Crawford County IL Archives History .....Small Pox At Robinson 1884
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Small-Pox

Since the 18th inst., there has been no case of small-pox in the State - the 
first time it has been entirely free from the disease since November, 1879. 
During the quarter, reports of cases have been received from Streator, LaSalle 
county; Trenton, Clinton county; Robinson, Crawford county; Belleville, St. 
Clair county; Mound Junction, Pulaski county, and Highland, Madison county. It 
will be noted that, with the exception of Streator, these places are all in 
the southern portion of the State. The cases at Trenton, Belleville and 
Highland came direct from St. Louis, and those at Mound Junction occurred 
among two families of destitute negroes, the contagion attributed to steamboat 
hands. There was no spread of the disease, and the victims were all 
unvaccinated. At Streator the outbreak was more serious - a total of 21 cases 
with five deaths occurring between March 28 and June 4. The contagion is 
attributed by some to the same German immigrant, Fritz Bocker, who spread the 
disease through Grundy and LaSalle counties in February and March last, as 
reported at the April meeting; by others it is attributed to a pack peddler. 
Of the 21 cases, 12 had never been vaccinated (the first 8 cases occurred 
among these;) 4 adults had been vaccinated in infancy or childhood only. The 5 
deaths occurred among the 12 unvaccinated. The actual cost of the outbreak was 
$5,763.25, and the loss to common carriers, business, labor, etc., is 
variously estimated at from $15,000 to $20,000.

The outbreak at Robinson was marked by some sensational features, with which 
the Board is probably familiar, but which may be here briefly rehearsed for 
the purpose of calling attention, both that of the profession and of the 
public, to an obvious duty of the attending physician, no less than of a 
sanitary officer, whenever suspicion is aroused that a given case may be of a 
contagious nature.

The facts, as narrated by the attending physician, Dr. T. N. Rafferty, of 
Robinson, are as follows:

The body of Susan Young was sent to Robinson by express from Cincinnati, on 
Friday, May _, accommpanied by a permit to ship, signed by Dr. D. D. Bramble, 
Health Officer of Cincinnati, to J. F. Wiltse, undertaker, and giving the 
cause of death as purpura hemorrhagica. At the same time a telegram was 
received by the girl's mother, Mrs. Caroline Young, stating that the body had 
been sent, and "would not be in a condition to be exposed." This was signed by 
Dr. B. F. Miller, of Cincinnati, the attending physician. The local 
undertaker, Thos. Kellar, took the body to Mrs. Young's residence, two miles 
north of town - and, at her urgent request, inspired by doubts as to the 
corpse being that of her daughter, he opened the coffin in the presence of 
relatives and a few friends of the family. The body was examined until they 
were satisfied as to its identity, when the coffin was closed, and remained in 
the house until next day, when burial took place at the neighboring cemetery, 
in presence of quite a number of persons, but the coffin was not again opened. 
Of the whole number exposed, five took small-pox after the usual period of 
incubation, viz: Mrs. Young, Emma Fitch, Willie McCabe, May McCabe, and Mr. 
Kellar, the undertaker. These were taken sick May 15, Tuesday, and the disease 
was recognized as small-pox on the following Friday morning, although it was 
suspected on Thursday. Of these five cases, Mrs. Young, and Mr. Kellar died, 
she on the fourth and he on the eighth day of the disease. Mrs. Young's was a 
typical case of varliosa hemorrhagica, and Mr. Kellar's proved to be of the 
confluent type. The old lady had nvever been vaccinated. Kellar was vaccinated 
twenty years ago, and never revaccinated. Of the other three cases above 
mentioned, Emma Fitch had been vaccinated in infancy, but not revaccinated, 
and had an ordinary attack of discrete small-pox; ending in recovery. Neither 
of the two McCabe children had ever been vaccinated, and both had confluent 
small-pox, ending in recovery. The other resulting cases were Lizzie Young and 
Mrs. McCabe, who nursed the Young family during their sickness, and Mrs. 
Kellar and child, three years old, wife and child of Thos. Kellar, and who 
were with him during his sickness. Of these, Lizzie Young had been vaccinated 
eight years ago, and Mrs. McCabe some twenty years ago. Both had very mild 
varioloid; one had two pocks, the other five, none on the face in either case. 
Mrs. Kellar had spurious vaccine disease a number of years ago, and was 
vaccinated when it was ascertained her husband had variola, with the effect of 
modifying the disease to some extent, although she was very sick, but is now 
convalescent.

Dr. Rafferty writes that in this case the vaccination that "took" was not 
performed until seven days before the initial variola fever set in. The little 
girl was unvaccinated until after her exposure, but the disease in her case 
was greatly modified, and of short duration. These nine cases, with two 
deaths, constitute the extent of the outbreak, and were all in the two houses 
where the disease first occurred. Very naturally there was intense excitement 
in Robinson and vicinity; the town is said to have been almost depopulated, 
public schools were closed and business suspended. On referring to the 
Vaccination Order of the board had been very imperfectly complied with. 
Instructions, with new sets of blanks, etc., were at once forwarded to the 
county superintendent, and the authorities were advised that the closure of 
the schools would be entirely unnecessary if the scholars were properly 
protected by vaccination.

The antecedent history of Susan Young's case shows that she was attending a 
private boarding school for music in Cincinnati; that after an absence of some 
days in Kentucky she returned to the school, was taken ill, developing 
symptons which led to a diagnosis of purpura hemorrhagica - the diagnosis 
being concurred in by two consulting physicians - was treated for purpura, and 
died on the eighth day. It transpires that the possibility of the case being 
one of purpura variolosa, or hemorrhagic small-pox, was discussed, but not 
accepted; and that consequently no restrictive measure, no isolation of the 
patient, no revaccination of the other inmates of the house, was resorted to. 
Within two weeks after her death two of these inmates were attacked with what 
was finally recognized as small-pox, and subsequently a third case developed - 
one of the three dying of purpura variolosa, or hemorrhagic small-pox.

Additional Comments:
Sixth Annual Report of the State Board of Health of Illinois; Springfield, 
Illinois: H. W. Rokker, State Printer and Binder, 1884.

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