I'm posting these NIH articles based on the research of an alert reader of the E J Fargo blog. I had a little trouble navigating to the actual articles so I can try to paste them if someone wants me to.....it is .PDF and not all that easy to manipulate.
The first article is from the National Institute of Health from 1896. This article clearly describes two types of diphtheria and one matches very closely with the symptoms described in the Addie Hoyt Fargo obituary. Another part of the article states that burial should occur within four to five hours of death. There is a section on care and cleaning to keep the disease from spreading. Since we know that E J's daughters could not attend the Lake Mills HS alumni activities it's a safe bet the house was being quarantined and the cleaning process had been completed.
The article is located at:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2329111/pdf/pubhealthpap00035-0101.pdf
The second article is from 1898. It also describes a type of diphtheria that matches the Addie obituary. The main difference is the change in thought that immediate burial may not be necessary. Still, Oatway's knowledge base is unknown and he may have subscribed to the quick burial philosophy. The implication from this article is that the quick burial practice was still being used broadly.
The article is located at:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2329296/pdf/pubhealthpap00033-0092.pdf
The point is that is is impossible to know which set of criteria Oatway applied. In some of Rosemary's blogs Oatway is a neophyte....if that satisfies her needs at the time. In others he's the "expert" that supports her arguments....... We do know he became an eye, ear, nose and throat specialist by 1913. Could be the Addie death provided the incentive for him to specialize.
From what I have read I think the basis for the murder suspicion over the years has comes from the fact that Addie became ill and passed and was buried in such a quick manner. It would not seem so far fetched if you were dealing with deadly communicable disease such as diphtheria. If according to the newspaper account "Sudden Death of Mrs. E.J. Fargo" Addie had complained of a sore throat that she had for "a day or two without apprehension of anything serious". So she could have had the onset of diphtheria for a couple days (Saturday) before the doctor was called on Monday. Later the paper states that a doctor checked her in the afternoon and he found nothing serious. He was called back later that evening and that's when he found that she had diphtheria and started treatment. The next day she said she felt better but her throat grew worse until she sprang up in the bed and then expired a few moments later. So two days of feeling bad before the doctor checked her on Monday and she made it through Tuesday and the patient was cheerful and hopeful but continues to get worse, then she passes away at 2:00 am on Wednesday. To me that means she had symptoms Saturday and died at least four days later on Wednesday. The sudden death really took four days. What was sudden was the final passing which may have been from cardiac arrest from the toxins rather than from suffocation.
Very good articles. It's impossible to know what was going on at the time, including what their thought processes (including Addie's) were, what they observed and why they did or didn't do something. It doesn't mean there was a crime and or conspiracy. As for how the murder rumor came about - it could have been the "hasty" burial. It could also be that some people seem to delight in finding flaws in someone who is well off. A request to Rosemary: give it up and write about your own family. There must be an interesting story behind The Captain's relocation to Wisconsin.
ReplyDeleteDoing very little research from one of Rosie's own sources, I found that two of the surrounding towns had 100% fatalities from diphtheria: Fort Atkinson 1 case, 1 death and Watertown the same. Both were listed in the report to the state in 1901. I noticed also that each report was pretty much boiler-plate, suggesting that all were authored by the same person. It takes little effort to refute Rosemary Thornton, she after all doesn't do any research other than the Lake Mills Leader, and that is reported by someone else. Harry
ReplyDeleteGreat post, it's about time someone applied actual articles of the period to this story. Makes Rosie look more like a chump that she is. Diego
ReplyDeleteThere are many easy to find documented accounts available online from all over the United States and other countries that speak of diphtheria and other contagious disease victims being buried within hours of death. If you search google for diphtheria burial the first two hits on the page are from the Sears blog saying that the immediate burial was proof of murder. Down toward the bottom of the first page is this link to obituaries in Adams County, Ritzville, WA in 1908 which includes the obituary below.
ReplyDeletehttp://files.usgwarchives.net/wa/adams/obits/1908-3.txt
"WASHTUCNA - Lillian, the 6-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. S. J. T.
Stott, died Wednesday morning at 6 o'clock of diphtheria. Burial took place
Wednesday afternoon at Odd Fellows' cemetery. There are five other cases of
diphtheria at the Stott home, but none are expected to prove fatal. Cage Stott,
who was recently visiting relatives at Milton, where he was exposed to the
disease, is believed to have unwittingly carried it here. No other diphtheria
cases have appeared in this vicinity."
Ted