In 1890, Trooper Charles Windolph and his wife, Mathilda, lost two daughters to diphtheria.
Diphtheria is an acute bacterial infection spread by personal contact and it was the most feared of all childhood diseases. Symptoms ranged from severe sore throat to suffocation due to a ‘false membrane’ covering the larynx. The disease primarily affected children under the age of 5. Until treatment became widely available in the 1920s, the public viewed this disease as a death sentence.*
The Windolph's daughter, Anna, passed away on June 20, 1890.
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| Black Hills Daily Times, Deadwood, SD, June 21, 1890 |
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| Daily Deadwood Pioneer-TImes, Deadwood, SD, June 23, 1890 |
Charles Windolph was well known around the Black Hills area. He participated in the 1874 Black Hills Expedition with Custer and two years later in the Battle of the Little Big Horn. He was awarded the Medal of Honor on October 5, 1878, for his part as a member of the sharpshooters who were protecting the water carriers during the Little Bighorn battle in 1876. The Medal of Honor citation read, “With three comrades, during the entire engagement, courageously held a position that secured water for the command.” He was wounded in the buttock during the hilltop fight on June 25 and returned to duty. He was later awarded the Purple Heart for this wound. He was discharged on March 21, 1883, at Fort Meade, Dakota, as the First Sergeant of Company H. After his discharge he was employed by the Homestake Mining Company for 49 years. He married Mathilda L. Windolph in 1880. Mathilda died on March 23, 1924 and Charles followed her 26 years later, on March 11, 1950. Both are buried in the Black Hills National Cemetery.
On Thursday, June 26, 1890, the following appeared in the Sturgis Advertiser.
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| Sturgis Advertiser, Sturgis, SD, June 26, 1890 |
Although still tragic, the Sturgis Advertiser understated the incident. The Windolph family lost both their children in two days. Annie and Josephine Windolph are both buried in South Lead Cemetery in Lead, South Dakota, with their paternal grandparents, Joseph and Adolphine.
Following the deaths of her children, Mathilda spend some with her sister on a ranch in the Black Hills. This snippet appeared in the July 1 Daily Deadwood-Pioneer.
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| Daily Deadwood Pioneer-Times, Deadwood, SD, July 1, 1890 |
Charles and Mathilda would go on to have three more children: Marie (1892-1972), Robert (1894-1976), and Irene (1898-1993).
* Dittrick Medical History Center https://artsci.case.edu/dittrick/2014/04/29/deadly-diphtheria-the-childrens-plague/
Tragic, especially for the family, but maybe society as a whole was numbed by how commonplace it was at the time? That's one thing that I feel like I have to keep reminding myself while doing research. By today's standards, life seems so much more difficult and uncomfortable during the second half of the 19th century. But to them, life most likely seemed much better than preceding generations had it, and they had no idea how much easier it was to become in many ways for future generations.
ReplyDeleteYou are exactly right sir. I am reminded of a movie (Star Trek III), where Dr. McCoy is walking through a present day hospital. He comes across a man and asks what he's waiting for and the man replies dialysis. McCoy responds, "Dialysis! What is this? The Dark Ages?" And medical advances are just the tip of the iceberg. When studying the history of the 19th century, or any other period for that matter, we must make sure we don't look at them through 21st century eyes. It's not fair to them or to us.
ReplyDeleteYes! That scene is the perfect analogy.
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