Interior view of a hospital tent from Life and Death in Rebel Prisons, Robert H. Kellogg, 1866. National Park Civil War Series
Recently, I pulled out A Field Guide for Genealogists, Second Edition, by Judy Jacobson and, as can sometimes happen, got distracted from my original quest. Ms. Jacobson wrote a chapter entitled “Those Old Time Diseases” that list causes of death that we probably have never heard the name, but we know the symptoms. She reminds us that “A few things could be claimed as near certainties in Colonial America. Children died more often in summer, the elderly in winter. And epidemics wiped out large numbers of the population in relatively brief periods of time.
“In those days, even today’s simplest of ailments could quickly become deadly. Through the years, supposed “diseases” that have been listed as cause of death have included “chills, kidney infection, measles, and teething.”
“And then of course, there were the diseases with those strange sounding names and curious spellings that are seldom, if ever, used today. As with proper names, spellings were not always considered important.”
So let’s look at these strange diseases to see if we have ever had the same symptoms.
- Abepsia/ablepsy: blindness.
- Addison’s Disease: a serious debilitating disease with symptoms of weight loss, low blood pressure, gastrointestinal problems and brown pigmentation to skin.
- Aglutition: not capable of swallowing.
- Anchylosis: stiff joint (actually, a second great-grandfather was discharged from the Confederate Army with a stiff ankle. He jumped off the flat car he was riding on to retrieve his hat and never walked far the rest of his life.)
- Barrel Fever: infirmity caused by intemperance.
- Bold hives/ bone hives: croup.
- Chilblains: swelling inflammation of the skin, especially the extremities, caused by exposure to cold. Although it could be acute or chronic, chilblains were less severe than frostbite.
- Congestive fever: malaria.
- Coryza: a cold.
- Dyspepsia: indigestion; impairment to digestion caused by ulcer, gall bladder disease or inflamed colon.
- Dropsy: congestive heart failure, edema; excessive buildup of clear fluid in the body tissues or cavities.
- Egyptian Chlorosis: hookworm.
- St. Vitus’ Dance: nervous twitches, chorea.
- Teething (death by): tooth infection and inflammation.
- Inanition: starvation.
- Milk Leg: a painful swelling of a leg caused by an infection beginning after labor.
- Quinsy: inflamed throat with fever and swelling, strep throat, tonsillitis.
Doctors seem to have a good grip on the cause of some diseases but no means for curing them. Aren’t we glad we have doctors, nurses and facilities our forefathers didn’t have.