Genealogy Jottings

This week I made my way over to my local Family History Center to view a microfilm that I had ordered. I looked at the earliest death register for Coles County, Illinois where my Carter and Reed ancestors were original settlers.

Coles County began registering deaths in 1878. They did a good job, too, because the register contains quite a bit of valuable information for each decedent. I can learn the person’s place and date of death, age at death, place of burial, birthplace, current residence, and marital status.

The register also has a column for cause of death. This provides a little window into the times of my ancestors. So many children in the 1800’s died of diseases that we can prevent today—diphtheria, whooping cough, measles.

What heartache our ancestors must have endured when a child suffered and died. Sometimes entire families were wiped out in a couple of weeks when an epidemic struck.

These sicknesses were terrible and ruthless. I know that when I came down with measles when I was 10 years old, I was the sickest I have ever been. My mom, recalling her own battle with this fearsome illness, took all of my siblings for gamma globulin shots. These boosted their immune systems so they would not contract the disease. Of course they despised me for creating a need for shots, but my mom’s action protected them. Pioneer women did not have this option.

Parents today can be proactive. Vaccinated children today can count themselves fortunate that they will not suffer an early death from these preventable diseases.