KOSSUTH COUNTY AND THE SPANISH FLU EPIDEMIC OF 1918 - PART 5 (FINAL CHAPTER)

“THE FLU”

By Sgt. Whitley, U.S.A.

When your back is broke and your eyes are blurred,

And your shin bones knock and your tongue is furred,

And your tonsils squeak and your hair gets dry

And you’re doggone sure you’re going to die,

And you’re skeered you won’t and afraid you will,

Just drag to bed and have your chill,

And pray the Lord to see you through,

For you’ve got the Flu, Boy, you’ve got the Flu.

When your toes curl up and your belt goes flat,

And you’re twice as mean as a Thomas cat,

And life is a long and dismal curse,

And your food all tastes like a hard boiled hearse,

And your lattice aches and your head’s a buzz

And nothing is as it ever was.

Here are my sad regrets to you—

You’ve got the Flu, Boy, you’ve got the Flu.

What is it like, this Spanish Flu?

Ask me, Brother, for I’ve been thru.

It is but Misery out of Despair,

It pulls your teeth and curls your hair,

It thins your blood and breaks your bones,

And fills your craw with moans and groans.

And sometimes, maybe, you get well.

Some call it Flu—I call it HELL.

The poem above appeared in the January 1, 1919 issue of the Upper Des Moines – Republican.  During the previous two-week period, most of the staff had suffered through their own personal bout with the dreaded disease.  After days spent in bed, all were back at work but still feeling the lingering effects of the flu.  They all agreed that the poem described their experiences very well.

Citizens were hopeful that the new year would bring an end to the illness and death that had plagued the area for over three months.  In an effort to bring some good news to their readers, area newspapers were filled with uplifting stories of men returning from service and of area nurses who had volunteered their services to care for those who were wounded or ill while in service to our nation.  Basketball games between the Bulldogs of Algona High School and their rivals from other communities had resumed at Bryant.  After having been closed for nearly three months, the Whittemore schools had reopened on December 30^th.  Flu and pneumonia still had a grip on the area, but it was decided that school might as well be open since so many children were running around the community anyway. 

NOT ALL GOOD NEWS

The Titonka Topic told the story of the Simon Wubben family.  All members of the household had contracted the disease at once except for a four-year-old boy.  Too small to pump water, he had carried water from the stock tank to the house for use by the family and carried in all the wood used to heat the house.  He managed to do the chores by himself for a week before a neighbor happened to stop by and discovered the situation.  She found the family in dire straits, having no care or food other than what the four-year-old provided.  Several of the family members had developed pneumonia and were in critical condition.  Dr. Peters was called, but there was no hope for Simon and his nephew, Freddie Wubben, who died within 24 hours of each other.

No funerals or services were held because the rest of the family were so ill.  With no family member well enough to provide care, a Mr. Hadler was hired to assist at the Wubben home.  He told the Topic that he had been on duty there for 72 hours without sleep as he took care of his patients night and day.  Despite his best efforts, Simon’s son, also named Freddie, would lose the fight two weeks later.  He died at the age of 6.

INFLUENZA LEAVES MANY ORPHANS

Adults aged 20-40 seemed to be the most vulnerable to this strain of influenza. This resulted in the passing of so many married couples, leaving their children as orphans.  Minnie Smith of Swea City died December 27^th leaving two little boys, Ervin and Wayne, to be cared for by their father, Harry Smith.  He too was ill and would pass on January 6^th.  Robert and Elizabeth McQuade of the Bancroft area died within a day of each other.  They had three small children, the youngest only two weeks old.  Earl and Florence Donelson died at the Sexton hotel where they were staying until they could take possession of the farm they were renting south of Algona.  Their daughters were age 6, 4 and 1.

Earl and Florence Donelson family

ANOTHER TRAGEDY

The beginning of February brought a tragedy related to the lingering infirmity left behind by influenza.  Peter Brethearst was a farmer near Blairsburg.  Left weak and depressed after a battle with the illness, his two brothers, one of whom lived near Sexton, decided to take him to a sanitarium in Des Moines.  While the brothers were in the train station at Sexton buying tickets for their journey, Peter eluded them. He started to run along the Milwaukee tracks headed east.  As an incoming train approached, he threw himself in front of the engine.  His death was immediate.  Coroner W. E. Laird investigated, found that an inquest was unnecessary, and the body was shipped to Illinois for burial.  He left a widow and a 10-year-old son.

From the Upper Des Moines Republican
February 5, 1919

LIFE GOES ON

The epidemic began to slow in February which brought a decline in the number of deaths.  More activities began to resume.  For just 27¢ plus 3¢ war tax, customers of the Algona Opera House could take in the real life story of Private Peat in the feature “Two Years in Hell, And Back With a Smile” or see the motion pictures “He Comes Up Smiling” featuring Douglas Fairbanks and “The Make Believe Wife” with Billie Burke. 

Farm and livestock auctions continued with regularity.  Sleighing parties were enjoyed and even dances resumed by mid-month.  There were some setbacks along the way though.  Two days into a jury trial a juror became ill with the flu.  When they tried to reconvene, there were four more jurors sick.  The jurors were then dismissed.  Other cases set to be tried in Kossuth County court had to be continued due to the prevalence of influenza among members of the entire jury pool.

Upper Des Moines Republican
March 5, 1919

The month of March brought one more outbreak to the Swea City area where at least seven residents died from the disease within a one-week period.  But as the first day of spring came to Kossuth County, the substantial amount of deaths related to the epidemic abruptly ended.  Although sporadic cases of the illness would continue to linger throughout the summer and an occasional death from influenza would occur, the prolonged scourge was finally over.

SUMMING UP

So many people played roles in getting our county through this misery.  Doctors, family members, Red Cross volunteers, neighbors—everyone did their part in caring for each other.  Mrs. E.J. Rawson alone nursed nearly 70 flu patients in the Algona area. 

Almost 150 citizens of Kossuth County died during the epidemic.  While no exact count of the number of those infected with the illness could be found, I would estimate that many hundreds if not several thousand people in the county contracted influenza based on the large number of the sick mentioned in each edition of the area newspapers.  The lack of any genuinely effective treatment for pneumonia and other breathing difficulties that often followed the flu was reflected in the high mortality rate.

In April, a baby daughter was born to Mrs. T. E. Gebhart of Whittemore.  The baby’s father, Tom, had been one of the first victims to pass away during the epidemic back on November 6, 1918.  It seems rather poetic that this new life would enter the world just as this plague was coming to a close.  I like to imagine that this sweet baby girl brought a huge measure of happiness and joy back to her mother’s world after so much sadness. 

Kossuth County Deaths from Influenza/Pneumonia January 1919
Name	Location of Death	Age	D/O/D	Record*
Floyd E. Huckeby (Hogenberry)	Wesley Twp.	19Y 2M 15D	01/03/1919	KCDR
Fred Henry Wubben	Portland Twp.	15Y 11M 5D	01/02/1919	KCDR
Simon (Siemen) Wubben	Portland Twp.	33Y 9M 10D	01/03/1919	KCDR
Harry Clause Smith	Swea City	28Y 5M 28D	01/06/1919	KCDR
Ernest A. Leeck	Titonka	21Y 5M 10D	01/07/1919	KCDR
Gwendoline Myrth Simpson	Algona	7Y 10M 8D	01/09/1919	KCDR
William (Wilhelm) Mayland	German Twp.	33Y 6M 2D	01/10/1919	KCDR
Elizabeth Andrews	Sexton	2Y	01/12/1919	Obit/NA
Rosa Catherine Fouarage (Fourge)	Riverdale Twp.	27Y 10M 29D	01/12/1919	KCDR
Jennie Birsker Jansen	Germania	46Y 16D	01/12/1919	KCDR
Christian Miller	Wesley Twp.	33Y 5M17D	01/13/1919	KCDR
Fred Mayland	German Twp.	61Y 2M 10D	01/15/1919	KCDR
Earl Donelson	Sexton	27Y 7M 20D	01/15/1919	KCDR
Flora (Florence) Donelson	Sexton	29Y 10M 15D	01/16/1919	KCDR
Robert John McQuade	Bancroft	24Y 26D	01/16/1919	KCDR
Anna Abbas Bishop	Germania	19Y 10M 8D	01/17/1919	KCDR
Elizabeth McQuade	Greenwood	31Y 11M 3D	01/17/1919	KCDR
Frederick Simon Wubben	Portland	6Y 4M 20D	01/18/1919	KCDR
Helen Ida Hoeck	Swea City	17Y 9M 20D	01/21/1919	KCDR
Mary Menke	Bancroft	40Y	01/22/1919	KCDR
Cecilia Kayser	Riverdale Twp.	27Y 2M 4D	01/23/1919	KCDR
Elizabeth Manning	German Twp.	34Y 6M 1D	01/23/1919	KCDR
George Arthur Miller	Wesley Twp.	6Y 5M 4D	01/23/1919	KCDR
Ray Stanton	Sexton	31Y 8M 14D	01/25/1919	KCDR
Anna Stanton	Sexton	61Y 3M 20D	01/26/1919	KCDR
Harry Pasley	(Sexton)	17Y 8M 7D	01/27/1919	KCDR
Payson Henry Pickett	LuVerne	25Y 9M 28D	01/29/1919	KCDR
Blanche Josephine Hass (Harr)	Swea City	1Y 4M 12D	01/30/1919	KCDR
Joseph L. Householder	Burt Twp.	39Y 2M 6D	01/30/1919	KCDR
John Asher Reynolds	Seneca Twp.	17Y 9M 5D	01/31/1919	KCDR
*KCDR=Kossuth County Death Records  -  Obit/NA=Obituary/News Article ( ) show corrections to the original record

Kossuth County Deaths from Influenza/Pneumonia February 1919
Name	Location of Death	Age	D/O/D	Record*
Miriam Ethel Braun	LuVerne	5Y 6M 28D	2/2/1919	KCDR
Nellie Edna Haskell	LuVerne	38Y 1M 1D	2/2/1919	KCDR
Edward Francis Mina (Mino)	Swea City	42Y 6M 5D (32Y)	2/3/1919	KCDR
Jno. Russell Williams	Garfield Twp.	8M 11D	2/5/1919	KCDR
Isadore Estella Schuller	Seneca Twp.	3Y 6M 11D	2/5/1919	KCDR
Andrew John Jungberg (Jongberg)	Swea City	68Y 8M 5D	2/5/1919	KCDR
E. C. Sutton	Algona	41Y 10M 18D	2/6/1919	KCDR
Earl Jules Malmanger	Springfield Twp.	1Y 4M 9D	2/10/1919	KCDR
Wm. J. D. Johnston	Lone Rock	23Y 24D	2/19/1919	KCDR
Irene M. Mapes	Sexton	1M 21D	2/23/1919	KCDR
William Vaurik	Algona	2Y 2M 1D	2/25/1919	KCDR
Minnie Sayers	Swea City	51Y 3M 21D	2/27/1919	KCDR
*KCDR=Kossuth County Death Records  -  Obit/NA=Obituary/News Article ( ) show corrections to the original record

Kossuth County Deaths from Influenza/Pneumonia March 1919
Name	Location of Death	Age	D/O/D	Record*
Sniffen Lee Kelly	Grant Twp.	30Y 16D	3/01/1919	KCDR
Johannes Jociln Kracht	Algona	43Y 4M 24D	3/01/1919	KCDR
Marvel Thompson	Swea Twp.	1D	3/01/1919	KCDR
Priscilla Thompson	Swea Twp.	29Y 3M	3/01/1919	KCDR
Geo Vaurik	Algona	4Y 10M 4D	3/01/1919	KCDR
George Henry Erickson	Swea Twp.	31Y 9M 8D	3/02/1919	KCDR
John Martin Deim, Jr.	Swea Twp.	30Y 9M	3/03/1919	KCDR
Virgil Marcellus Pehrson	Harrison Twp.	2Y 8M 26D	3/03/1919	KCDR
Lillian Bray	Swea Twp.	31Y 5M 17D	3/04/1919	KCDR
Ben Risius	German Twp.	11Y 11D	3/05/1919	KCDR
Charles Frederick Sperbeck	Harrison Twp.	1Y 19D	3/06/1919	KCDR
John H. Bray	Swea Twp.	28Y 10M 27D	3/07/1919	KCDR
Florence Paulson	Seneca Twp.	42Y 11M	3/08/1919	KCDR
Cunegunde Scholtes	Ramsey Twp.	29Y 4M 4D	3/14/1919	KCDR
Verle Potter	Algona	7M 9D	3/16/1919	KCDR
Charles T. Gibbs	Burt	88Y 10M 19D	3/19/1919	KCDR
Margirret Davis	Harrison Twp.	35Y 9M 19D	3/21/1919	KCDR
*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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