KOSSUTH COUNTY AND THE SPANISH FLU EPIDEMIC OF 1918 - PART 3

THE 1918 ELECTION

One of the county offices up for election in 1918 was that of the Kossuth County Recorder.  Two ladies were vying for the position:  Mrs. Myrle Curyea of Germania was running on the Republican ticket and Mrs. Bert (Elizabeth) Resseguie on the Democratic. Both were widows and mothers with a need to support their families.  The husband of Mrs. Curyea had died suddenly in November of 1915 leaving her with three small children – Charlotte, Thomas and Lois.  Ernest Curyea had run an auto livery business which Myrle continued to operate independently, doing the driving herself.

From the November 17, 1918 edition
of the Kossuth County Advance

Mrs. Curyea had handily defeated the incumbent, Mrs. Laidley, in the June primary with 757 more votes cast in her favor than her opponent.  At that time no Democratic candidate was running against her so her victory seemed assured.  She nevertheless vigorously campaigned, canvassing the whole county seeking votes. 

Elizabeth Resseguie got a late start in the race, not declaring her candidacy until the middle of October.  She worked occasionally at the Recorder’s office during rush times, but had devoted most of her time to caring for her husband during his long illness.  When he passed away on October 5^th, she was left destitute with two children to care for, one of whom was an invalid.  Friends encouraged her to run for the office since she was familiar with its duties and if procured, would allow her to provide for her family. 

In the first part of October two of the Curyea children contracted influenza from which they recovered under their mother’s watchful care.  Whether it was exposure from their illness or while on the election trail, Myrle herself became stricken while campaigning in West Bend on October 24^th.  She was taken to her home that night and her mother came to tend to her.  It was hoped that the duration would be short and that she would soon be able to resume her run for office, but bronchial pneumonia set in.  Myrle Curyea died on Friday, November 1^st, just four days before the election.

DEATH COUNT GROWS

In the first seven days of November, eleven citizens from around the county would die from the epidemic.  Inez and Guy Brown, a young married couple who farmed in Hebron Township, would die three days apart.  With her husband serving in France, the news of Marie Jackson’s death on the 4^th had to be sent to him by cable.  The Gebhart brothers from Whittemore died a day apart – Tom on the 6^th and Will on the 7th.   

Plans to lift the quarantine went forward.  Some schools began to reopen the week of November 4^th and a few area churches resumed services on the 10^th.  The Whittemore Champion stated that although many of the towns around them had lifted their quarantine, their city had not.  However, the pool halls were allowed to reopen, but there would be no chairs allowed “for loafers.”  The article went on to say that most pool halls in other towns had never been closed down at all during the quarantine.

Hot spots of illness seemed to come and go.  Numerous families in Sherman Township were suffering as well as a number of homes in Algona.  A request for 300 masks was made to the Red Cross when a new epidemic was declared in Swea City.  Within 18 hours the request had been filled. 

ARMISTICE!

In the midst of all this darkness, armistice was declared.  Germany had surrendered and the war was over!  Church bells pealed as the word spread through the city on November 11th.  By 7 a.m. streets were filled with people embracing and shaking hands.  As word spread throughout the county, more and more people came to Algona to participate in the celebration.  Mayor Wadsworth ordered businesses closed for the day. The old cannon on the courthouse lawn was pulled on to Call Street and fired.  The reverberation from the blast broke a number of windows in the courthouse, the hotel and many surrounding businesses.  Houses were adorned in patriotic bunting and flags.  Decorated automobiles paraded through the streets honking their horns with cans, bells and other noise makers tied to the bumper and bouncing as they drove along.  As the Algona Military Band marched down State Street, bystanders fell in behind as they worked their way to the bandstand at the courthouse. 

Armistice Day - November 11, 1918
on State Street in front of the
Kossuth County Courthouse

Armistice Day - November 11, 1918
on the Kossuth County Courthouse grounds

The flag was flying at the bandstand which was patriotically decorated in red, white and blue and the flags of all our Allies.  A figure of the Kaiser was hung in effigy.  As the band played “The Star-Spangled Banner,” all heads were bowed in solemn thanksgiving. Judge W.B. Quarton, Mayor Wadsworth, Attorney S.E. McMahon and Congressman-elect L.J. Dickinson all addressed the assembly along with messages and prayers from Rev. Todd and Father Maynard.  That evening thousands gathered at the athletic field around a bon fire.  A great cheer went up from the crowd as the effigy of Kaiser Wilhelm was thrown into the fire. The celebration lasted long into the night.  No one seemed to give any thought to the easily transmittable disease in their midst.

With the war over, excitement grew for the return of all the young men serving in the armed forces.  Sadly, word was received of three more who had passed away from Spanish flu.  It took almost a month for notification to arrive of the deaths of Anton Fehr from St. Benedict who died on October 18^th and of Henry Harrenga from Titonka who died on October 25^th.  Both had been serving in France.  A young soldier from LuVerne, Leon Klasse, died at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indiana, on November 16th.  He had been married the previous July to Miss Rose Hartman before joining the army in September.

INTERVIEW OF DOCTORS

The rate of infectious cases continued to grow.  Deaths occurred at an alarming rate – sometimes two or three per day as the month wore on.  In an effort to inform the public about the highly contagious disease, the Upper Des Moines – Republican conducted interviews with four local doctors concerning the epidemic.  All doctors agreed that it was necessary to wear “flu” masks when attending patients.  Dr. C. H. Cretzmeyer stated he presently had thirty to forty cases under his care, with some of them being in dangerous condition.  He talked about a serum he had secured from the hospital in Rochester as a preventative which seemed to be working.  A patient received three shots each one week apart which seemed to provide eight to ten months of immunity.    

At that time Dr. M. J. Kenefick had fifteen cases, ten of which were in Algona.  He observed that although the disease was a more virulent form of influenza than seen in the past, it did not seem to attack young children and older people as frequently as others and was passed along by secretions from the nose and throat.  Dr. C. D. Fellows had a current caseload of thirty to forty cases with new cases appearing every day.  He did not believe that the disease was letting up and was in fact worse than ever.  Dr. F. L. Tribon stated that he was busy day and night treating up to forty patients a day, although they were not all flu cases.

NOVEMBER COMES TO AN END

Each of the stories of those who perished is sadder than the one before.  Hanna Blome left behind a one-week old baby boy and Ethel Funderburke was survived by a ten-month old little girl. The town of Burt reinstituted its quarantine shortly after suffering its first casualty with the death of Ilo Elizabeth Fish who was ten months old.  After Edna Guenther died, her casket was wheeled into the sick room of her husband who was bedfast with pneumonia so that he could take one last look at his wife.

November finally came to a close.  Would December bring some relief?

Kossuth County Deaths from Influenza/Pneumonia November 1918
Name	Location of Death	Age	D/O/D	Record*
Myrle Curyea	Germania	30Y 1M 19D	11/01/1918	KCDR
Henry Wessels	Lincoln Twp.	20Y1M 11D	11/02/1918	KCDR
Eleba Oscar Walker	Burt Twp.	36Y 8M	11/08/1918   (actual 11/02/1918)	KCDR
Carl Grey	Seneca	18Y 7M 29D	11/03/1918	KCDR
Inez Allen Brown	Hebron Twp.	27Y 2M 20D	11/04/1918	KCDR
Marie Jackson	Springfield Twp.	21Y 8M 9D	11/04/1918	KCDR
Emil Edward Nightingale	LuVerne	40Y 8M 16D	11/04/1918	KCDR
T. E. Gebhart	Whittemore	33Y 9M 16D	11/06/1918	KCDR
Verne Henry White	LuVerne	16Y 7D	11/06/1918	KCDR
Lucas (Guy) Brown	Hebron Twp.	32Y 0M 17D	11/07/1918	KCDR
Frank (Will) Gebhart	Whittemore	36Y 4M 5D	11/07/1918	KCDR
Dorothea Blanchard	Algona	1M 5D (7M)	11/11/1918	KCDR
Segred McAdams	Swea City	20Y 5M 3D	11/11/1918	KCDR
Martha Sedney (Sidney)	Harrison Twp.	20Y 8M 7D	11/12/1918	KCDR
Isac William Wiefel (Wepel)	Titonka	39Y 9M 27D	11/12/1918	KCDR
Wm. Haggerty (Hegarty)	Algona	27Y 3M 9D	11/12/1918	KCDR
Alvy Roy Dourte	Swea City	22Y 4M 19D	11/13/1918	KCDR
Wm. Henegan (Hanegan)	Algona	3Y 5M 3D	11/13/1918	KCDR
Hanna Blome	Bancroft	23Y 5M 22D	11/13/1918	Obit/NA
Lizzie Shipley (Shipler)	Sexton	27Y 4M 5D	11/15/1918	KCDR
Johnie Roth (Rath)	Lone Rock	19Y 4M 11D	11/15/1918	KCDR
Mary J. Vera	Algona	2Y 6M 11D	11/16/1918	KCDR
Helen Hagen Jorgenson	Algona	20 or 21Y	11/16/1918	Obit/NA
Marie Nehring	Bancroft	5Y	11/16/1918	Obit/NA
Ollie Johana Monson	Hebron Twp.	31Y 11M 5D	11/17/1918	KCDR
John Roth (Rath)	Lone Rock	52Y 8M 14D	11/17/1918	KCDR
George Shepherd	Algona	19Y 2M 15D	11/18/1918	KCDR
Grace Mrands Oakes	Wesley	23Y 4M 3D	11/18/1918	KCDR
Emma Dickman	Titonka	8Y 10M 14D	11/19/1918	KCDR
Harland Hutchison	Wesley	10M 19D	11/19/1918	KCDR
Edna Guenther	Greenwood Twp	23Y 9M 8D	11/21/1918	KCDR
Ilo Elizabeth Fish	Burt	10M 14D	11/22/1918	KCDR
Ethel Funduburk (Funderburke)	Swea City	22Y 7M 1D	11/22/1918	KCDR
James Haggerty (Hegarty)	Algona	18Y 7M 23D	11/23/1918	KCDR
Jennie Potter	Algona	33Y 1M 20D	11/24/1918	KCDR
Baby Owens	Ramsey Twp		11/1918	Obit/NA
Edgar Henegan (Hanegan)	Algona	34Y 9M 23D	11/27/1918	KCDR
Grace Miranda Oakes	Wesley	23Y	11/28/1919	Obit/NA
*KCDR=Kossuth County Death Records  -  Obit/NA=Obituary/News  Article -   ( ) show corrections to the original record

Until next time,

Kossuth County History Buff

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