Times Observer photo by Josh Cotton The grave of Clarisa L. and John Watson Spencer, who were siblings. Clarisa was 29 and John was 8 when they died from typhoid fever on Sept. 5, 1851 and Sept. 8, 1851, respectively.

Germ theory and vaccinations have wiped diseases that once ravaged our society largely into the past.

So, it’s easy to forget that there was a time when a fatal disease was a real, legitimate public safety threat.

And Warren County went through one such scare in 1851 when typhoid fever struck the county.

That scare brought a horrid reality to one Yankee Bush family which lost 10 family members in a span of 10 days (or maybe a month, depending on the source).

A 1961 article written about the epidemic is held in the archives of the Warren County Historical Society. I found it when looking through something completely unrelated.

Times Observer photo by Josh Cotton Sarah Spencer’s grave at the Weiler Cemetery. Spencer was 14 when typhoid fever took her life. She was one of 10 to die during the fall of 1851 from the disease.

“Yankee Bush gained its fame from apparent participation in a worldwide

It’s a disease that no longer threatens the developed world but, according to the Centers for Disease Control, does affect 22 million people worldwide each year.

“Typhoid fever is an acute illness associated with fever caused by the Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi bacteria,” according to Webmd. “It can also be caused by Salmonella paratyphi, a related bacterium that usually causes a less severe illness. The bacteria are deposited in water or food by a human carrier and are then spread to other people in the area.

“Worldwide, typhoid fever affects more than 21 million people annually, with about 200,000 people dying from the disease.

“Typhoid fever is contracted by drinking or eating the bacteria in contaminated food or water. People with acute illness can contaminate the surrounding water supply through stool, which contains a high concentration of the bacteria. Contamination of the water supply can, in turn, taint the food supply. The bacteria can survive for weeks in water or dried sewage.”

Times Observer photo by Josh Cotton An additional pair of siblings rest together at the Weiler Cemetery - Sofia or Sophia, who was 10 when she died from typhoid on Sept. 7, 1851, and Horace Leslie who was five when he died from the same disease on Sept. 3, 1851.

It’s not surprising then that rural Warren County of the 1850s would be deficient in sewage, water and food preparation cleanliness, especially in an era when germ theory didn’t yet exist.

It would take decades before humanity would be able to control the disease – it took about 80,000 lives during the Civil War alone. The first refined vaccine was not introduced until 1909.

The article in the Historical Society’s service highlights a September 30, 1851 item in the Warren Mail that was a direct response to the spread of typhoid.

“We are requested to state that in view of the solemn Providence of God manifested in our community in the visitation of a fatal pestilence, it has been thought appropriate to appoint Friday, the 3rd of October, 1851, as a day of fasting and of prayer that we humble ourselves before God, acknowledge our transgressions, and seek a continuance of divine mercy. Preaching in the Presbyterian Church at 11 a.m. to which all are invited.”

The Yankee Bush home of Judah and Eunice Spencer appears to have been hit the most.

Schenck’s History of Warren County indicates that Judah Spencer served as county corner from 1840 to 1846 and owned 92 acres in Conewango Township.

“Eunice Spencer was left a widow upon the death of her husband who had reached the half century mark. She was forced to forget her bereavement and care for the others.

“One eye-witness reported: “I have the vivid memory of seeing five youngsters, thin, pale and with unusually dry skin, stretched out along side each other, and packed head to foot in ice.” The ice had been cut from the Allegheny River in the winter of 1850-1851 and stored in the ice house through the hot summer.”

Contradictory medical advice was provided to the family – one doctor suggested limiting the intake of fluids for those that were ill while others gave the sick “great quantities of water” which also probably didn’t help.

In the 1850s, families would have to bury their own dead.

“Eunice witnessed the death of 24-year-old Lorena, wife of son Harmon, and grandchildren Azro, 2, Chauncey LeRoy, 5, and little Caroline Delphina, only 1. Eunice suffered again and again as death claimed sons Horace Leslie, 5, John W., 9, and daughters Sofia, 11, Clarissa, 17, and Sara Ann, 15,” the article states.

10 family members died in 10 days with an average age of 13.9.

The article quotes a September 11, 1850 item from the Warren Mail.

“We regret to state that a frightful degree of mortality prevails in this place and vicinity. The disease known as the summer complaint as almost assumed a fatality of an epidemic. Many a family has lost one and two of its members, and in one family near here, Mr. J.L. Spencer’s, ten are taken, including Mr. S. In a few cases we believed it has turned to the bilious fever. A large number now convalescent have been reduced very low. Our physicians are among the most skillful in the country but it seems to be one of those times which baffles all medical skill. This state of things is the more noticeable here from the fact that our place is uniformly one of the healthiest in this section of the country.”

The Sons of Temperance, Division 412, meeting on September 20, 1851, in the Hall of Conewango, added an additional resolution:

“Whereas, it has placed the Almighty Ruler of the universe in His all wise providence to remove from our midst brother J.L. Spencer, an esteemed and active member of this division, resolve that while we look upon this dispensation of an inscrutable providence with feelings of regret for his loss, we cherish the hope of his acceptance among the fellowship of the saints. Resolved, that we tender to the family of the deceased our heart-felt sympathy for the irreparable loss they have sustained. Resolved, that we wear the usual badge of mourning.”