Yellow Fever had a substantial impact on New Orleans and Philadelphia Mints.
RogerB
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August 28, 1839. Excerpt of letter from Director Patterson to Treasury Secretary Woodbury noting the deaths of several New Orleans Mint officers and employees. Patterson suggested publishing the list in the Congressional Globe.
The virus is usually transmitted by mosquitoes of the genus Aedes.
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Interesting document!
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yellow fever was a scourge on the cities that bordered marshes, N.O, Norfolk, Phila. I have considered writing a piece on the disease and its effects on Phila in the 1790's and early 1800's, with some information on the treatment of the disease and its effect on the populace. I guess it would not be exactly "coin related", but when you hold a dollar from the 1790's you have the product of people who despite the threat of a frequently fatal disease continued to do their jobs.
The Philadelphia Mint had annual suspensions of operations due to Yellow Fever. You could discuss how this affected output or the handling of bullion deposits, etc. Would make an interesting and very human article. Go for it!
Roger, where would I find information on the suspensions and mint operations? I guess there are a couple of books out there. thanks.
Some is scattered in hobby books - try Bowers, Lange, First Mint, etc. There are also documents in NARA but they are very scattered. The pre-Civil War period has more than later. Look in NNP Entry 1 documents, too.
@RogerB ....Whenever you post these old, interesting documents, I wonder how many hours and documents you reviewed to find them....and amazed that so many still exist. Cheers, RickO
David Finkelstein has made exceptional slide presentations at recent shows on the scourge of yellow fever at the Philly Mint.
You can reach him at sales@djf-coins.com.
Lance.
Thanks, Roger and Lance!
NNP link is https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/archivedetail/515202.
For anyone interested in the Yellow Fever epidemics that plagued Philadelphia in the 1790's, and the effect it had on the Mother Mint, in addition to the aforementioned articles by David Finkelstein in the John Reich Journal, I would highly recommend reading "Bring out Your Dead" by J. M. Powell. This book was first published in 1949 by the University of Pennsylvania Press, and later reprinted by the same publisher in 1993. This excellent and detailed book is based upon first-hand accounts from the many Philadelphia newspapers at the time, long before the days of the Internet, television, and radio. The rather morbid title comes from the refrain of city workers roaming the city streets with ox carts, announcing to residents to "bring out your dead" as they gathered the daily victims. The exact cause of Yellow Fever was unknown in 1793, and many respected physicians and experts published competing editorials in the local papers, suggesting such improbable causes as 'miasma', rotting coffee shipments on the local docks, and treatments as severe as bleeding 12 pints of blood from patients (we do not have as much as 12 pints of blood in our cardiovascular system.)
Thanks, Coinosaurus!
RE: "@RogerB ....Whenever you post these old, interesting documents, I wonder how many hours and documents you reviewed to find them....and amazed that so many still exist. Cheers, RickO"
Nearly all of the odd and interesting documents posted are unknown to the hobby or historians. The quantity of surviving material is massive - and that is with possibly 3/4 of the early documentation lost. Much of the surviving documentation is routine: transfer of bullion, die shipping, assay coin transmittal. Most of these are of little value, yet some can help solve mysteries. Rare coins such as 1894-S dimes and 1895-P dollars can be tracked through routine transactions, and this established a factual base for further research. Separately, Kevin Flynn and Nancy Oliver used this basic data to build a more accurate and truthful account of the 1894-S dimes.
The "good stuff" ration is low. Out of 500 pages in a letter book, there might be 10 or 12 of interest. However, I routinely copy anything that looks even mildly interesting. For example, the Mint got dragged into examining a patent claim for converting lead into gold -- interesting and funny reading/
Thanks, MrHalfDime! Always excellent information.
OK, Kaz....the ball is in your court.
An Account of the Bilious remitting Yellow Fever as it appeared in the City of Philadelphia, in the year 1793, by Benjamin Rush, M.D. Professor of the Institutes, and of Clinical Medicine, in the University of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Printed by Thomas Dobson, at the Stone House, MDCCXCIV. https://books.google.com/books?id=crA_AAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=benjamin+rush+yellow&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwixoZqbwNLVAhVC92MKHZafCo8Q6AEIUjAI#v=onepage&q=benjamin%20rush%20yellow&f=false
Dr. Benjamin Rush was appointed Treasurer of the U.S. Mint in 1797. He did not know the cause of Yellow Fever, and his book represents an interesting first hand account of deadly disease. Additional information can found in newspapers of the period, on-line or library microfilm.
Thanks for all the input. I became interested in this study because many years ago, I came across an early 19th c. book, for 1$ at a junk shop, "Rush's Medical Memoirs" which contains year by year accounts of the yellow fever epidemics, written by Rush, for the 1790's and early 1800's, with detailed accounts of his attempts to determine the cause and his treatments (which probably hastened the deaths of many patients). It includes the account cited above byNysoto.
Go for it! Could be a top-rated article, especially with Benny Rush's and friends' observations. (Just avoid Breen comments.)
This all reminds of those Steve Martin bits from SNL, "Theodoric of York, Medieval Barber."