Friday aye Wengert aye Adopted Resolved that resolution passed Feb 3rd, 1896 be rescinded and that schools be allowed to open next Monday, [February 10th]. Adopted On motion to adjourn Adopted Sm'l Groux, President Alex Hardesty, Clerk |
The crisis apparently had passed. Life in
Miltonsburg was returning to the usual activities of a small, nineteenth
century farming village in southeastern Ohio. The Board of Health did not meet
again until May 4, 1896 when they authorized payment of $6.50 to C. G. Oblinger
for a "rubber suit for Dr. Pugh for smallpox practice.
The Thursday, February 6th, 1896 edition of the
Spirit of Democracy still placed smallpox news in the number one column;
however, the subject did not demand as much space as in the previous four
weeks. The editor even took time out to chide a rival newspaper in Noble
County.
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From the Noble
County Republican “…Woodsfield has a very strict smallpox quarantine in order. So strict is it that no mail is allowed to enter or even leave that place. Smallpox has broken out at several points in Monroe County, but every precaution is being |
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taken to prevent a further
spread of the malady. …” While there have been some cases of smallpox several
miles from Woodsfield there never has been a time when the mails were
hindered from coming in or going out of this place. The above is as nearly
correct as the Republican gets its news though. |
On Thursday, February 13th, 1896, the Spirit
of Democracy returned to its feature of oil news and the article “with
Derrick and Drill” appears in the number one column. Some smallpox news is
still included but the threat has clearly abated. For the first time in several
weeks, the correspondent from the Miltonsburg correspondent is upbeat, but he
is still “growling”: this time about the treatment the Spirit and the citizens
of Lewisville are giving Dr. Weber, who attended smallpox victims at
Miltonsburg.
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Mr. C. E. Kremer was at Batesville
last week. He reports that people gave him plenty of elbowroom, he being the
first person in the place from a smallpox infected place. A number of our people are
anxious for the Calais oil well to come in a gusher. We have not had many visitors
to report as they are not numerous at present. B. A. Yunkes is booked for
Woodsfield one day this week. |
During the following four years, the Miltonsburg
Board of Health met ten times, primarily to consider issues related to safe
well water and the condition of cellars. On September 3, 1900, they convened
for the last time, a little more than seven years after the board was created
by he mayor on May 4, 1893.
Alex
Hardesty recorded the last official entry on July 18, 1902.
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As by act of Gen. Assembly of Ohio, passed may 12,
1902, that in villages of less than 2,000 inhabitants, the Council may
appoint a health officer in lieu of a Bd. of Health, on the 7th day of July
1902 Council of Miltonsburg vil. Appointed Dr. C. R. Keysor as health officer
and on July 1, 1902, it was accepted by the State Board of Health, and on the
17th day of July 1902 was sworn into office by S. B. Luley, Mayor, therefore
the Board of Health is abolished. July 18th, 1902 Alex Hardesty, Ex Clerk of the Bd. |
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Mayor Simon B. Luley was a tinsmith whose shop was located on Lot 20 |
EPILOGUE
Although the final digit of the date on Daniel
Gray’s initial survey of Miltonsburg was lost in a court house fire, the date is
almost certainly May 6, 1833. In any case, on May 13, 1833, David Pearson and
his wife, Mary Ann, appeared before Monroe County Justice of the Peace Henry
Mason as part of the legal act of filing a survey of the land that was to
become the first part of the village, which was laid out by Pearson and named
after his son, Milton. Subsequent additions in 1844 and 1846 set essentially
the same boundaries that existed in 2002.
In the 1890’s Miltonsburg was at its peak both
commercially and politically. Located in the center of an agricultural
population where each farm was a relatively short wagon-ride away, it was one
of about twenty similar villages in Monore County, Ohio. Although these
agricultural areas were similar to the county’s political subdivisions of
eighteen townships, natural features such as hills and valleys, and personal
relationships such as family, religion, and nationality—not politics—determined
the village to which each farm family was attached.
The 132 Miltonsburg residents listed in the 1880
census, of course, included all men, women, and children. It is remakable that
during the nine-year existence of the Board of Health 16 men (12% of the entire
population) served as members. When you consider that the village had a mayor,
a town clerk, a justice of the peace, a town council, and a board of education,
one realizes just how involved these people were in governing their community.
Recorded history tells us about the heroic people,
seminal ideas, and momentous events that shaped the world that we have
inherited from other times and other places. Personal history, however, is made
up of thousands of daily activities that collectively make up the culture of a
people. A history of the United States might justifiably note that “occasional outbreaks
of smallpox continued throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
but relatively few deaths were recorded.” A history of Miltonsburg, Ohio,
however, tells us that on January 8, 1896, William and Lousia, children of
George and Caroline Laudenberg, died of smallpox. They were two of the
“relatively few deaths recorded” in the late nineteenth century. During the
next thirty-four days, the members of the Miltonsburg Board of Health helped
write the phrase “occasional outbreaks of smallpox” into world history.
Paul
E. Young, Jr.
Miltonsburg.,
Ohio
June
2002 (rev)
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Stadler House, Lot 6 |
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George Friday with Race
Horse in Front of His Shop, Lot 28 |
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Evangelical & Reformed
Parsonage and Church, Lots 39 & 40 |
