Category: Diphtheria

1911 Courtship: June 25th Dear Noah

5/8/2013

Coronation Day, Moose Jaw, a living flag. : c1911, Prairie Postcards, Courtesy of Peel Library, UofAlberta

As a Commonwealth country, Canadians embraced the new King George V and Queen Mary with celebrations all over the country including Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan in the above photo. It's one of the Prairie postcards from the Peel Library at the University of Alberta. The caption reads, Union Jack flag formed by school children at fair, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Children on horse - drawn float are visible on the left side.

In present day terms, Moose Jaw is a 45 minute drive west of the Grand Coulee/Regina area - the next big whistle stop if you were Noah heading west.

Author of Letter: Ethel Isabell Nelson, age 21 (born 31 May 1890)
Dated:  June 25th, 1911
Addressed to: Dearest Noah (Mr. N. C. Draper, Grand Coulee, Sask.) (This is the first letter Ethel has left off Noah's postal info on the first page.)
Mailed from:  Belhaven, Ont.
Relationship:  Courting
Profession:  Farmer's Daughter
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, blue ink
Written on: Light bluey/gray, slightly thick, textured, linen-like paper, 9 inches x 6 inches, folded in half. The paper is folded in half with the first page on the front and last on the back, but inside, she's turned the paper and written across the short width and turned both pages into one long page. Hence this letter has only 3 pages.

People/places mentioned in this letter:

Percy - *Percy Roy Draper, Noah's older brother
Veda - *Veda Perrault - Noah's 16 yr old niece (Joe & Eva Amelia's daughter)
Sadie - *Sadie Nelson - Ethel's 16 yrs old sister
Pa -  *James Henry Nelson
Alice Sprague**
Mrs. Walter Yorke** (Martha Ann "Minnie" Linstead)

Legend:
* Look under the Categories/Labels in the right side column for more posts on this
person/place/thing.
** see Genealogy Notes below

Belhaven. P.O.
June 25 1911.

Dearest Noah;-
Well here I am again
with some more of my writing
but oh if I could only talk instead
of write, what happy hours we
could spend now if it were only
possible. though as you say we
will make up for lost time when
you come. I was rather dis apointed
last night I did;nt get a letter but
I will have something to look for to
morrow night. Your letters Generally
reach me on Saturday's or Mondays.
Sometimes when I am feeling rather
lonesome, I wish that it was either of

Saturday or Monday, whichever night
your letter happened to come that week.
Keswick, Bethel & Belhaven Sunday
Schools are having a picnic, They
don't know yet were they will go.
Don't you think Belhaven needs a
long line drawn.
The carpenters are going to start
work here in the morning. I
hope they can get along fine, for
I would like to go to Huntsville
about the middle of July. and I
can't unless the barn raising
is over with.
Was Percy successful in getting
water! I hope he was for it would
make it so much better for you. would'nt it

Did I ever tell you Veda sent
Sadie a photo of herself. Sadie was
very glad to get it.
Say one day not long ago there
was soneone talking to the men
& I just got a glimpse of him
and I thot it was you. and Oh
you could'nt imagine how I felt
at the time. I think this little
verse refers to you.
To see him is to love him,
And love but him forever.
For Nature made him what he is
And never made another.
Where you acquainted with Alice
Sprauge, she is now given up to
die, with typhoid fever. Mrs.
Walter Yorke is dead.

Sadie's school has stopped now
for about a week & then she has to
go back and try her examinations.
How are Veda's hands? I hope she
will be able to go to College after
Midsummer. what does she intend
to take up?
Well how are you getting along with
all your work. hope your mother
will be able to stay with you until
_________
Have you been defeated yet in any
of those baseball games. I wish your
team success. & you success in
everything. Pa has just called me
to come to supper. I am so near a
close I think I will say Bye Bye
for this time. With love and all
your wish for from your Sweetheart.
X X x x x X x x x X x x x X

Genealogy Notes

This week's Genealogy Notes highlight 2 people Ethel mentioned in her letter:
#1 - Mrs. Walter Yorke
#2 - Alice Sprague

Genealogy Note #1 - Mrs. Walter Yorke

Ethel conveys such feeling when she writes bluntly, Mrs. Walter Yorke is dead.
From this we can deduce that Noah knows Mrs. Walter Yorke, and either he knows why she died or it doesn't matter why, but that she's dead.

Who was Mrs. Walter Yorke, and did she fit in the family tree - if in fact she did?
Our tree listed 12 Yorkes, but no Walters. So I began by checking The Newmarket Era in the couple weeks prior to Ethel's letter. Do you know how many Yorks are listed in a newspaper that:
- covers the County of York
- includes the town of North York
- is the original name of Toronto and still used unofficially
- contains stories of New York city and the state of New York

Let's just say there are oodles of them. And from all those, I found 3 snippets about Mrs. Walter York:

The Newmarket Era. June 2, 1911 - Page: 6

The Newmarket Era. June 16, 1911 - Page: 8

The Newmarket Era. March 17, 1911 - Page 5

BELHAVEN

Snippet on left - Bottom paragraph:

We sympathize with Mr. Walter
York in the loss of his wife.

The 2nd snippet was found under the Union Street report:
We extend our sincere sympathy to
Mr. and Mrs. Benj. Linstead, who
have recently lost their eldest daugh-
ter, Mrs. Walter York, of Belhaven.

This was interesting because Ethel's Aunt Mary Ann Glover married into the Linstead family and some of their branch live 30 mins north of me here in Saskatchewan.

I found the 3rd hard-to-read snippet way back in the Mar 1911 paper. It says:
Mrs. Benj. Linstead and son Wal-
ter spent Sunday with her daughter,
Mrs. Walter York of Belhaven, who
has been ill for some time.

So the key to figure out Mrs. Walter York lay in finding Benjamin Linstead. I started with Ethel's Aunt Mary Ann Glover. Using ancestry.com's search engine I put in the names I knew from the snippets: Benjamin Linstead and his son, Walter. From that, I found census records which gave Benjamin's wife's name, Sarah Jane, and their children. They had 3 daughters Alice "Addie" b 1872, Martha Ann b 1875, and Verna b 1896. With the help of Ancestry's Family Tree Hints I found a marriage record for Minnie Linstead to Walter York in 1895, and it stated that Minnie's parents were Benjamin Linstead and Sarah Jane Anderson.

But Benjamin and Sarah Jane didn't have a girl named Minnie. Further searching found the following:
1875 Feb 12 - Benjamin and Sarah Jane gave birth to Martha Ann
1881 Census - 2nd daughter, age 6, recorded as Martha
1891 Census - 2nd daughter, age 16, recorded as Martha
1895 Marriage to Walter York, widower w/one son - 20 yr old daughter - Minnie
1901 Census - 26 yr old wife with 3 children - recorded as Minnie
1911 Census - 35 yr old wife dies of Tuberculosis (TB) - recorded as Mary Jane!

So it looks like this Walter York gave Martha Ann the nickname Minnie when they hooked up together. But why did he give Mary Jane to the medical examiner for the death record?

In my searches, I found the marriage record of Walter York and his first wife - and guess what? ... Her name was Minnie Pollack. Can you guess what her birth name was?
Yup - Mary.

So it seems Mr. Walter York was a bit mixed up when Minnie #2 died. Was it grief? Actually, I think it was. No matter how many times I searched, I couldn't find a write-up for Martha Ann/Minnie's funeral service. No obituary. Nothing except that the people on Union Street are sympathizing with the Linstead family, and that the Belhaven neighborhood is doing the same for Mr. Walter York.

That got me thinking... How many kids did Martha Ann/Minnie leave behind for Walter to care for? Not only that, but he had one son from Minnie #1 - how and when did she die? Searching through the Era for the facts brought so many discoveries I was in tears by the end. But to get to the end, I have to start at the beginning of Walter York's journey:

1862 - Walter Frederick York is born near in North Gwillimbury Township
1884 - Walter marries Mary "Minnie #1" Pollack (only sister to 8 brothers)
1888 - Son Raymond is born
1891 - Walter and Minnie#1 move to nearby Keswick
1895 - Mar 15 - death of Minnie #1's brother, John Pollock
1895 - Mar 27 - death of Minnie #1 - after 3 dys sickness & 12 dys after her brother

3 months after Minnie #1 dies, Walter marries Minnie #2:
1895 - Jul 9 - Walter marries Martha "Minnie #2" Linstead
1897 - Birth of son, Squire R York (Mother = Minnie Linstead)
1899 - Birth of daughter, Pearl Maria (Mother = Mary Jane Linstead)
1901 Mar 14 - Birth of son, JB York (Mother = Mary Jane Linstead)
1901 Nov 13 - Death of 8 month old JB York from diphtheria***
1901 Nov 15 - Death of 2 yr old Pearl Maria from diphtheria***
1902 - Birth of daughter, Gertrude Viola (Mother = Minnie Linstead)
1904 - Birth of son, Elmer/Aylmer (Mother = Minnie Linstead)
1907 - Birth of daughter, Thelma (Mother = Minnie Linstead)
1909 - Birth of daughter, Dora May (Mother = Mary Jane Linstead)
1911 May - Death of Mrs. Walter York aka Minnie #2
( she left 1 adult step-son and 5 young kids aged 2 to 14 yrs old)
***See Genealogy Notes Apr 2, Dear Noah

During the time Walter and Minnie #2 were married, his in-laws suffered:
1896 Oct - Minnie #1's 45 yr old brother, James, dies at railway crossing near home
1897 Jan - Minnie #1's father, James, dies at son Robert's home in Belhaven
1897 Feb - Robert Pollock has an auction to sell everything and move to the West
1897 Jun - milking cow kicks Richard Pollock's little girl, Winnie, and breaks her leg 30 minutes after cow is sold, but not picked up/delivered
1909 Feb - Minnie #1's mother dies after suffering 2 yrs from cancer

And then to hear ... Mrs. Walter Yorke is dead. You must wonder what poor Walter thought as he buried yet another family member.

Genealogy Note #2 - Alice Sprague

Alice Sprague did not die. But this post is too long already so I'll save her story for another day.

1911 Courtship: Apr 24 Dear Ethel

1/7/2013

Since it's spring seeding in both Ontario and Saskatchewan during the time of this letter and Noah talks about his equipment, this week's images will be on that theme.

Different brands of pre-1920 Seed/Grain Drills, courtesy of Prairie Postcards, Peel Library, University of Alberta

Author of Letter: Noah Clement Draper (24 yrs old)
Dated: Apr 24/11
Addressed to: Miss E. Nelson, Bellhaven, Ont., Dearest Ethel
Mailed from: Grand Coulee, Sask.
Relationship: Courting
Profession: Farmer
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, Black ink, but looks grey in places and pencil-like in others.
Writing Paper: Thick, textured, linen-like paper, 9 inches x 6.5 inches. Paper is folded in half, with a front and back page, but inside, Noah has turned the paper lengthwise and written straight down both pages.

People/places mentioned in this letter:
*Will - William Rigler, married to Noah's sister, Ethel
*Veda - 16 yr old daughter of Noah's sister, Eva Amelia and Joe Perrault
*Sadie - Ethel's 16 yr old sister in Belhaven
Alf - Noah's hired farm worker
Sam - Noah's horse

Other mentions:
*diptheria
** Deering seed drill
** Kentucky seed drill

* Look under the Categories/Labels in the right column for more posts on this
person.
** see Genealogy Notes below

Grand Coulee, Sask.
April 24/11.

Miss E. Nelson,
Belhaven, Ont.
Dearest Ethel;-
Received your letter last
Friday and was glad to hear
you had escaped . the
diptheria. Hope you are well
as this leaves me. also as
buisy. Ha. Ha.
Say Kid I have had a
big time getting a drill
to suite me. ordered one from
the Deering people. lost
about four days over it
so yesteraday I tookit
back & went in to Regina

and got another make. New Kentucky
brot it home & set it up today
and it is a dandy. I drove in the buggy
to Regina. and my man took the
waggon. I left the buggy in to
get painted. & Alf. that is my mans
name led Sam out behind the
waggon & I came home on the
local & brought up a team from
the Coulee, got home about 2 am.
so just laid down in the stable
& slept untill 4.30. that is the
third night I hve been out.
so I feel like bed. but as I am
going down to the office tomorrow
night thought I would not miss
this chance.
Say Ethel dont you get a letter
every week? I have not missed
writing once. but I have missed
your letters. & Oh gee aint I cranky.
I guess. ma????
Well Isuppose you have nearly
finished seeding down there by
this time. We have Wills wheat
in & will have about 2 days yet
at mine we sow from 40 to 45
acres a day with 2 drills.

Well May will soon be here
wish I were down for the 24th.
Oh you fishing.
Well Ethel Veda is not going
down to college untill after
mid summer hollidays. but
is going to the public school
now.
Tell Sadie to be careful
how she starts her letters
to the young men. Ha. Ha.
Well Ethel I guess I will
have to close for this time
& am looking for a letter so
good bye. from your Lover.
x x x x x x x x x N. C. Draper

Genealogy Notes

Noah talks about needing a new drill for seeding his crop. For whatever reason, he's not happy with his Deering model, so he brings it back and buys one with the Kentucky brand.

Deering sounds like it belongs to the John Deere company, but it's not. William Deering (1826-1913) was an American businessman who established the Deering Harvester Works in 1880. In 1902, the Deering Harvester Company and three smaller agricultural equipment companies merged with the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company to form the International Harvester Company (IHC).

In 1911, LA Langford uses a 4-horse team and an IHC grain drill to seed land in the Hanna, Alberta area. Courtesy of Glenbow Archives of Alberta.

Here's an illustration from the 1910 Kentucky Grain Drill catalogue. The big difference that I see is that with the Deering a drill, the farmer stands on either the foot boards provided at the back, or on the top of the seed hopper as in the photo at the top of this post, whereas the farmer sits at the back of the Kentucky Grain Drill. I wonder if that's why Noah calls the Kentucky make a "dandy"?

Sometimes called a seed drill, and other times called a grain drill, the purpose is to plant all the seed at a uniform depth. Before the seed grain drill was invented in 1701 by English pioneer agriculturalist Jethro Tull (1674-1741), the seed was broadcast by throwing it - a very inefficient method of sowing.

Although many farmers still use the updated versions of the older type, modern ones use hydraulics to shoot seed and fertilizer through tubes and into the ground.

I took the following video of an air drill in action from my front yard. It's not the best footage, and the sound is horrid due to the wind, but it will show you how drills have changed over 100 years.

1911 Courtship: Apr 17 Dear Ethel

12/16/2012

This letter finds Noah still living at the house of Ethel Maud, his sister and her family, as he prepares his own land for building. He's making progress, but I sure would like to know how far his land is from Ethel's. It can't be that far if Noah goes back and forth for tea, etc as detailed in his letter this week. Noah can also see Will coming from Grand Coulee. Furthermore, Ethel has 'called' him down to her place to shoot some Canada Geese. Noah wouldn't have a phone yet since didn't have a building or even a tent up yet, hence, her calling him would have to be the oral kind.

This map shows the distance between Noah's farm (near Adams) to Grand Coulee, a distance of 5.8 km (3.6 miles). And it's 20.5 km (13 miles) from Adams to Regina's Union Station (near red dot).

Adams, Grand Coulee, and Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Courtesy of Google Earth, 2012

The hamlet of Adams was one of many grain elevator stops on the old CNR line which passed through part of Noah's land, however, at the time of these letters in 1911, the nearest Post Office was in Grand Coulee which is why Noah used it as his address.

Author of Letter: Noah Clement Draper (24 yrs old)
Dated: Apr 17/11
Addressed to: Miss E. Nelson, Bellhaven, Ont., Dear Ethel (22 yrs old)
Mailed from: Grand Coulee, Sask.
Relationship: Courting
Profession: Farmer
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, Black ink, but looks blue-grey in places
Writing Paper: Thick, textured, linen-like paper, 9 inches x 6.5 inches. Paper is folded in half, with a front and back page, but inside, page 2 is on the right, and page 3 is on the left.

People/places mentioned in this letter:

*Ethel - Ethel Maud Rigler - Noah's older sister
*Will - William Rigler, married to Noah's sister, Ethel
*Joe's -The family of Joe Perrault and Eva Amelia - another of Noah's sisters
*Sedore's - Hugh Sedore's family who are related by marriage to Noah via Joe Perrault whose cousins are Sedores through his mother's side

*diptheria
**Sayings "absence makes the heart grow fonder"

*Look under the Categories/Labels in the right column for more posts on this
person.
**see Genealogy Notes below

Grand Coulee, Sask.
Apr 17/11

Miss. E. Nelson,
      Belhaven, Ont.
Dear Ethel; --
       Well I did not get a
letter last week. hope
you are not sick. and
have not caught the
diptheria. I am feeling
like a two year old this
spring.
       Well Ethel just called me
down as there was a flock
of Geese comeing but they
did not come near enough
to shoot at.
       I see Will is just come
from the Coulee hope he

has a letter for me will tell
you later on.
    Well Ethel I just finished
the hen house today and
expect to take my hens
down to night.
   Suppose you are seeding
down there now. we have
not got started here yet
but will start in a couple of days I guess.
   Was at church twice
yesteraday and at Joe's
for dinner and tea had
a great sermon I can tell
you.
   Well Ethel I wish I were
down there for a while to
see how. you are getting along

but they say absence makes
the heart grow fonder so you
know how well I would
like to see you (& squeeze you)
   Am going to put up my
tent tomorrow I guess
am getting tired walking
over here so much.
   Say Ethel I wish you
were here to get my breakfast
these mornings eh
      Say we have had bad
roads here but they are.
getting good now. and by
next Sunday will be all
dry. I guess.
      How. is Sedores.getting
along? & who was sick?

Well they are calling for
tea so bye bye for the present
will come back son. Ha. Ha.
   Well it is now. 8.15. have
had tea. carried over 11 hens
& 1 rooster. cleaned 4 horses.
and. came back at last.
     They are working at
the railroad through hear
now. guess it will bedone
by fall.
     Well Ethel like you
I can talk better than
write. but still you
can guess at the things
I leave unsaid. but you
know. that I love you
all the time even. tho I
am slow at expressing my.
feelings. Well good bye. Little girl.
Dont forget. to send those letters. N.C.D.

x x x
(in upper right corner)

Along the left side, Noah has written:

Ethel - if every letter was a X it would not be half
I am a pig. Half No enough.

Genealogy Notes

This is the second time Noah has made reference to the saying, "absence makes the heart grow fonder" since he first used it in 1911 Courtship: Mar 14, Dear Ethel so that got me wondering where the phrase came from originally. A google search was in order.

Several sites give reference to Thomas Haynes Bayly who used it at the end of his poem, The Isle of Beauty in 1850:
Absence makes the heart grow fonder
Isle of Beauty, fare thee well!

Another site says Isle of Beauty appeared in Bayly's two-volume Songs, Ballads, and Other
Poems in 1842.

Those same sites say although Bayly popularized the phrase, it was originally found in an anonymous poem within F. Davison's Poetical Rhapsody ca 1602.

According to www.phrases.org.uk, "The contemporary version appears in The Pocket Magazine of Classic and Polite Literature, 1832, in a piece by a Miss Stickland: 'Tis absense, however, that makes the heart grow fonder.'"

Yet some of the above go way back and credit the Roman poet Sextus Propertius as giving us the earliest form of this saying in Elegies: "Always toward absent lovers love's tide stronger flows."

So there you have it, a phrase so popular it has lasted over the centuries. I wonder how Noah heard of it?

1911 Courtship: Apr 2, Dear Noah

11/11/2012

After a week off to promote some historical fiction, we're back to the real-life story of Ethel Nelson and Noah Draper and their courtship letters of 1911. For a record of all the courtship letters, see the Genealogy Posts Index.

In honour of Remembrance Day, I'm showing you a photo of Noah taken while he served in the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve during 1916-1919.

I'm not sure when the photo was taken, so he could have been an Ordinary Seaman (OS), or an Able Seaman (AB) at the time, but it was in a batch of photos in Ethel's treasure box that Noah took while in England.

I'll post the letters and photos of those WW1 war years in chronological order after these.

Author of Letter: Ethel Isabell Nelson, age 21
Dated:   Apr 2, 1911
Addressed to: My Dear Noah (This is the first time either of them has used their given name only, without surname or title. And a first for the endearment to start off the letter.)
Mailed from: Belhaven, Ontario
Relationship: Courting
Profession:  Farmer's Daughter
Writing instrument: Fine point  pen, Black ink
Written on: Slightly thick, textured, linen-like paper, 9 inches x 6.5 inches, folded in half. Ethel has written on the pages in order from 1 to 4, so it reads like a book.

People mentioned in this letter:
- Sadie - Sadie Nelson, Ethel's 16 yrs old sister
- Mr. Flint - James Nelson's hired man
- Bruel's - Maud *Bruel
- Ethel - Ethel Maud Rigler - Noah's older sister
- Hugh Sedore's Family - the Sedore's are related by marriage to Noah via his sister, Ethel Maud Rigler
- Della *Mahoney
- Uncle - whichever one lives en route or in Belhaven

*Look under the Categories/Labels in the right column for more on posts on this person.

Mentioned in this letter: Diphtheria - see Genealogy notes below

Belhaven, Apr 2, 1911,

My Dear Noah, ---
                 Well here I am to scratch
you off another letter, but means
this is my first one I guess this is
not another. (Sadie Lib.)
P.S. I forget to tell you that it
wasn't me that wrote that just
above the first paragraph.
                 Hello! I guess Sadie thot
she would write you a few
lines, as you will see, I got my
paper ready, and off to get my
ink when I came back paper
was gone, So I hunted up some
more. and wandered again,
came back I found a letter
already written to you. So I
guess you are going to get two
                                     this time.

Our hired man, Mr Flint, is
turning the organ up a little
He certainly under stands music
Studied it for nearly nine years.
Is playing a piece. (Love will
not let me go) now (Some blessed
day) --- bye & bye, (eh, Two very fine
pieces.
Have been home all day
so far, but think I will go up
to church to-night. Sadie & I were
to have gone to Bruel's for tea.
Mr Hugh Sedore's have
the Diptheria. We phoned six
times for a Doctor for them before
we could one to come. Sedore was
here the day the Doctor came.

I hope we escape with out it.
Well Easter will soon be here..
Guess I will take a trip up to
see you. (in my mind) How many
eggs may I have if I come?
I'll help you with all that
work you have to - do. Say what
is strawing, anyway. Now don't
laugh at my ignorance. I
guess you know simple me.
            Della Mahoney is down
to Toronto. I wonder what for.
            I wish I could go tenting.
It will be rather cool at present
won't it. Do you stay with
Ethel now? Our hired man ask
Pa if it was oats he had sowed out
         here in this field by the house.

   What kind of a Farmer do
you think he will be?
   Sadie is getting ready to go
over to Uncle's, and she is going
to post this, so guess I will have
to close for this time. Hope this
finds you able to be as busy as ever.
Say the mistakes are in this
letter are not to be counted
                Bye Bye. With Love from
                                           Ethel, xxxxxx
                                                           xxx
                                                             xx
                                                              x
P.S. Can you imagine how slow
        I be, Sadie has gone. and
        here is my letter, so I guess I
        will be in for a walk up to
        Belhaven to-morrow. It'll be
        worth the walk, "eh" if I get your letter.
                                                     (it sure will)

Genealogy Notes

Diphtheria: Since this is an infectious disease and I don't want to give erroneous information, I'm going to quote from the Public Health Agency of Canada website:

Diphtheria is disease that affects primarily the upper respiratory system and is caused by the bacterium Corynebacterium diphtheriae. The bacterium is most commonly spread through person-to-person contact. Diphtheria can be prevented by a vaccine. Canada has included diphtheria in its infant immunization schedule since the 1930's. The success of this program led to a dramatic decline in the number of cases, with very few occurring in Canada since the early 1950s. The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recommends immunization against diphtheria.

Some persons infected with diphtheria do not look or feel sick; others develop a sore throat, fever and chills and have difficulty swallowing within 2 to 5 days of becoming infected. This is followed by the formation of a gray, thick membrane at the back of their nose, mouth and/or throat. Complications of the disease include suffocation, paralysis, heart failure, coma and death. One in 10 people with diphtheria die.

Ethel is right to be worried about the disease as it is spread in the same way as the common cold. I can't tell you how many people died - especially children - from diphtheria before a vaccine was discovered. Here are some facts:
- 1924 was the worst year in Canada with 9,000 cases of diphtheria recorded
- diphtheria was one of the most common causes of death in children from 1 to 5 years old
- and again from the Public Health Agency of Canada website: "The number of diphtheria cases is highest during the colder months in temperate zones. In the tropics, seasonal trends are less distinct. In North America, vaccination has greatly reduced the incidence of diphtheria; however, diphtheria was a major problem in countries of the former Soviet Union during the 1990s, with over 150,000 cases and 4500 deaths reported during 1990-1995."

So yes, Ethel should be worried, and yet it's scary how casual she states the fact.

1911 Courtship: June 25th Dear Noah

Genealogy Notes

1911 Courtship: Apr 24 Dear Ethel

Genealogy Notes

1911 Courtship: Apr 17 Dear Ethel

1911 Courtship: Apr 2, Dear Noah

Genealogy Notes

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