Short Account of Malignant Fever in Philadelphia – Chapter XVII (1793), Philadelphia County, PA Contributed to the PAGenWeb Archives by Marjorie B. Winter [marjw@cox.net] Copyright. All Rights Reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm ********************************************************* C H A P. XVII. Another collection of scraps. THOSE who reflect on the many shocking cases of cruelty and desertion of friends and relations which occurred in Philadelphia, however they may regret, cannot be surprised, that in the country, and in various towns and cities, inhumanity should be experienced by Philadelphians, from strangers. The universal consternation extinguished in people’s breasts the most honourable feelings of human nature; and in this case, as in various others, the suspicion operated as injuriously as the reality. Many travellers from this city, exhausted with fatigue and with hunger, have been refused shelter and sustenance, and have fallen victims to the fears, not to the want of charity, of those to whom they applied for relief . Instances of this kind have occurred on almost every road leading from Philadelphia. People under suspicion of having this disorder, have been forced by their fellow travellers to quit the stages, and perished in the woods without a possibility of procuring any assistance. At Easton, in Maryland, a waggon-load of goods from Philadelphia (Page 83) was actually burned; and a woman, who came with it, was, it is said, tarred and feathered! ~~~~~~~~~~ In a town in Jersey, an association was entered into to prevent all intercourse with Philadelphia, and the inhabitants agreed to mount guard, alternately. One man, who was principled against this severity, refused to do duty, or join in the combination. He was advertised, and all people forbidden to have any communication with him—indeed he was absolutely refused the necessaries of life—a butcher, who passed his door, told him, when applied to for provisions, that he had meat enough, but none for him. Having gone, for a short time, from home, in the direction towards Philadelphia, but not within thirty miles of the city, the centinel on duty stopped him on his return—and he persisting in his determination to proceed, the other presented his firelock, and it is supposed would have shot him, but for the interference of a third person. ~~~~~~~~~~ The son of a citizen of Philadelphia arrived at a town in Virginia fourteen days before the time of fixing the quarantine, which was for twenty days. However, he was still obliged to undergo the full quarantine after that time, which made thirty-four days, exclusive of above six days spent on the road. ~~~~~~~~~~ An emigrant from Philadelphia, who had been away nearly three weeks, had to cross a ferry in a neighbouring state, and was provided with proper certificates of the length of time he was absent. He got into the scow, with his wife, and carriage, and was rowed over to the opposite side. There he was refused permission to land, as he had not a certificate from a particular magistrate in that part of the country. He leaped out of the scow, on a rock, and the centinel swore he would blow his brains out, if he advanced a step farther. His wife, who was in the boat, was under the most dreadful apprehensions, as the ferrymen were drunk, the horses in the carriage (Page 84) fretful, and the wind high. In spite of his intreaties and his offers to prove the length of his absence, he was obliged to return in quest of the magistrate pointed out. When he arrived at his house, which was several miles from the ferry, the justice concealed himself, though fear of catching the disorder. He then went to another, some miles further back. By the time he returned to the ferry, it was nine o’clock, and be had to wait till next morning. ~~~~~~~~~~ A poor man was taken sick on the road at a village not far from Philadelphia. He lay calling for water a considerable time in vain. At length, an old woman brought a pitcher full, and not daring to approach him, she laid it at a distance, desiring him to crawl to it, which he did. After lying there about forty-eight hours, he died; and the body lay in a state of putrefaction for some time, until the neighbours hired two black butchers to bury him, for twenty-four dollars. They dug a pit to windward—with a fork, hooked a rope about his neck---dragged him into it-.-and, at as great a distance as possible, cast earth into the pit to cover him. ~~~~~~~~~~ One of our citizens lost his brother in the country with the malignant fever; and, owing to the fears of the neighbours, could not prevail on any person even to make him a coffin. He was obliged to wrap him up in a blanket, to dig a grave for him, and bury him with his own hands. ~~~~~~~~~~ In a small town not far distant from Philadelphia, very arbitrary attempts were unfeelingly made to oblige one of our fugitives to mount guard against his own fellow citizens. He refused; and finding him resolute against every effort, they were obliged to desist. ~~~~~~~~~~ In one of the American ports, a Philadelphia vessel, just arrived, was forced to return to sea with only (Page 85) two gallons of water for each man. In the same port, one of the captains from our city had his boat stove to pieces. ~~~~~~~~~~ The 17th of September, the western shore Baltimore stage was stopped about two miles from that town, by an armed guard. The hour of arrival was about eight o’clock at night. There was a tavern at pistol-shot from the place. But the tavern keeper refused to receive the passengers, twelve in number. They were detained on the road all night without any shelter but the stage, in which they dozed a part of the night; during the remainder of it, they lay before a fire which they had kindled in the woods. Next morning, the tavern-keeper, one Murray, an inhuman Goth, when they sent to him for breakfast, refused to give them any. But about two hours afterwards, he let them have some bread, cheese, wine, and cider, with which they breakfasted on the road. In this situation they remained until the afternoon, that is, for eighteen hours. A captain in the French navy, with his wife, and several French gentlemen were among the passengers. ~~~~~~~~~~ A respectable citizen of Philadelphia left the city on the 17th of September, intending to reside on Long Island till the disorder ceased. He was taken ill on the road and prevented from proceeding, near Newark. He took lodgings at a captain Littel’s near Second river. The alarm spread of an man being in the house-- the neighbours assembled--fixed a fence on each side of Littel’s house, and obliged the people to remove out of a house near to it, which the fence likewise enclosed. The road and river lay before Littel's door; the former was entirely cut off by the fence, which run clear to the river. At the distance a hundred yards, was a church, in which public worship was intermitted for three or four weeks, through fear. Travellers took a circuitous route of above a mile, to avoid danger. (Page 86) At length he died—and his son, about nine years old, had to assist in performing the last melancholy rites for him. The fence remained for ten days after his death, to ascertain whether or not his family had taken the disorder. Justice requires me to add, that they were not suffered to be in want of any necessaries. They were directed to write what they had occasion for, on a paper and fasten it on the fence. Persons were appointed to supply them with whatever was requisite. ~~~~~~~~~~ An artful girl, just from Philadelphia, completely deceived the centinel stationed near Bordentown. She asked him, with much earnestness, as if afraid to venture in, was that there confounded yellow fever got into the town ?—“ No,” says he,” you may go in with as much safety as to your own home.” I need not add, that she went forward. ~~~~~~~~~~ A Philadelphian, in a small town near this city, lost his child in the fever, and went to bury it. On his return, he found all his furniture on the road, and the doors locked : and no intreaties could again procure him admittance. ~~~~~~~~~~ When tar was in use among the various preventatives, a boy was determined to secure himself by night as well as by day; and accordingly tied a tarred rope twice about his neck, and afterwards buttoned his collar with some difficulty. He woke in the night, half strangled, and black in the face. He may with justice be said to have nearly choaked himself, to save his life. ~~~~~~~~~~ It would be extraordinary if so very favourable an opportunity of inventing marvellous stories, should have been suffered to pass over without some prodigies being recorded. Mankind are ever prone to the (Page 87) extravagant, especially when their passions are warmed. And pity and terror, two passions particularly calculated to foster this disposition, being roused into action to the highest degree, the marvellous stories, which were every where current, and which even stole into print, can be easily accounted for. Some of the Maryland papers relate, that “a voice had been heard in the streets of Philadelphia, warning the inhabitants to prepare for their doom, as written in the prophet Ezekiel, ch. 27.” The Marylander who heard this voice, was certainly gifted with a most extraordinary ear, as, at the distance of above a hundred miles, he heard what we could not hear on the spot. And it would appear that his sight was equally good with his hearing; for he saw two angels conversing with the watch. It is true, he is too modest to say, he saw them himself—he only says “two angels were seen conversing with the watch at midnight, about the subject of what the voice had previously proclaimed.” But no person here having ever seen them—it is fairly presumable, as it would be highly criminal to doubt of facts resting on such authority, that he must have been the eye-witness himself. ~~~~~~~~~~ A merchant of Philadelphia, who had been absent or several weeks, was returning to the city in the second week of November, having heard that the danger was no more. He met a man on the road going from Philadelphia; and naturally enquired into the state of affairs. The other told him, that a coffin maker, who had been employed by the committee for relief of the sick, had found such a decrease of demand two weeks before, that he had a large supply of coffins on hand; but that the mortality had again so far increased, that he had sold all, and had seven journeymen employed day and night. This so alarmed the Philadelphian, that he again returned with his family, to wait a more favourable issue. ~~~~~~~~~~ (Page 88) A drunken sailor lay in the street, in the northern liberties, for a few hours asleep, and was supposed by the neighbours to be dead with the disorder; but they were too much afraid, to make personal examination. They sent to the committee at the city hall for a cart and a coffin. The carter took the man by the heels, and was going to put him into the coffin. Handling him roughly, he awoke, and damning his eyes, asked him what he was about? the carter let him drop in a fright, and ran off as if a ghost was at his heels. ~~~~~~~~~~ A lunatic, who had the malignant fever, was advised, by his neighbours, to go to Bushhill. He consented, and got into the cart; but soon changing his mind, he slipt out at the end, unknown to the carter, who, after a while, missing him, and seeing him at a distance running away, turned his horse about, and trotted hard after him, The other doubled his pace and the carter whipped his horse to a gallop; but the man turned a corner, and hid himself in a house, leaving the mortified carter to return, and deliver an account of his ludicrous adventure. ~~~~~~~~~~ Several instances have occurred of the carters on their arrival at Bushhill, and proceeding to deliver up their charge, finding, to their amazement, the carts empty. ~~~~~~~~~~ A woman, whose husband died, refused to have him buried in a coffin provided for her by one of her friends, as too paltry and mean. She bought an elegant and costly one—and had the other laid by in the yard. In a week, she was herself a corpse—and was buried in the very coffin she had so much despised. ~~~~~~~~~~ The wife of a man who lived in Walnut-street, was seized with the malignant fever, and given over by the doctors. The husband abandoned her, and (Page 89) next night lay out of the house for fear of catching the infection. In the morning, taking it for granted, from the very low state she had been in, that she was dead, he purchased a coffin for her; but on entering the house, was surprised to see her much recovered. He fell sick shortly after, died, and was buried in the very coffin, which he had so precipitately bought for his wife, who is still living. ~~~~~~~~~~ The powers of the god of love might be imagined to lie dormant amidst such scenes of distress as Bushhill exhibited. But we find that his sway was felt there with equal force as any where else. John Johnson and Priscilla Hicks, two of the patients, who had recovered, and officiated as nurses to the sick, were smitten with each other’s charms—and, procuring leave of absence for an hour or two, they came to the city on the 23d of September, were joined in the bands of matrimony, and returned to their avocation at the hospital. A long chasm took place in the hymeneal records; for no adventure of the same kind occurred, until the 5th of November, when Naffy, a Portuguese mulatto, took to wife Hannah Smith, a bouncing German girl, who, as well as himself, was employed as nurse. ~~~~~~~~~~ The state of the police and of society in Philadelphia, appears to no small advantage, when we confider one circumstance. Notwithstanding the absence of the magistrates, and the immense value of property left unprotected through the fears of the owners, and the deaths of the persons left to take care of it, there was only one or two burglaries committed.—One was attempted but the rogues were discovered and taken. A hardened villain from a neighbouring state, formed a plot with some negroes to plunder houses. He was a master rogue, had digested a complete system, and formed a large partnership for the more successful execution of his schemes. However, he was soon seized, and the company dissolved. (Page 90) The jail of Philadelphia is under such excellent regulation, that the disorder made its appearance there only in two or three instances, although such abodes of misery are the places where contagious disorders are most commonly generated. When the yellow fever raged most violently in the city, there were in the jail one hundred and six French soldiers and sailors, confined by order of the French consul; besides eighty convicts, vagrants, and persons for trial; all of whom, except two or three, remained purely free from the complaint. Several circumstances conspired to produce this salutary effect. The people confined were frequently cleansed and purified by the use of the cold bath—they were kept constantly employed—vegetables formed a considerable part of their diet—in the yard, vegetation flourished and many of them being employed in stone-cutting, the water, constantly running, kept the atmosphere in a moist state, while the people of Philadelphia were almost uninterruptedly parched up by unceasing heat. Elijah Weed, the late jailor, caught the disorder in the city, and died in the jail, without communicating it to any of the people confined. I hope 1 shall be excused for paying a tribute to the memory of this valuable citizen, under whose government of the jail, and with whose hearty co- operation, most of the regulations in that institution have been effected, which, with the successful experiments made in England, prove that jails may be easily converted from sinks of human depravity and wretchedness, into places of reformation; so that, instead of rendering the idle vagrant, confined merely on suspicion, or for want of friends to protect him, obdurate, wicked, and ripe for rapine and spoil,—the profligate and abandoned may be so reclaimed in them, as, on their liberation, to become useful members of society. For the honour of human nature it ought to he recorded, that some of the convicts in the jail, apart of the term of whose confinement had been remitted, a reward for their peaceable, orderly behaviour, voluntarily offered themselves as nurses, to attend the sick at Bush-hi1l, and have in (Page 91) that capacity conducted themselves with great fidelity. Among them are some who were formerly regarded, and with justice, as hardened, abandoned villains, which the old system usually rendered every tenant of a jail, who remained there a few weeks. According to the same summary system, these men’s lives would have been long since offered up as an atonement to society for the injury they had done it. That is, in plain English, because society had suffered one injury by rapine, it was necessary it should suffer another by law. But by the present improved and humane plan, they and great numbers of others are restored to society and usefulness once more. So much better, although a little more troublesome, is it, to reform men, than to butcher them under colour of law and justice. ~~~~~~~~~~ The sympathy for our calamities, displayed in various places, and the very liberal contributions raised for our relief, reflect the highest honour on their inhabitants, and demand our warmest gratitude, The inhabitants of Gloucester county, in New jersey, have the honour of being first in this laudable race. So early as the 30th of September, they had a considerable sum collected, with which they purchased a quantity of provisions for the use of the hospital at Bushhill. They have, from that time, regularly continued copious supplies twice a week. In addition to this, they have made, and are now making, considerable purchases of wood, for the relief of the poor during the winter. From a few citizens of Philadelphia, near Germantown, there have been received two thousand dollars; from others near Darby, fourteen hundred; from New York, five thousand; from a person unknown, five hundred; from Bucks county, sixteen hundred; from Delaware county, twelve hundred, from Franklin county, nearly five hundred, from Boston, sundry articles, which have been sold for nearly two thousand; and from sundry other persons and places, contributions equally liberal and honorable. (Page 92) There has been a very strong analogy between the state of Philadelphia, and that of an army. About the close of August, and till the middle of September, when the dangers were few, and, by prudent management, might have been easily surmounted, an universal trepidation benumbed people’s faculties; and flight and self-preservation seemed to engross the whole attention of a large proportion of the citizens. Just so, with an army of recruits. Every breath of wind terrifies them. Vague rumours are heard with fear and trembling. In every tree at a distance is beheld a formidable enemy, to whom they are ready to lay down their arms, and surrender at discretion. But when the “ din of arms, and cannon’s rattle” have familiarized them with the horrid trade of death, the obstinate phalanx beholds, unmoved, its ranks mowed down, and death advancing, with rapid strides to terminate their (as it is falsely termed) glorious career, —Even thus was it here. Towards the close of September, and during the first part of October, when the horrors of the scene were constantly increasing, and from fifty to a hundred were interred daily, then people cast away their various preventatives—thieves’ vinegar, tarred ropes, garlic, camphor bags, smelling bottles, etc.—And then it was, that they assumed a manly fortitude, tempered with the sober, serious pensiveness, befitting such an awful scene. A friend, to whom I communicated this idea, has endeavored to explain the matter differently. He says, that those who were terrified at first, generally fled away—and left behind such as were possessed of a stronger frame of mind. This is an error; as many men, who were among the most striking instances of the influence of terror at first, behaved, in the end, with the moil exemplary fortitude. ~~~~~~~~~~ Shall I be pardoned for passing a censure on those whose mistaken zeal led them, during the most dreadful stages of the calamity, to crowd some of our churches, and aid this frightful enemy in his work of destruction ? who, fearful, lest their prayers and adoration (Page 93) at home would not find acceptance before the Deity, resorted to churches filled with bodies of contagious air, where, with every breath, they inhaled noxious miasmata? To this single cause I am bold in ascribing a large proportion of the mortality—And it is remarkable, that those congregations, whose places of worship were most crowded, have suffered the most dreadfully. Will men never acquire wisdom ? Are we yet to learn, that the Almighty architect of the heavens and earth, does not require “ temples made with men’s hands?” that going to a place of worship, against the great law of self-preservation, implanted in indelible characters by his divine hand, on the breast of every one of his creatures, constitutes no part of the adoration due to the maker and preserver of mankind? that a “meek and humble heart” is the temple wherein he delights to be worshipped? I hope not—I hope the awful lesson some of our congregations hold forth on this subject, by a mortality out of all proportion to their numbers, will serve as a memento, at all future times, in the like critical emergencies ! ~~~~~~~~~~ Some of those who remained in the city, have, for reasons not very easy to justify, been in the habit of reproaching those who fled, with criminality, as deserters, who abandoned their posts. I believe, on the (Page 94) contrary, that as the nature of our government did not allow the arbitrary measures to be pursued, which, in despotic countries, would probably have extinguished the disorder at an early period—it was the duty of every person to avoid the danger, whose circumstances and situation allowed it. The effects of the desertion were, moreover, salutary . The sphere of action of the disorder was diminished. Two or three - empty houses arrested the disease in its progress, as it was slowly, but surely travelling through a street, and probably rescued a neighborhood from its ravages. We shall long have to mourn the severe loss our city has felt, in being bereft of so many valuable citizens: and had the 17,000, who retired, been in the city during the prevalence of the disorder, and lost as large a proportion of their number, as those did who remained, we should, instead of 4,000 dead, have lost nearly 6,000; and perhaps had to deplore in the number, another Clow, a Cay, a Lea, a Sims, a Dunkin, a Strawbridge, men of extensive business, whose loss will be long felt—a Pennington, a Glentworth, a Hutchinson, a Sergeant, a Howell a Waring, men endowed by heaven with eminent abilities—a Fleming, a Graessl, a Sproat, men of exalted piety and virtue—-a Wilson, an Adgate, a Baldwin, a Carroll, a Tomkins, an Offley[/Ed. AKA Osley], citizens of most estimable characters. Let those then who have remained, regard their long-absent friends, as if preserved from death by their flight, and rejoice at their return in health and safety. Let those who have been absent, acknowledge the exertions of those who maintained their ground. Let us all unite in the utmost vigilance to prevent the return of this fell destroyer, by the most scrupulous attention to cleansing and purifying our scourged city—and let us join in thanksgiving to that Supreme Being, who has, in his own time, stayed the avenging form, ready to devour us, after it had laughed to scorn all human efforts. (Page 95) Committee for relieving the sick and distressed, appointed by a meeting of the citizens of Philadelphia, summoned by advertisement in the public papers, Sept. 13, 1793. PRESIDENT Matthew Clarkson SECRETARY Caleb Lowne TREASURER Thomas Wistar MANAGERS OF BUSHHILL HOSPITAL Stephen Girard, Peter Helm ORPHAN COMMITTEE Israel Israel, John Letchworth, James Kerr, James Sharfwood COMMITTEE OF DISTRIBUTION Israel Israel, John Haworth, James Swaine, Mathew Carey, Thomas Savery, James Kerr, Jacob Witman John Letchworth, James Sharfwood, Samuel Benge SUPERINTENDANT OF THE BURIALS Samuel Benge OF THE DEAD, AND REMOVAL OF THE SICK DISTRIBUTOR OF SUPPLIES Henry Deforest COMMITTEE OF ACCOUNTS James Sharfwood, John Conelly COMMITTEE ON THE PUBLICATION Caleb Lownes, Mathew Carey OF LETTERS Assistant committee, chosen October 14 SAMUEL COATES, Chairman JOHN OLDEN, Secretary Northern Liberties Chestnut to Walnut William Peter Spragues Jeremiah Paul William Gregory James Cummins Jacob Witman Casper W. Morris James Swaine Thomas Castiere Joseph Burns George Forepaugh Walnut to Spruce Casper Snyder George Rutter Peter Smith Benjamin W. Morris Vine to Race Street Spruce to Pine Richard Whitehead Samuel Pancoast, jun. Joseph Kerr John Woodside John Ettries Levi Hollingsworth William Watkins Race to Arch Pine to South Thomas Willis John Wood Daniel Dawson Adam Brittle Peter Thomson William Eckard Thomas Allibone Thomas Disksey Lambert Wilmer Fergus M’Elwaine Arch to Market Southwark William Sansom William Innis Justinian Fox Richard Mosely Amos Wickershsam William Robinson, sen. Market to Chestnut John Grantham Arthur Howell John Savadge Alexander Cochran John Pattison Thomas Dobson