History of Chicago. From the earliest period to the present time, Part 165

Author: Andreas, Alfred Theodore
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 1340

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tion in the State-would be necessarily imperfect; and the collection itself being extant, entomologists can consult that, and have the advantage of Mr. Bolter's exhaustive research and comprehensive information to aid their entomological investigations.

ICHTHYOLOGICAL.

The ichthyological specimens * that are found in the waters adjacent to Chicago, comprise, three speci- mens of the Darters; four specimens of the Perches; one of the Bass; eight of the Sun Fishes; one each of the Pirate Perches and the Maigres; four of the Scul- pins; one of the Cod Fishes; two of the Sticklebacks; one each of the Silversides and Toothed Minnows; two of the Pikes; one of the Trout Perches; seven of the Salmon; one each of the Gizzard Shad and Herring: twelve of the Carps; seven of the Suckers; three of the Cat Fishes, and one each of the Eel and the Sturgeon family.

CONCHOLOGICAL.

Of the conchological specimens found in Lake Mich- igan, the Calumet and Chicago rivers and the Calumet, Hyde and Wolf lakes, the following classification has been made by W. W. Calkins:

LIMN.E.A reflexa, appressa, jugularis, palustris, caperatia, umbro- sus; PHYSA gyina and heterostropha ; PLANORBIS.E campanulatus, trivalvis. parvus, bicarinatus; SEGMENTINA armigera; VALOATA tricarinata, sincera and contectoides; MELLANTHIO subsolidus, coarc tala, and the smaller species Byth. obtusa; SOMATOGYRUS depres- sus; AMNICOLA cincinnatiensis; TRY. subulare; Gov. livescens; SPH.ERIA simile, portumeium, transversum; PISIDIA abditum and compressum ; UNIONID.E cornutus, gracilis, gibbosus, luteolus, occi- dens, rectus, pustulosus. rubiginosus, elegans, undulatus, verrucasus, ellipsis, tuberculatus; MARGARITANA complanata; ANODONTA footiana imbecillis and plana.

FLORAL.

In 1872, an exhaustive catalogue of the flora of Chicago, and the country within radii of about forty miles, was compiled by H. H. Babcock, and published in The Lens, a journal issued by the State Microscop- ical Society of Illinois. This classification was thorough and complete, and is-like the entomology-too large for insertion in this work. Dr. Lester Curtis. president of the Microscopical Society, courteously furnished this catalogue, and naturalists can obtain information of him relative thereto. In connection with this subject. it is germane to allude to the peat-beds that have been found in several localities; showing not alone the cryptogamic sphagni, but also demonstrating that the climate of Chi- cago in by-gone years was humid and cloudy; as sun- light and dry atmosphere are fatal to sphagnum, of which peat is the consequence. Microscopic investigation of this peat will reveal many of the floral antiquities of this region.

. . \ complete catalogue of the fishes of Illinois, will be found in Bulletin No. 2. Natural History of Illinois, by Professor David S. Jordan; issued under the auspices of Professor S. A. Forbes, Director Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History.

FLORAL.

Huntings 30 species

SANITARY HISTORY.

TOWN AND CITY REGULATIONS .- When, in the Dr. E. S. Kimberly was health officer, Chicago had first to battle with an epidemic in its municipal capacity, the "canal cholera " breaking out among the laborers of the Illinois & Michigan Canal. Dr. Charles V. Dyer was elected health officer at the beginning of the year 1839, but resigned his position in September, and was succeeded by Dr. Kimberly, who served until 1841. During this year Dr. John W. Eldredge was elected health officer, and in May an ordinance was passed requiring the attending physician to give a certificate upon the death of any person, thus establishing a basis for the gathering of vital statistics. The first regular mortuary record, however, was not published until 1851. In 1842, Dr. Egan was chosen city physician and Orson Smith health officer and city inarshal. Mr. Smith served in that capacity until 1845. During this year Dr. Phillip Maxwell was chosen city physician and Phillip Dean city marshal and health officer. In 1846 Ambrose Burnham succeeded Mr. Dean, while in 1847 a separate choice was made for each office, viz .: J. F. Wait, health officer ; Ambrose Burnham, City Marshal. and Dr. Henry S. Huber, physician. Dr. Levi D. Boone became city physician in 1849, and City Marshal . summer of 1832, General Scott brought his troops from the East to engage in the Black Hawk War. he intro- duced the first epidemic to the people of Chicago; and a full account of this cholera season will be found in the matter devoted to the Indian scare. It was not until the next year that the town authorities, in pursu- ance of their delegated powers, made the first sanitary regulation. On November 7, 1833, the Board of 'I'rus- tees passed an order imposing a penalty of $3 upon anybody who should throw refuse into the river. June 6, 1834, on account of the cholera scare, the Town Supervisor or Street Commissioner was ordered to remove many nuisances which then endangered the public health. In August ordinances were passed against throwing anything of an obstructive nature into the sewers. A vigilance committee was also appointed to see that the needed work was done. It consisted of Dr. W. B. Egan, Dr. J. C. Goodhue, A. Steele, Mark Beaubien, J. K. Paliner, South District; G. Kercheval, J. Miller, N. R. Norton, John Davis and Hiram Hug- unin, North District; J. Kinzie, C. Taylor and J. Bates, West District. Drs. Clark and Kimberly were author- ized, if necessary, to establish a cholera hospital out- ' Burnham also acted as health officer. A continuation side the city limits.

In February, 1835, the corporate powers and limits of the town were changed, and among other privileges the Trustees were authorized to form a permanent Board of Health. A revival of the cholera excitement in the summer caused the formation of the board on June 19. It consisted of James Curtiss, B. S. Morris, E. Peck, B. King, A. N. Fullerton, John T. Temple, J. Jackson and H. Hugunin. They held their first meeting June 23. But the board seems to have died with its birth, and only one of its acts is distinctly stamped upon the history of these early days. To carry out their sanitary measures the board proposed to bor- row $2,000, which caused such a panic in the ranks of the strict economists that the board subsided into hopeless inaction.

In January, 1837, before the incorporation of the city, the establishment of a permanent hospital was urged, but it was not until the public had again suffered with cholera and other epidemics that the project was favorably looked upon. Under the act of incorpora- tion of March, 1837 /Section 57,, the Common Council were to appoint three commissioners annually to consti- tute a Board of Health. The Mayor of the city or the presiding officer of the Council was to be president of the board, and the City Clerk its clerk. The charter also provided for the appointment, annually, of a health officer, whose duty it should be to visit persons sick of infectious diseases, and to board vessels suspected of harhoring any pestilential or infectious disease. Ac- cordingly, on May 9, 1837, Dr. J. W. Eldredge, .A. N. Fullerton and D. Cox were elected members of the board, and Dr. D). Brainard appointed health officer.

From this time on the sanitary affairs of the city were in the hands of its Board of Health, the executive officers of which were either known as the city physi- cian, the health officer, or the marshal. In 1838. when

of the roster is as follows : City physicians, Dr. Boone, 1850-51 ; Dr. A. B. Palmer, 1852; Dr. Brock Mc- Vickar, 1853-54 ; Dr. Isaac Lynn, 1855 ; Dr. McVickar, 1856 ; Dr. Gerhard Paoli, 1857. The health officers were Orson Smith, C. P. Bradley, W. B. H. Gray, W. W. Taylor, George P. Hansen, and Ambrose Burnham.

CHOLERA AND SMALL-POX EPIDEMICS .- After the cholera epidemic of 1832, the next season which came upon the city was in 1838, when the laborers on the Illinois & Michigan Canal were attacked by a disease which balked all medical skill. It was called "canal cholera," and as fast as its victims succumbed their bodies were sent to Chicago and thrown on the roads near Bridgeport, as citizens were afraid to touch them. It was in 1843 that the city or small-pox hospital was con- structed, located just above North Avenue, near the lake shore, on the grounds purchased for a cemetery. In March, 1845, the building burned to the ground. The fire originated from some ashes which were care- lessly left too near the building. Its burning was particularly unfortunate at this time, as there were several small-pox cases, and patients were then being treated in the pest house. Mayor Garrett had even issued a proclamation for general vaccination. While another hospital was being erected on the same site, the patients were accommodated at the house of a Mr. Shaw. in the northeastern part of the city. The County Hospital was opened in old Tippecanoe Hall, on March 30, 1847. During 1846-47 the population of the city increased rapidly and a great amount of sickness prevailed. Most of the patients withont means, were accommodated at the Alms House. The accommodations becoming quite insufficient, it was found necessary to have a large num- ber of sick persons boarded and cared for at private houses in the city. This was necessarily attended with great expense, and, to avoid it, the public authorities suggested the renting of a building on the north side of

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SANITARY HISTORY.

the river. Upon second thought, however, the Common Council saw fit to apply for the temporary use of the garrison buildings.

In 1848, small-pox was epidemic in the regions adjacent to the city, and R. C. Ross, the City Marshal, advertised under date of January 28, that the following physicians would gratuitously vaccinate the poor : Henry S. Huber, L. D. Boone, D. Brainard. C. H. Duck, (J. Jay) Stuart, and 'H. K. W.) Boardman, J. N. Banks, F. C. Hagerman, Aaron Pitney, Erial McArthur, George Wallingford Wentworth, J. Bassett, and John D. Bowlby ; and the following physicians also advertise, under the same date, that they will gratuitously dem- onstrate the principles of Jenner upon those who are too poor to pay for their inoculation : Doctors C. H. Duck, Max Meyers, H. K. W. Boardman, M. L. Knapp, - Cross, W. B. Mead, and W. R. J. Reynolds. This appears to be the first official and medical co-op- eration, for precautionary measures, to prevent the introduction or spread of small-pox.

In 1849 the variola was prevalent in the city ; and, in February, a public meeting was held whereat resolu- tions were passed setting forth the necessity of cleans- ing the city, which resolutions were presented to the Common Council by Dr. B. McVickar, chairman of the committee, and referred to the Board of Health by the Council ; and on April 2 the following gentlemen were appointed assistant health officers, to act as co-adju- tors to the Board of Health ; being in the ratio of one officer to each block in the city : Charles Walker, George W. Meeker, Nathaniel Sherman, Jr., Jeremiah Price, Mark Kimball, A. S. Sherman, Charles McDon- ell, Jacob Bendler, J. Ambrose Wight, C. R. Stark- weather, John Frink, Isaac Speer, Ezra Collins, T. B. Carter, John High, Samuel Bennett, J. O. Taylor, Caleh Shaw, Jared Gage, T. Whitlock, S. J. Sherwood, J. T. Edwards, A. H. Burley, Zebina Eastman, C. N. Holden, William Wheeler, A. F. Bradley, and A. Rossiter, and, in the latter part of April these additional gentlemen were appointed, so as to complete the ratio as designat- ed : Thomas Church, Samuel B. Cobb, S. Sawyer, John Jennings, John B. Turner, John S. Wright, John S. Gray, G. M. Higginson, Elihu Granger, T. Weiler, Hugh Dunlap, A. Moon, Andrew Smith, A. Peck, Luther Marsh, Solomon Wait, and Samuel Hoard. If these gentlemen were only as efficient and distinguished in the enforcement of sanitary regulations as they have been as citizens of Chicago, there probably was never such a hygienic posse in any city in the Union.

Cholera did not make its appearance seriously until the winter of 1849. Anticipating its dread coming, the muncipal authorities inaugurated a cleaning crusade. Small-pox was already quite prevalent, and there was such a marked increase of cholera in the country that a public meeting was held, February 12, demanding that more stringent measures be taken. Among other things, the Board of Health asked that additional sew- ers be built. On April 29, the malignant form of chol- era was brought by the emigrant boat, " John Drew." Captain John Pendleton contracted the disease from the emigrants, who had arrived from New Orleans, via the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, and Ilinois & Michigan Canal. He died a few hours after the arrival of the boat. Others who came also died soon after their arrival. At this time there were no quarantine regulations, and the disease was further introduced and spread by the arrival of emigrants from Europe. In May the Council authorized the Board of Health to construct a temporary hospital for the treatment of indigent persons attacked

by the cholera. It was located near the present site of the old County Hospital, near Eighteenth Street and the Chicago River. In September it was ordered closed 'by the Common Council, and was re-opened after a few days, cholera having appeared again among some newly arrived emigrants. It was closed in October, and finally burned in May, 1852.

From the time of its introduction, in 1849, cholera gradually spread, and prevailed as an epidemic from July 25 until August 28, during which time one thou- sand persons were attacked, of whom three hundred and fourteen died. More than any other locality in the · city, the disease prevailed on a sandy elevation in the North Division, chiefly inhabited by Norwegians, and many of them recent arrivals. Forty-four out of the three hundred who lived in this region fell victims to the malady. Among the citizens of prominence who were carried off by the scourge this year were Hon. Henry Brown, Rev. W. H. Rice, Henry B. Clark, Dr. J. E. O'Leary, L. M. Boyce, James Knox. M. Kohn, W. N. Bently, Samuel Jackson, Newell Stratton, A. J. Penny, E. Hitchcock, A. Calhoun, A. S. Robinson and George Ayers.

Descriptive of these terrible times is the following, written by an old settler who was a participator in the horrors of which he wrote and had a narrow escape from death himself :

" During the winter of 1848-49 cholera appeared at New Orleans, and began slowly to ascend the Mississippi, and before the frost had left the ground it appeared inevitable that the contagion would reach Chicago, which was, indeed, the case all too soon. The first case that came under my notice was that of Deacon Jackson, of the Tabernacle Baptist Church, who was a personal friend. One Sunday morning in May, or perhaps in June, on my way to church, I was crossing the river by ferry at Rush Street (all the bridges had been carried away that spring by a flood), when I overheard a fellow- passenger telling another one that Captain Jackson had died of cholera. I inquired what Captain Jackson was referred to, when I learned it was my friend, the Deacon. As the ferry landing was within a few rods of the Jack- son dwelling, being one of the houses within the fort, I hastened thither. I found William Jones alone with the corpse, the family being in an upper room, from whence I could hear their united wailings. The face was a shade darker than usual, and around the mouth were the dark purple spots, which I soon learned to be the unmistakable deathmark of that dreaded and terrible disease-the Asiatic cholera. Mr. Jackson had been attacked the previous afternoon, while engaged in his usual employment of driving piles and building docks along the river ; he hastened home and died within a few hours.

" The disease gradually, or, I may say rapidly spread, until on the ist day of August the number of deaths reached thirty, which was the highest number for any one day. I think the death of Mr. Bentley, the father of Cyrus Bentley, soon followed that of Deacon Jackson. L. M. Boyce, a prominent druggist, died in his house alone, his family having just left for the country. Dea- con Knox, also of the Tabernacle Baptist Church, died very suddenly. The Rev. W. H. Rice, pastor of the same Church, was attacked while returning from the bedside of Mr. Knox, It was Sunday morning, and he was intending to preach, and was hastening for that purpose. I happened to be at the door of his boarding- place when he arrived, and assisted him into the house. The house was that of Mr. Pillsbury, on Dearborn Street, a few doors south of where the Tribune building

HISTORY OF CHICAGO.

now stands. Dr. D. S. Smith was called and attended him. Mr. Rice steadily failed until about 2 o'clock, when we gave him up. He then gave directions about his affairs and made his will. Among other remedies, hy Smith's direction, we tried electricity, first insulating the patient by standing the bedstead on glass. Whether from this or other treatment, Mr. Rice lingered along and I staid with him till midnight, when I retired to another room to sleep, fully expecting to find him dead in the morning. But to my surprise I found him still living, and apparently improving. He continued thus through the day, when he again began to fail, and soon died. When Mr. Rice was attacked Sunday morning, the weather was very warm, and so continued till Mon- day afternoon, when there came one of our Lake Michi- gan chilling breezes. It was to this that I attributed Mr. Rice's relapse, for I had noticed that deaths were more numerous after these sudden changes from hot to cool.

"There was at this time an Englishman named Mor- rell, a blacksmith, who was just from England and but recently married, who was working for me. One Satur- day night he came to me and said he wanted all the money that was due him, and that he would not be at work till the following Tuesday, as he had bought a lot from Mr. Elston, and he wanted on Monday to get lumber on the ground, and set carpenters at work on a little house which he had determined to build. Late Saturday night I saw him on his way home, appearing unusually cheerful. On Sunday morning fol- lowing I went over into town on the South Side, and did not return till after the evening Church service, when I was met with the information, that Morrell was dead and buried. I was thunderstruck. Mrs. Morrell came to me in the morning to say that Mr. Elston had returned the money which had been paid on the lot, and that she was going back to her old home in En- gland; and before night of that Monday she was on her sad and lonely journey thither.

"Another Englishman named Conn, a boiler-maker, was also at work, and with him was a boy of fourteen. who was at work also, as Conn-was very desirous of keeping the boy with him. The boy was attacked with cholera. We ministered to him, and chafed his limbs to promote circulation for two or three hours. We rubbed till the skin was broken. When we found that all our efforts were in vain, Conn quietly arose from working over him, and began silently to pace the floor, occasionally stopping to look down on the dying boy. Soon, however, he began to curse and swear, and to half-soliloquize and half-relate, as he continued his walk. Such oaths and imprecations I have seldom heard. 'Here,' said he, 'I have brought the boy from his home, and I promised his mother that I would return him safely to her. . And now, in this far-away country, the boy is dying. What am I going to say to his mother ?' Rough as Conn was in speech and man- ner, he was kindly, and faithful, and true; that is as he understood his obligations.

" That summer I boarded with my partner in business, Mr. T. C. James. One day when I went in to dinner, Mrs. James asked me to go into another room and look at one of her daughters, a girl of fourteen, who had just begun to complain and had lain down. I saw at a glance that it was cholera. She died in about seven hours. Another daughter was taken while returning from the funeral the following day, and died before morning.

" Late in the season I resolved to go into the country to visit friends and recuperate. Travel then to Wis-

consin, where I was going, was by large steamers by the lake. On landing at Kenosha, I met a great-uncle, who invited me to his house. A few minutes after our arrival there, word came that a great-aunt, living but a few rods away, had been suddenly taken sick. We went there and found it to be cholera. She died during the night. I went over in the morning again, and found the undertaker there, but not another man about to help him place the corpse in the coffin. I took hold with him, and, as she was a heavy woman, it was with a great deal of difficulty that we accomplished the task. I then went immediately into the country, a few miles away, to my father's, and before night we heard that the uncle, with whom I had stayed the night before, was also dead. Such were cholera scenes throughout the coun- try. On my return to Chicago the first acquaintance I met was Deacon Elisha Clark, of the First Presbyterian Church. . He looked cheerful and animated, and the first word he said was: 'The cholera has left us.' This shows how depressing was its presence, and what relief was its departure."

A few physicians and 'as a rule in such calamities some Catholic priests and Sisters of Charity remained to care for those who otherwise would have been thrown upon the streets or be placed under the guardianship of the municipal authorities. During the month the deaths numbered nine hundred and thirty-one. Of the seven hundred and thirty-one fatal cases reported for August, two hundred and sixty-four were on account of cholera. Early in November, through the persistent warfare of the municipal authorities and physicians and Christian men and women, the epidemic was driven from the city The disease was almost confined to the emigrant classes. For many years thereafter the city enjoyed compara- tive immunity from this epidemic.

The cholera scourge forced a strong conviction into the public mind that a permanent city hospital ought to be established. Dr. Brock McVickar, who had been re-elected City Physician for 1854, was ordered to report to the Board of Health what measures should be taken. During the height of the excitement, in July, a quaran- tine station was established, and in November the City Physician again urged the erection of a permanent hos- pital and also the establishment of a dispensary for each division of the city. The board offered Sroo for the best plan for a city hospital, and in April, 1855. awarded the premium to Carter & Bauer, who estimated the cost at S30,000. In February of the next year a tax was levied to raise the necessary funds for its con- struction, and the architects visited New York to exam- ine the city hospital there and perfect their plans, They returned in April, the Common Council adopted the plans, as improved, and the erection of the building was commenced, south of LaSalle Street, between Cross and Old. The hospital was completed in June, 1857, and two medical boards were established the allopathic and homeopathic) to treat patients. The structure was of brick, sixty-six by one hundred and fifteen feet, three stories in height, and cost, ready for occupancy, $45.000.

In December, 1850, there were a few cases of small- pox, the disease increasing in the spring of 1851, sub- siding during the summer, and developing with increased virulence in December. But two deaths are, however. officially reported as resulting from small-pox in 1851.

On February 15, 1851, chiefy because of the ravages of cholera, the Legislature passed an act incorporating the Chicago City Hydraulic Company, that citizens might obtain a better water supply. Cholera continued to increase throughout the winter and spring of 1852. and in May the pest-house was opened to receive fase's

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SANITARY HISTORY.

of all contagious diseases. During the year there were six hundred and thirty deaths from cholera alone. The general health of the city was good in 1853. The next year was the great cholera season.

In January, 1852, small-pox broke out again, and, in June, the Small-Pox Hospital was ordered changed in its internal arrangement so as to have small-pox and cholera cases at either end of the building. The deaths from sinall-pox are reported as nine.

In April, 1854, a few scattering cases of cholera appeared, but the public prints and the Board of Health denied their existence, under the mistaken idea that to deny the existence of an evil goes far toward killing it. But the temporary hospital was ordered to be built in May. A train which entered the city June 29, brought a party of Norwegiaus, bound for Wisconsin, among whom the disease was raging. Six were dead on the train, and a seventh died in a few minutes after being taken out. Some twenty persons were taken, in various stages of the disease, from the train to the City Hospital. These were the first recorded cases. Until about the 5th or 6th of July, the disease was generally confined to newly arrived emigrants. Quarantine grounds were immediately established on the main lines of emigrant travel. The ground near the City Hospital was taken for quarantine purposes. The suddenness with which the pestilence came upon the city is shown by the deaths during the first week of July. The total interments from July 1 to July 8, were two hundred and forty-two. During this latter month the mortality among those taken with the epidemic nearly doubled, the deaths occurring being about sixty per day. The death-cart was continually upon the streets. Especially during the 8th and 9th of July were the thoroughfares of the city crowded with hearses. On Sunday the populace became so excited that a grand exodus occurred, many persons going to Milwaukee. Dr. Charles V. Dyer tells the following anecdote with a good deal of zest, relative to some brother practitioners and himself, during the cholera season of 1854 : " Deeming it requisite to estab- lish a quarantine, to prevent the introduction of the disease, we organized an amateur Board of Health, and hired a warehouse to be used as a hospital. Hearing that a steamboat was coming into port, with eighteen cases of cholera on board, we went onto the vessel and removed the patients to the improvised hospital. On viewing the sick, nine were decided to be beyond medi- cal assistance, and the remaining moiety were decreed to be favorable subjects for pathological skill ; but, unfortunately, the nine upon whom were lavished all the resources of science died, and those who were . esteemed to be almost in articulo mortis all got well."

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History of Chicago. From the earliest period to the present time, Part 165

Author: Andreas, Alfred Theodore Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas Number of Pages: 1340

Author: Andreas, Alfred Theodore
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 1340