Epidemics in U.S. - 1628 - 1918Epidemics have always had a great influence on people -- and thus influencing, as well, the genealogists trying to trace them. Many cases of people disappearing from records can be traced to dying during an epidemic or moving away from the affected area. Some of the major epidemics in the United States are listed below:
1657 Boston: Measles
1687 Boston: Measles
1690 New York: Yellow Fever
1713 Boston: Measles
1729 Boston: Measles
1732-33 Worldwide: Influenza
1738 South Carolina: Smallpox
1739-40 Boston: Measles
1747 Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania & South Carolina: Measles
1759 North America (areas inhabited by white people): Measles
1761-61 North America & West Indies: Influenza
1772 North America: Measles
1775 North America (especially hard in New England): Epidemic (unknown)
1775-76 Worldwide: Influenza
1781-82 Worldwide: Influenza (one of worst flu epidemics)
1788 Philadelphia & New York: Measles
1793 Vermont: Influenza and a "putrid fever"
1793 Virginia: Influenza (kills 500 people in 5 counties in 4 weeks)
1793 Philadelphia: Yellow fever (one of worst)
1783 Delaware (Dover): "extremely fatal" bilious disorder
1793 Pennsylvania (Harrisburg & Middletown): many unexplained deaths
1794 Philadelphia: Yellow fever
1796-97 Philadelphia: Yellow Fever
1798 Philadelphia: Yellow Fever (one of worst)
1803 New York: Yellow Fever
1820-23 Nationwide: "fever" (starts on Schuylkill River, PA & spreads
1831-32 Nationwide: Asiatic Cholera (brought by English emigrants)
1832 New York & other major cities: Cholera
1837 Philadelphia: Typhus
1841 Nationwide: Yellow Fever (especially severe in South)
1847 New Orleans: Yellow Fever
1847-48 Worldwide: Influenza
1848-49 North America: Cholera
1850 Nationwide: Yellow Fever
1850-51 North America: Influenza
1852 Nationwide: Yellow Fever (New Orleans: 8,000 die in summer)
1855 Nationwide (many parts): Yellow Fever
1857-59 Worldwide: Influenza (one of disease's greatest epidemics)
1860-61 Pennsylvania: Smallpox
1865-73 Philadelphia, New York, Boston, New Orleans, Baltimore, Memphis, & Washington D.C.: a series of recurring epidemics of Smallpox, Cholera, Typhus, Typhoid, Scarlet Fever & Yellow Fever
1873-75 North America & Europe: Influenza
1878 New Orleans: Yellow Fever (last great epidemic of disease)
1885 Plymouth, PA: Typhoid
1886: Jacksonville, Fl: Yellow Fever
1918 Worldwide: Influenza (high point year) More people hospitalized in World War I from Influenza than wounds. US Army training camps became death camps --with 80 percent death rate in some camps.
Finally, these specific instances of cholera were mentioned:
1833 Columbus, Ohio
1834 New York City
1849 New York
1851 Coles Co., Illinois
1851 The Great Plains
1851 Missouri
1628-1631 / New England / Small Pox
1638 / New England / Small Pox & Spotted Fever
1648-1649 / Massachusetts Bay Colony / Small Pox
1657-1658 / Boston / Measles
1659 / Massachusetts Bay Colony / Throat Distemper
1677-1678 / Charlestown & Boston / Small Pox
1679-1680 / Virginia / Small Pox
1687 / Boston / Measles
1689-1690 / New England / Small Pox
1690 / New York / Yellow Fever
1693 / Boston, MA / Yellow Fever
1696 / Jamestown, VA / Small Pox
1699 / Charleston & Philadelphia / Yellow Fever
Mar 1699 / South Carolina / Small Pox
1702 / New York / Yellow Fever
1702-1703 / Boston, MA / Small Pox
1706 / Charleston / Yellow Fever
1711-1712 / South Carolina / Small Pox
1713 / Boston / Measles
1715-1725 / Most of the Colonies / Small Pox
1721 / Boston, MA / Small Pox
1723-1730 / Boston, New York, Philadelphia / Small Pox
1729 / Boston / Measles
1732 / Charleston & New York / Yellow Fever
1732-3 / Worldwide / Influenza
1735-1740 / New England / Small Pox, Scarlet Fever & Diphtheria
1734 / Virginia / Yellow Fever
1738 / South Carolina / Smallpox
1739-40 / Boston / Measles
1741 / Virginia / Yellow Fever
1747 / CT,NY,PA,SC / Measles
1752 / Boston, MA / Small Pox
1759 / N. Amer [areas inhabited by white people] / Measles
1760-1761 / Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachussetts, Charleston / Small Pox
1761 / N. Amer and West Indies / Influenza
1762 / Philadelphia / Yellow Fever
1763 / Philadelphia / Throat Distemper
1764 / Boston, MA / Small Pox
1769 / New York / Throat Distemper
1772 / N. America / Measles
1772-1774 / New England / Small Pox
1775 / N. Amer [especially hard in NE] / epidemic Unknown
1775-6 / Worldwide [one of the worst epidemics] / Influenza
1776 / Boston, MA / Small Pox
1778 / Boston, MA / Small Pox
1783 / Dover, DE ["extremely fatal"] / Bilious Disorder
1788 / Philadelphia and New York / Measles
1792 / Boston, MA / Small Pox
1793 / Vermont / [a "putrid" fever] and Influenza
1793 / VA [killed 500 in 5 counties in 4 weeks] / Influenza
1793 / Philadelphia [one of the worst epidemics] / Yellow Fever
1793 / Harrisburg, PA [many unexplained deaths] / Unknown
1793 / Middletown, PA [many mysterious deaths] / Unknown
1794 / Philadelphia, PA / Yellow Fever
1796-7 / Philadelphia, PA / Yellow Fever
1798 / Philadelphia, PA [one of the worst] / Yellow Fever
1803 / New York / Yellow Fever
1820-3 / Nationwide [starts-Schuylkill River and spreads] / "Fever"
1831-2 / Nationwide [brought by English emigrants] / Asiatic Cholera
1832 / NY City and other major cities / Cholera
1833 / Columbus, OH / Cholera
1834 / New York City / Cholera
1837 / Philadelphia / Typhus
1841 / Nationwide [especially severe in the south] / Yellow Fever
1847 / New Orleans / Yellow Fever
1847-8 / Worldwide / Influenza
1848-9 / North America / Cholera
1849 / New York / Cholera
1850 / Nationwide / Yellow Fever
1850-1 / North America / Influenza
1851 / Coles Co., IL, The Great Plains, and Missouri / Cholera
1852 / Nationwide [New Orleans-8,000 die in summer] / Yellow Fever
1855 / Nationwide [many parts] / Yellow Fever
1857-9 / Worldwide [one of the greatest epidemics] / Influenza
1860-1 / Pennsylvania / Smallpox
1865-73 / Philadelphia, NY, Boston, New Orleans / Smallpox
Baltimore, Memphis, Washington DC / Cholera
A series of recurring epidemics of: / Typhus, Typhoid, Scarlet Fever, Yellow Fever
1873-5 / N. America and Europe / Influenza
1878 / New Orleans [last great epidemic] / Yellow Fever
1885 / Plymouth, PA / Typhoid
1886 / Jacksonville, FL / Yellow Fever
1918 / Worldwide[high point yr] more people were hospitalized in WWI from this epidemic than wounds. US Army training camps became death camps, with 80% death rate in some camps / Influenza