Epidemics in the United States 1628-1918
"In case you ever wondered why a large number of your ancestors disappeared during a certain period in history, this might help. Epidemics 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:
| Years |
Area |
Epidemic |
| 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 |
Sept-Oct, 1997, Newsletter - Genealogical Society of Santa Cruz County "Source: Ancestors West, SSBCGS, Vol 20, No l, Fall 1993, South Bend (IN) Area Genealogical Society via Julie Burnett, Sue in Arizona and Judy Nordgren SMCAGS
Epidemics in Colonial America by John Duffy. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1953. From the first 4 chapters.
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This site maintained by Diane Bollschweiler for the KY GenWeb project.
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