The Cholera Epidemic of 1873
in Posey County

INDIANA CONTRIBUTORS.

Dr. H. G. Jones, health-officer,
Evansville.

Dr. G. B. Walker, Evansville. 
Dr. B. J. Day, Evahsville. 
Dr. J. W. Kyle, Jennings Co. 
Dr. J. A. Scudder, Daviess Co. 
Dr. James Lamb, Dearborn Co. 
Dr. E. C. Bond, Dearborn County. 
Dr. J. W. Culley, Hendricks Co. 
Dr. Morrell, Vigo County. 
Dr. J. B. Armstrong, Vigo County. 


Dr. S. H. Pearse, Posey County. 
Dr. J. B. Weever, Posey County. 
Dr. E. V. Spencer, Posey County. 
Dr. M. S. Blount, Posey County. 
Dr. W. F. Collins, Marion Co. 
Dr. J. M. Darrach, Marion Co. 
Dr. S. Record, Marion County. 
Dr. T. Par vin, Marion County. 
Dr. E. Reed, Vigo County. 
Dr. S. J. Young, Vigo County. 
Dr. J. W. Thompson, Vigo Co. 


Dr. P. H. Bailhache, Surgeon Marine Hospital service.

INITIAL CASES.

Mount Vernon, Posey County May 27.

Evansville, Vanderburgh County June 5.

Indianapolis, Marion County July 2.

North Vernon, Jennings County July 30.

Terre Haute, Vigo County July 16.

Aurora, Dearborn County July 27.

Lizton, Hendricks County August 1.

Washington, Daviess County August 11.


Posey County.

Mount Vernon, the county town of Posey County, is located upon the banks of the 
Ohio River, about two hundred miles below Louisville, Ky. The town has a population 
of about three thousand inhabitants. At this town and in its vicinity the cholera-
epidemic of 1873 was characterized by its malignancy. The history of this demonstration 
is embraced in the following papers:

EPIDEMIC OF CHOLERA AT MOUNT VERNON, IND., IN 1873.
By S. H. Pearse, M. D.

The subject of cholera has at various times within the last half century occupied 
the minds of some of the most eminent physicians, and various theories have been 
advocated, and again abandoned for new ones equally as erroneous as the first. That 
cholera is a disease capable of being carried from place to place, it seems, there 
is no longer room to doubt. The excreta from the body of a cholera patient seems 
to contain some specific poison that can be transported any distance and produce 
the disease in any given locality, unless everything pertaining to said patient 
is most thoroughly disinfected. The beds upon which a patient has lain, all the 
curtains, and everything in and around the room, together with the excreta of the 
body, should be disinfected. Taking this view of the subject, we propose to give 
some of the causes of cholera in Mount Vernon, Ind., during the epidemic of 1873, 
the way it came here, and the course pursued by it previous to its breaking out 
in an epidemic form.

The location of the town of Mount Vernon is upon a bluff, one of the highest points 
on the Ohio River between Louisville and Cairo. The town has a population of about 
four thousand ; the river-banks are 12 feet above high-water mark, the ground 
ascending gradually back from the river until in the northern outskirts quite an 
elevation is reached.

East of the town there is a large extent of level farming-lands, under a good state 
of cultivation. This is really a second bottom. The map accompanying this paper 
shows the line of the bluff, and also the line of hills, or rolling lauds. The river
bottom is shown as overflowed lauds, which are extensively cultivated. West of the 
town, bordering on the river, there are no overflowed lands, but the lands are level. 
A short distance from the river the lands are rolling and very fertile. North of 
the town the lands are high and rolling, with extensive farms under good cultivation. 
South of the town and bordering on the river are low lands; this is a large overflowed 
bottom, reaching several miles up and down the river. The natural drainage of the 
town is excellent, although it has no sewerage. The town being thus situated, high, 
dry, airy, and clean, with natural surface-drainage, leaving no cess pools breeding 
pestilence, and the general health at that time being unusually good, there seems 
to have been no cause for alarm, even when it became an established fact that cholera 
had made its appearance, and was ravaging towns and cities in our sister State, 
Kentucky, bordering the Ohio River. The sanitary condition of the town was good, 
and, after it became known that cholera was approaching, most of our people were 
exceedingly careful in their diet, and watchful as to cleanliness.
------
We had heard of the epidemic now under consideration, prevailing at various points 
on the Mississippi River, it being the most violent at Memphis, Tenn. One of our 
citizens fell a victim to it there. His brother and partner went there to bring 
the body home. His body was placed on board the steamer Pat Rodgers, and brought 
to Mount Vernon, where it arrived on the 26th day of May. It was taken to the 
residence of another brother, Mr. F. C. Decker, who had the casket opened, and 
then buried on the same day. The night following, the brother who went to Memphis 
was taken with asevere diarrhoea [sic], which was pronounced by the attending 
physician, Dr. E. V. Spencer, to be cholerine.

Two or three days after this event, Mr. F. [C]. Decker had three children 
with the same character of disease, and but a few days elapsed before a child on 
the same block, immediately in the rear of Decker's, took sick and died.

A few days after the death of the child just mentioned a second, and finally a 
third, in the same house, took sick and died, each of the same character of disease.

Some time about the 20th day of May (the exact date I am unable to obtain) a 
steamboat, the Eddyville, from Nashville, Tenn., landed to take on corn about 
three miles above the city. While loading, a family living near the landing visited 
the boat. The landing and the house where the family resided is in section 23, 
township 7 south, range 13 west, (shown on map.) In a day or two the man, 
Mr. Russel, who had been on board the Eddieville, was taken with a severe 
diarrhoea [sic], but recovered. His wife was taken sick and was moved to 
her father's, Mr. Isaac Cully's, who lived iu section 30, township 6, range 13 west,
near the center of the section. Mrs. Russel was sick for several days, was visited by the 
neighbors, who talked among themselves that "this looks like cholera." Time 
passed from day to day until the morning of June 6, when Mr. Cully, the father, 
was taken sick, and died the same night. A young man by the name of Pickles, who 
was at work on a farm near Cully's, called there every day to inquire how they 
were getting along. He had not been feeling well for two or three days, and on 
June 7, in the morning, he came to Mount Vernon for medicine, was taken ill about 
10 o'clock a. m., and died at 7 o'clock p. m. of the same day.

During that night and the next day several severe cases of choleraic diarrhoea 
occurred at the hotel where he died, but none fatal. On the Tuesday following, 
the mother of the young man had an attack of cholera, and came near dying, but 
recovered. Following this a German lady, Mrs. Schwalm, washed the bedding, &c.,
for Mrs. Pickles. She took sick and died. Mrs. Alsted, who helped to take care 
of her, was taken sick and died.

Mr. Himmel and wife, who were at Alsted's, both died of the disease. 
George S. Koonce helped to bury Mr. Himmel and his wife. He was taken sick and 
died, as did also a daughter of his.

These cases all occurred in rapid succession, and none but Mr. Koonce lived but 
a few hours after the attack. From this neighborhood the disease was taken across 
the country some twelve miles, where there were several cases. It occurred in this 
way : When Mrs. Schwalm died, her husband's father came over, and to make the 
children more comfortable, he took the feather-bed upon which Mrs. S. died, put 
it into a wagon, put the children on it, and took them to his house. A few days 
following this the children, the old man, and his family were all down sick with 
cholera, and nearly all died, ln the city, for some days after the death of Pickles, 
there were no fatal cases ; but during this period fresh poison was constantly being 
brought to ns from Memphis, Nashville, and other points, in the following manner: 
Steamboats on our western rivers carry all kinds of freight and a great mauy passengers. 
Some of these passengers are in the cabin and some are on deck, and the deck-passengers 
and the deck-hands have their quarters in the engine-room, where they eat and sleep, 
and are much of the time lying around on piles of freight, and frequently on the 
bare deck.

At that time nearly all the boats on the river had more or less cases of cholera 
on board.

On May 26, the steamboat Pat Rodgers, from Memphis, Tenn., landed at our wharf, 
having cholera on board. The steamboat Arlington, May 26, landed and discharged 
a large lot of freight. May 30, the steamboat Mary Houston landed and put off 
freight; she had cholera on board. On the 26th of May the steamboat R.E. Lee was 
here, and again stopped at our wharf on the 10th of June. The steamboat Henry 
Probasco was here on the 6th of June. The steamboat James D. Parker landed here on 
the 22d of June, all on board sick except the captain and clerk. Then there were 
the regular packets stopping every day, going down and coming up the river, with 
cholera-cases on board most of the time. On the 21st of July the steamboat Camelia 
brought from Nashville, Tenn., a gang of negroes to work at the Grand Chain, (a 
Government work on the Wabash River.) One of those negroes died at the wharf-boat 
of cholera on arrival. A few days afterward another of this gang came over from 
the Grand Chain, was taken sick, and died of the same disease. So, from this, it 
can be readily seen that the source of the poison was being constantly supplied 
from abroad. The disease was developed gradually, occasional cases occurring from 
the 7th of June until about the 1st of July, when it began to assume an epidemic 
form, of a very malignant type. There were several cases in rapid succession, when 
after about one week there seemed to be a cessation, and we hoped it had passed by ; 
but we were disappointed.

About the 12th it began to rage in all its fury, very violent and continued, until 
the people became panic-stricken, and were then willing to act upon the advice of 
some of the physicians, to scatter, and not remain in the infected district. Had 
this advice been heeded a month sooner, without doubt it would have saved the lives 
of very many.

About the 18th of July the disease reached its climax, more cases occurring on that 
day than on any other; and for some five weeks following it gradually decreased in 
the number of cases.

From the 20th day of July, the city did not contain more than one-third the 
inhabitants that were here previously. They left the city in all directions, some 
going but a few miles into the country, while others went to their friends in 
other States. One of our citizens, who left here on the 18th, was a dairy-man who 
had visited all parts of the town twice a day, delivering milk to his customers, 
from the commencement of the disease. He started with his family for Portsmouth, 
Ohio, was taken sick while en route, and died just after his arrival there.

There were some others who were taken sick after leaving here, but this was the 
only death.

The disease prevailed to a great extent in the level parts of the town, where the 
drainage was the poorest, or, at least, where the least effort was made by the 
families to keep their premises clean and disinfected.

There were a few cases up on the high ground, but they were traceable, and the 
first parties attacked came with the cholera fully developed. The first case on 
the extreme high part of the city was a young man by the name of Woody. He had 
been on the river, came home with diarrhoea, which run on for some days, when 
genuine cholera ensued. He was boarding at his brother's. His brother's family 
consisted of himself, wife, wife's sister, and four children, one a babe. 
The young man died after about forty-eight hours' sickness, and was buried the 
same day that he died.

The persons attending the fuueral from this brother's, together with the young man's 
mother and two sisters, who each lived one mile in the country, on the high ground, 
were nearly all taken down with cholera.

The next, day after young Woody died, a young man, who lived in the country, and 
who had assisted in taking care of him, went home and lived but a few hours, dying 
of cholera in a malignant form.

Two days after young Woody's death his brother's wife was taken sick and died, as 
also two children, the babe living less than three hours.

They were all taken on the morning of July 17, and at noon two were dead, and the 
wife died about 5 o'clock p.m. On the 18th, the mother and one sister, living as 
before mentioned, were taken, and in a few days the father and two other sisters 
were taken down, and all died, making nine deaths in this family, which were directly 
traceable to the young man having been taken sick there. Besides these, there were 
three or four other cases that were very bad but recovered.

In the same manner some other cases might be traced from some particular family. 
But, it seems to me, enough has already been said to prove conclusively that it 
is communicable from one person to another, or from family to family, as the case 
may be.

During the prevalence of the disease in this locality, the medical profession were 
too much occupied to give the subject that close observation which it demanded, 
as to its contagious or infectious nature. But I believe we are all agreed in 
this: that it is communicable from one to another, and that very much can be done 
to check its progress aud destroy its peculiar poisonous properties, whatever they 
may be.

As to the treatment, we have nothing new to advance, as the treatment of cases 
here was very much the same as advocated by our best writers in previous epidemics.

The whole could be summed up as alterative and stimulating.

The diarrhœa was usually treated by giving pill, hydrg. [sic] and pulv.opii,
[sic] and sometimes ipecacuanha [sic]. After an action of the liver 
had been secured, astringents were used.

EPIDEMIC OF CHOLERA AT MOUNT VERNON, IND., IN 1873.
By E. V. Spencer, M. D.

During the summer and fall of 1872, dysentery prevailed to a considerable extent. 
[We] had, also, our average amount of sickness of the usual character, but all 
cases seemed to have a more irritable condition of the stomach and bowels than 
common, and this condition has continued up to this time, slowly and gradually 
passing away since the cessation of the cholera. The condition of the air and 
our physical condition seemed ready for an explosion, and all that was necessary
was a spark to ignite it; and this occurred on or about the 20th of May, 1873, 
by the remains-of a person who had died of cholera in Memphis, Tenn., being brought 
here for interment; also by persons visiting the infected steamers from Nashville
and Memphis, Tenn.

There was nothing unusual about the season, except very heavy rains about the time 
the disease was introduced among us. The season was rather cooler than common during 
the entire prevalence of the epidemic. It prevailed in the same localities it had 
in previous visitations—the second bottom, level, with rich, alluvial soil, with 
a heavy clay subsoil. The inhabitants almost invariably used well-water, and the 
wells were nearly full to the surface with a very impure water. When cholera broke 
out, there seemed no appreciable difference between the epidemic of 1873 and 
previous visitations of cholera that I have witnessed here, unless in the latter 
being more general. There were 110 peculiarities of the latter that did not attach 
with equal force to the former. When it broke out we were having vernal intermittents, 
as usual in this locality, occasionally a case of typhoid fever, some erysipelas, 
diarrhoea, and occasionally a case of mild dysentery. After the introduction of 
cholera, fevers diminished in numbers, and when it was at its worst, nothing else 
seemed to prevail; it absorbed up nearly every other complaint, and, as the epidemic 
abated, the usual diseases returned. The attack was almost invariably preceded by 
a painless diarrhœa. In some instances obstinate dyspeptic symptoms were manifest. 
Borborygmi preceded the onslaught of the disease in nearly every case; in fact, 
every one suffered more or less with uneasiness and rumbling of the bowels. In 
a majority of the cases the disease made its appearance in the latter part of the 
night, ushered in by nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, labored breathing, cramps, pulse 
increased in frequency and weak, great thirst, mind much disturbed, great anxiety; 
this, however, soon passed away, and if the disease passed on into collapse, the 
patient manifested a dogged indifference to life. In some cases no cramps existed, 
the patient passing on to a speedy death, without the spasm of a muscle. The intellect 
remained clear to the last, except in some cases where a suppression of urine existed 
for a considerable time; these cases became comatose. The severe cases were, hoarse 
talking, as from deep within the chest. The cramps were very painful, making the 
patient cry out. After the first dejections, which were generally bilious, they 
became rice-water in appearance; and after the continuance of the disease for a 
brief period, there was no appreciable difference between the dejections from the 
stomach and bowels. The urinary secretion seemed suspended, as well as that of the 
liver. In cholerine the poison fell with less force upon the system. Fever light; 
furred tongue; painful uneasiness of the bowels, nausea, mucus discharges from 
bowels, and occasionally bloody, but little or no bile discharged. These were the 
principal symptoms of the disease, which was quite manageable. I regard the disease 
as essentially contagious, as can be clearly proven by its spread during its prevalence 
among us. It seemed also to be propagated by getting into the water, from the 
dejections of cholera-patients being thrown into privy-vaults, and thus the wells 
became contaminated. It is generally believed here that few had cholera who drank 
exclusively cistern-water. The treatment I adopted depended entirely upon the stage 
of the disease.

First, I insisted on the patient going to bed, and permitted him or her under no 
circumstances to get up. The horizontal position is essential to a cure. Early in 
the disease opiates and counter-irritants were the remedies. Mustard cataplasms to 
epigastrium, abdomen, and over kidneys; one-half grain of morphine put upon the 
tongue and allowed to dissolve, or 1/4 to 1/3 grain hypodermically injected if vomiting 
existed; or a tea-spoonful of a mixture composed of equal parts of tinct opium, 
tinct.camphor, and peppermint essence, after each dejection; bits of ice to hold 
in the mouth. This treatment continued until the patient was relieved, or passed 
on into collapse. ln some instances I applied Niehol's vesicating fluid to epigastrium 
to check vomiting; after this was accomplished, if the patient was not in collapse, 
I gave subnit bismuth, morphine, act.plumbi, and hyd. cum creta, and continued 
it with an occasional dose of castor-oil and spirits of turpentine, or rhei pulv. 
in aromat. sirup of rhei, until the secretions were restored. Great care was required 
in diet. If the case emerged into collapse, medicine appeared to have but little 
influence; friction and counter-irritants were used upon the extremities; ice 
given freely; broths if the stomach would tolerate them; mercurials, and, if necessary, 
astringents, to prevent running off. Neither opiates nor alcoholic stimulants were 
prescribed. In my report will be found a Sally Kapier, colored, aged 22. This was 
the only case of recovery from collapse I saw during the entire epidemic. I know 
of no satisfactory treatment for this stage of the disease. I may here remark that 
in every case where it was possible I caused the dejections to be disinfected. 
I advised all parties to avoid, as far as consistent, encountering or coming in 
contact with the disease, and when it became epidemic in the city, I advised all 
who could to leave, and am confident that to this more than any other agency is 
to be attributed the cessation of the disease. The epidemic commenced the last 
of May. I labored night and day in it up to July 18. The hardships attendant upon 
this protracted epidemic had undermined my health, so that I was totally disabled; 
constant diarrhoea and frequent vomitings, obstinate dyspeptic symptoms, &c., rendered 
it imperative for me to get out of the contaminated atmosphere to recuperate. 
I left on the 18th of July; after which there were some ten or twelve cases in 
the city.