Nellie Smith: a victim of circumstances
I wandered briefly in the First Presbyterian Cemetery in Orangeburg today, and came upon this narrow grave:
I leaned in to get a closer shot of the stone without really reading it. Imagine my dismay when I got home and took the time to examine it more closely:
Our Sunshine
NELLIE, daughter of D.N. & J.R. Smith
Died March 8, 1901 ~ Aged 12 years,
The costly sacrifice of compulsory vaccination.
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From the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Volume 38, May 17, 1902:
South Carolina: In the report of the health officer of Charleston for 1901 the outbreak of smallpox receives special attention. Before March 6, 1901, there had been but one case in the city (imported in 1900) in several years. After March 6, when the disease again appeared, there were 54 cases -- 9 white and 45 colored -- all traceable to sources outside the city. The disease was for the most part of a mild type, and no death occurred. Active methods, by quarantine, vaccination, etc., were employed to prevent its extension and it was speedily suppressed. In "no instance did it spread," even to occupants in other rooms in the house where it appeared. The work of vaccination, it is noted, "was most thoroughly and efficiently done." At least 30,000 persons, or more than half the population of the city, were vaccinated in a few weeks.
Charleston is 75 miles southeast of Orangeburg. Assuming Nellie lived in Orangeburg where she was buried, apparently the smallpox vaccinations had been given there prior to the 54 cases appearing in Charleston on March 6, 1901. Nellie died on March 8, 1901. I guess the vaccinating was a tad more "thoroughly and efficiently done" than her grieving parents would have wished.
Nellie is memorialized on Find A Grave ... I left a message and you can too! A little weird, but that's okay.
Reader Comments (3)
That is so sad!
Please note that not one person died from the mild small pox. However, one person surely died from the small pox vaccine. Tell me then, how can you credit the vaccine for saving lives when it clearly took a life? The article doesn't prove that the vaccine kept the small pox from killing people. No, the article said that 54 people had small pox and none died. So therefore, it is without reasonable doubt to conclude that the vaccine was more dangerous than the small pox. How would you feel if your 12 year old daughter died from the vaccine that was supposed to protect her from the disease that killed no one?
This is so sad. Some things never change. It is happening again