USA > Tennessee > Shelby County > Memphis > A history of the yellow fever : the yellow fever epidemic of 1878, in Memphis, Tenn., embracing a complete list of the dead, the names of the doctors and nurses employed, names of all who contributed money or means, and the names and history of the Howards, together with other data, and lists of the dead elsewhere > Part 15
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# The following are the names of those who died-men whose names are embalmed in the hearts of the people of Memphis as those of martyrs, as worthy of canonization as any on the long roll of mother church : Rev. Mr. Parsons, P. E. Church ; Rev. Mr. Schuyler, P. E. Church : Rev. Mr. Thomas, German Reformed Church ; Rev. Mr. Moody; Rev. A. F. Bailey (col.) ; Rev. E. C. Slater, Methodist ; Rev. David R. S. Rosebrough, Methodist ; Rev. P. T. Scruggs, Methodist; Rev. S. C. Arnold, wife and five children died; Rev. Victor Bath.
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narrow escape. Yet another, a Presbyterian, Rev. Dr. Boggs, who was a worker with the Howards, and who had made the care of the orphans a special charge, and devoted himself to it in addition to his parish labors, fell when the foree of the epidemie had expended itself, and, with his wife, too, survives, revered by men of every name. The Episcopal ministers were also severely tried. All who were residents when the fever broke out were attacked, and one died -- Rev. C. C. Parsons. The circumstances of his life made his death felt as much, perhaps more than any that had preceded it. He had been an officer of great promise in the United States Army, and during the civil war had achieved distinction for discretion, skill, and bravery. After the war he continued in the service, for which he had been educated at the national military school, and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. His future was assured and held out to him a brilliant promise; but he voluntarily surrendered all to enter the ministry. Called to Memphis in 1875. he was not long in making for himself a place in the hearts of others than the people of his own faith. In mauners he was gentle and unaffected. In his intercourse with his fellow-citizens these qualities, supported by his reputation as a brave soldier and his apparent cul- ture, won upon them. so that his circle widened. His opportunities for good were thus unusual. The hopes formed of him were not disappointed. As a priest he was faithful, anxious, and earnest. When the epidemie was an- nouneed, he prepared for it as for a battle, and, as on a battle field soldiers love to fall, he fell at his post doing his duty. His place was taken by a brave young volunteer from the North, Rev. Mr. Schuyler, who entered gladly ou his work, but who, in eight days after his arrival, was carried to his grave. Another volunteer, from Shreveport, Louisiana, Rev. Dr. Dalzell, who served as physician as well as priest, escaped, and fills to-day the place of the noble soldier-priest who died. Two of his brother clergy recovered-Rev. Dr. George White and Rev. Dr. George Harris-the former a venerable man, who has seen as many years in the ministry as most men live, survived his young- est son over whose remains he read the beautiful service which his church has appointed for the dead, he and his wife alone forming the funeral party. Few incidents, at a time when heart-breaking incidents abounded, so affected the public as this. It touched every heart and called out a sympathy of which the aged priest is the center to this day. The Sisters of St. Mary's (Episcopal). like those of the Roman Catholic Church, were active in works of mercy and benevolence. The mortality among them was sudden and severe,* an attesta- tion of their devotion and of the malignity of the scourge they so heroically encountered. It would be impossible to speak in too high terms of laudation of these women. Educated and cultivated, they had dedicated themselves to a work much more agreeable and more in consonance with their tastes and their refinement and delicacy. They had made no provision for an emergency so dreadful, yet when it was announced they did not hesitate as to their duty. Some of their number were in the East, enjoying a brief vacation of repose
* Oi seven who, from first to last, were engaged in the work, Sisters Constance, Thecla, Frances, and Ruth died.
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upon the banks of the Hudson, the most beautiful of our rivers, when the fearful tidings of " yellow fever in Memphis" was flashed along the telegraph wires. They at once abandoned the comfort and ease of a delightful religious retreat, and, against the earnest entreaties of friends, made their way, as rap- idly as steam could carry them, to the stricken city. They found work await- ing them. Their school building and convent was soon embraced in what, at the first of the epidemic, was known as the "infected district;" and several min- isters as well as sisters were among the long list of the sick. In a few weeks many of them had gone over to the majority; and when the epidemic was de- clared at an end, it was found that they had suffered more and sustained heavier losses than any other of the relief organizations in the city, save the Roman Catholic priesthood and sisterhood. But they had won for their order an im- perishable renown. They had proven that heroism and Christ-like self-denial are not the virtues of a particular sect. They had set an example worthy the sisterhood of apostolic times, and had silenced those of their creed whose Prot- estantism blinded them to the possibilities of an order whose vows are voluin- tary, and to be revoked at will. They had illumined the history of their sex. so rich in charity, by a religious zeal, softened and tempered by a sweet com- passion ; by unflinchingly encountering all that is terrible in one of the most loathsome of diseases ; by braving death with the resignation of martyrs; by the outpouring of a sympathy as profound as the general sorrow, and by a pathos which could alone have its source in the faith of Him who has been painted for us-"A man of sorrows. acquainted with grief."*
$ The Nashville American, in an article published while the epidemic was vet at its height, said of these devout and devoted women : "The Episcopal Church in Memphis has a large and flourishing school for girls and an orphanage, in charge of the Sister- hood of St. Mary. The bishop of the diocese ( Rt. Rev. C. T. Quintard) began the work some cight years ago, and, in 1873, the ladies of the Sisterhood opened their school in the Episcopal residence, immediately after the epidemic of that year. Their faithful and devoted labors, during the yellow fever of 1873, had won them hosts of friends, and when the school was opened its patronage was abundant. When the epidemic of this summer began. the Sister Superior was absent, with Theela, enjoying a much-needed re-t. but at once returned on being informed that the fever had made its appearance in the . city. Faithfully, constantly, unflinchingly, and with holy zeal, these faithful women administered to the sick and dying until they were themselves stricken down. Oi six of the Sisters who were prostrated, four laid down their lives and wore the martyr's crown. Three additional Sisters from New York took up the work, but of the original Sisterhood only one remains. They have indeed glorified the cause for which they died. In a letter written the day before he himself was stricken by the fever. Rev. Charles Car- roll Parsons wrote: ' The Sisters are doing a wonderful work. It is surprising to see how much these quiet, brave, unshrinking daughters of divine love can accomplish in efforts and results' The following tribute has been forwarded to Bishop Quintard by the Bureau of Relief of Hartford, Connecticut :
"'IN MEMORIAM.
" Having been brought into very pleasant relations with Sister Constance, Sister Su- perior of the Sisterhood of St. Mary, at Memphis, the ladies of the Burean of Relief mourn her death. I desire to testify their deep sense of the loss which they and the whole church have anstained. Her noble labors among the poor and orphaned and in the schools, before the fatal pestilence of this summer broke out, are such as we
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V.
The ministers and sisters of all the Christian sects were alike conspicuous for their zeal and fidelity. The absence of a few of the pastors, who fled at the out- break of the fever, was all the more remarked upon. Indeed, no discordant inci- dent of the epidemic gave rise to more general indignation or as bitter comment in the public press. They were denounced in unmeasured terms by the religious as well as irreligious. A few ill-conditioned zealots, taking advantage of this state of the public mind, made comparisons between the Protestant ministers and the Catholic priests, which the circumstances did not warrant, with a view to the injury of the Protestant churches. But this failed. It was admitted that there could not be a greater contrast; but while this was so, it was also true that most of the Protestant clergy walked in the footsteps of Him whose ministry was among those who were siek, who were heavy laden and needed rest ; and that only the few had deserted their posts, and made no effort to repair the great wrong they inflicted upon themselves and the cause they were sworn to serve, above wife. children, and even life itself. It was claimed by those who most severely con- sured them, that, in dread of their lives, they had violated the most saered pledges of their calling, and set an example of faithlessness which Christ himself has denounced. " If any man come to me," he says, " and hate not his father and mother, and wife and children, and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he can not be my disciple." It was also said that they forgot this assur- ance of the Master: "He that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." The broken-hearted
may well remember long with gratitude. But her heroic return to her post after the fever began to rage, in the face of such fearinl danger. her unremitting toil for the sick. the dying, and the dead, amidst horrors which we, at this distance, ean but faintiy im- agine, her care for the suffering and bereaved children, ministrations prolonged beyond her strength, even until stricken with unconsciousness, we feel are beyond the common words of praise. While we give thanks for the good example of our sister, for her beautiful life crowned by a martyr's death, we rejoice that her reward is on high, with the Divine Master, in whose footsteps she has so closely followed. To her-to Sisters Thecla, Frances, and Rath, and to all who thus count not their lives dear unto them. while ministering to their suffering fellow-men in His name, we seem clearly to hear Him say : " Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren. ve have done it unto me."
""Resolred, That we offer this loving tribute in memory of Sister Constance. to her late associates, to the mother superior of her order, to her pastor, Rev. Dr. Harris, and to Right Rev. Dr. Quintard, bishop of Tennessee, with our heartfelt sympathy and prayers. MRS. F. D. HARRIMAN. President. MRS. JOHN BROCKLESBY, Vice- President. MRS. STEPHEN TERRY, Corresponding Secretary. MRS. SARAHI E. DAVIS, Recording Secretary.
". HARTFORD, CONN., October 4, 1578.'"
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might be healed, but it would not be by their aid; they would preach the gospel, but not to the poor and afflicted. They would brave the condemnation they had so long hurled from the pulpit, and refuse to visit the sick. They would neither carry the cup of cold water, nor bear the bread of life to those who were stricken with the fever, and who called in vain for their ministra- tions. They could not even faintly imitate the commpassion of Christ. They falsified their own teachings and inflicted an injury on the church that the work of their braver brethren could only in part repair .* The constancy and devo- tion of these strengthened the weak, imparted hope to the despondent, and in- spired the despairing. They proved their faith by works, not a few of them seal- ing with their lives the faith which they thus so heroically illustrated. They knew that if there is ever a time when religion can bring peace and consolation, it is when panic, fear, and dread are aiding plague and pestilence in their work of wholesale destruction. They could not only minister to the sick, but they could be examples of that fearlessness and unselfishness which Jesuis demanded of his disciples when he bade them take no thought of the morrow : to do their
# These attacks upon the ministers who sought safety in flight were not permitted to pass unnoticed. Many of their brave and heroic brethren, before they succumbed to the fever, or after they had recovered from attacks of it, made haste to defend what their own conduci and sufferings, to the popular mind, made more glaring and less exeusable. They wrote long, and some of them able and manly vindications of a line of conduct they themselves could not, certainly did not, adopt, and by citations of Scripture, by arguments and precedents, sought to disabuse the people of what they deemed a preju- dice. This they were not able to do. Whether just or unjust, the people everywhere regard it the duty of ministers, as well as priests, to visit the sick and carry consolation to the dying; that it is the most sacred part of their mission to prepare men and women for the passage through death to life, and that the greater the dangers and difficulties, the greater the triumphis for the church here, and for themselves hereafter. The laymen, who were in the midst of the fever, read these communications to the daily press with impatience, and insisted that such ministers as those were who remained, aids or helpers, should be the companions at least, of the Howard Visitor, or Citizens' Relief Committee. On the other hand, not a few agreed with Rev. C. K. Marshall, of Vicksburg, a gentle- man whose religion- zeal and broad humanitarian views were only equaled by his courage, earnestness, and efficiency in a life-long experience in yellow fever epidemics. He said-and the writer knows many influential and intelligent persons, both Catholic and Protestant, who agree with him-that, "were it not for the doctrine of extreme unetion, deemed so essential by Catholics, the presence of clergymen and Sisters of Charity in sick-rooms, except as regalar nurses, is the last thing I would permit were I a physician, unless the patient, not his friends, were to express a desire for such ministrations. I fully believe there are not a few lying asleep in the graveyard, whose end was hastened by the presence of clergymen and others, who, no matter of what denomination, have felt called upon to rush into sick-rooms to show their sympathy (?) and get the patient ready to die. Oh! will we never learn any thing higher and better than that? Every- where this is the case. The ignorance of the dark ages still hangs in gloomy folds about ns. Can five minutes' religions services over a poor fellow covered with blisters, choked with black vomit, and barely able to tell his nurse what he wants, probably not that, renovate a moral nature steeped in unbelief and sin for fifty years, blanch the blackness of a purely wicked life to -nowy whitene-s, and fit for angelic associates a man, who. it he were to recover, would laugh at the idea of wishing religious services at the time his death was deemed at hand ?"
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duty and leave the consequences with God. No incident of the epidemie is more to be regretted than the desertion of their charges by so many of the soldiers of the cross, mustered into an army pledged to special service în times of distress. It was not, it was said, so bad, but it was held to be akin to the desertion of wives and children by husbands and fathers, in whom fear, dread, panic, and personal safety dominated over love and duty, killing all sense of the sacred obliga- tions which even the brutal savages sometime fulfill ; and it was all the more remarkable, and, in view of the cause of religion, all the more to be deplored, that even outcast women, and men not so good in life or living, were jeopardizing their lives, and that some of them died in the performance of those offices which, it is held, are a part of the duty of the pastors and masters of the Christian Church.
Devotion in life, and heroism even to death, were not alone the products of relig- ious life, though to Christianity mu-t be given the credit of the humanity and charity of the age. The societies (of which the city has a large number) were conspicuous through their relief organizations ; and the several nationalities made provision for their fellow-countrymen. The Free Masons, " the Odd-Fellows, the Knights of Pythias. Knights of Honor, the Hebrew Hospital Association. the "Typographical, the Telegraphers, and many others, were remarkable for an active benevolence, a sleepless vigilance, and an intelligently directed energy worthy of all praise.f The members of the Hebrew Hospital Association were espe- cially notable for ardor, for steadiness, for single-heartedness, and for un- stinted charity. They were no respecter of persons. They went from house to house, asking but one question, " Is aid needed ?" They made no distinc- tion. The lessons of humanity which they had learned in the synagogue they illustrated by a heroism in nothing less than that which inspired their Christian fellow-workers. The printers# and telegraphers were also conspicu- ous for good works. The nature of their employment exposed them more than any other class, save the doctors and nurses, to the fever poison, which
# This body, which, like the Odd-Fellows, rests its claims to consideration upon love and charity, was conspicuous for good works through its members, one of whom, Ex- Past Grand Master Andrew J. Wheeler, was a noble example of what a Mason should be under circumstances so extraordinary. He had passed through the preceding epidem- ics unscathed, and would not be persuaded to abandon what he deemed his post of duty. He worked faithfully and energetically, notwithstanding he seemed to have a premonition of death. Masonry was his ereed, and, according to the testimony of his brethren. he lived up to it as faithfully as man could. At a lodge of sorrow, held at Nashville, in January, 1879, and which was attended by the most distinguished Masons of the State, he was enlogized as a man of mark in an Order more illustrious than any other in the world, an l as one who-e memory should be embalmed for all time as that of a Mason worthy and well qualified for the higher honors of the heavenly Grand Lodge.
" The results of the labors of all these benevolent organizations will be found in the Appendix, at the close of this volume.
# The names of the printers who died will be found in the Appendix. The names of tel graphers who died are as follows: M. J. Kever, Henry Mynatt, II. M. Goewey. E. W. Gibson, C. R. Langford, J. I. Connelly, Thomas Hood, J. W. MeDonald, Howard Allen, J. R. Henrick, A. S. Hawkins.
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at night, when they were at work, is thought to be most deadly. They fell very fast, and died so quick as to seem doomed to annihilation. Only one of all those employed by the telegraph company escaped, and of the pro- prietons, editors, compositors, and pressmen of the daily press, only one escaped of the Lelger, four of the Avalanche, and two of the Appeal. Their numbers thus so rapidly decreased, these heroic men continued not only to fulfill the duties expectel of them by a public impatient for every faet and incident of the epidemic, but nur-ed their sick and buried their dead. Though often wearied to exhaustion, ready to fall for want of strength, they continued to send messages and print papers, and to suecor those who had claims upon them. Their filelity, courage, and humanity could not be sur- passed; and their love and devotion for one another was as tender and solicitous as that of a mother for her child. They exhibited, from first to last, the noble-t traits, and commanded the respect and admiration of the world. Something is also to be said for the bankers, who were necessary as the channels through which the money of the charitable and sympathizing people of the world reached those it was intended for. The cashiers of the four principal banks were attacked by the fever, but all fortunately recov- ered. The paying tellers of two, and the principal book-keeper of one, succumbed, and were numbered with the dead. These casualties only nerved the few whom panie and the fever had left to continue to deserve the commen- dation and confidence of the public. The Southern Express Company and all of the railroad companies were courpienous for good deeds. Subjected to severe losses by the total suspension of business, they made ample provision for their employés, and continued their operations as common carriers, regardless of ex- penses, running trains, and bearing to the doomed city, free, the contributions of coffins, food, and clothing, sent from cities often thousands of miles away. They kept up their full estate of employees, and, with a generosity unparalleled, surrendered their machinery and all that they hal to the public service. The Southern Express Company was especially con-pienous in this regard, and, of course, lost heavily. Its superintendents and many of his subordinates sickened and died, and yet its work was continued as if it was merely part of the general machinery by which the city wa- governed eund the sick and needly were pro- vided for. There was no nobler exhibit of unselfishness than this of a corpora-
"Major W. A. Willis, superintendent of the Southern Express Company, was con- spieuons as a member of the Citizens' Relief Committee. He was a noble example of true manhood. A man of fine address, of unsurpassed business qualifications, honest. earnest, and brave, he enjoyed the confidence of the public, and was looked to as a man for any emergency. At the most critical period of the epidemie he was entrusted by Gen. Wright with an important duty, which he entered upon with enthusiasm. perform- ing it in such a manner as to confirm the prevalent opinion that he was a soldier in the best sense of the term. He died of the fever on Sunday, the 15th of September, and it is not saying too much, was mourned for by every man in the city. His services in be- hali of the sick and needy can never be forgotten. Discreet in council, he was invalu- able in the administration of the affairs of the contmittee which, organized to dispense food and clothing to the needy, gradually, as necessity compelled, absorbed all the func- tions of municipal government, and became the prop and stay of society. 9
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tion that might have closed its doors without even a suspicion of seeming neglect. It might have done as the merchants did, and for the same reason ; indeed it was urged to do so ; but its officers chose to shoulder their share of the burden, let the result be what it might. The fatality which awaited them was appalling, yet their record was never dimmed-it was luminous to the last. They were worthy of the community, whose deplorable condition and intensified sufferings were the theme of every household in Christendom, exacting the tears of sinners and saints alike. The steamboat companies were also very gen- erous; and the Western Union Telegraph Company placed no limit upon the gratuitous work it did-a work, the value of which is beyond any po-si- ble computation It surrendered its lines in the cause of humanity. The post- office was also administered by heroes. It was kept open every day, and the mails were regularly delivered, though at a very great cost of life. But it was not quick enough, and, owing to the detention of some mails, was not reliable enough. The telegraph became, therefore, more than ever, a necessity. It per- formed a service the postal department, worked ever so faithfully, could not. It linked Memphis with the great centers of political, financial, commercial. and literary activity, so that the momentary shocks of pain and anguish were felt simultaneously everywhere, even to the furthest parts of the continent, and ap- peals for help were heard almost as quick as uttered. Without the telegraph, the suffering must have been more severe than it was. There was nothing to inter- vene between it and the most rapid and satisfactory service. Those who were far removed from the epidemic could not object to its messages, as they did to the letters by mail, that they were tainted with yellow fever poison. They might have objected that, like the post-master* and his employés, the telegraphers were dying too fast, and that even so valuable a service was too dearly bought. But they did not. Dominating all other thoughts there was that one of interest in the thousands who were victims of the plague, and for whom these gallant inen laid down their lives. "Duty" was thus exempli-
# Mr. R. A. Thompson, post-master, was also one of the editors and proprietors of the Avalanche. To these two positions he gave the closest attention, an attention that was redoubled as the epidemic increased in violence and his assistants died, as they did very rapidly. When taken with the disease he was promptly attended to. The city editor of the Ardanche, Mr. Herbert Landrum, took him to his home, and there he received all the nursing care that the best intelligence and the most friendly intere-t could inspire. He went through the crisis of the disease without much trouble, and was declared convalescing very nicely. But the second or third morning after he reached this stage, and contrary to the advice of Dr. Mitchell, who was attending him, he changed his pillow from the head to the foot of his bed, and changed his position correspondingly, in order to see better. Thus, as he thought, comfortably fixed, he indulged himself in a look through the morning papers, and perhaps some letters, partaking at the same time of some tea and toast. Little as this seems, it cost him his life. In sixteen hours after he was thus found by his doctor, he died, and in a few days was followed by his devoted friend young Landrum. Col. Knowlton, who succeeded him, in the manage- ment of the post-ulice, also followed him very soon, as did Mr. Catron, the associated press agent, who assisted Landrum in performing the last sad offices of encombining his remains and putting them away forever.
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