Outbreak of Typhoid Fever in 1927

There are no Crittenden Press newspapers available for the 1918-1919 time period when the Spanish Flu Epidemic was hitting our area so hard.  This means that no local history or obituaries are available for us to find out what was happening.  

In 1927 another outbreak of Typhoid Fever was hitting the county.  Here is an interesting article about it from the Crittenden Press August 1927.

Outbreak of Typhoid Fever in 1927

In the summer of 1927, near the southern part of our county in the community and surrounding area of Frances and Dycusburg an outbreak of typhoid was being carefully watched and treated by Dr. T. A. Frazer, county health officer.

From the archives of The Crittenden Press August of 1927.

Dr. G. H. Buck, member of the State Board of Health was in Crittenden cooperating with Dr. T. A. Frazer in the fight against typhoid, a disease that at the present time has a particularly strong hold on several communities near Marion.

The disease is especially prevalent around the Caldwell Springs area where already nearly ten cases have been reported. At least one death in that section of the county has been attributed directly to that dread disease.

Dr. Frazer, Dr. Buck and other physicians have inoculated about one hundred people near Caldwell Springs with the typhoid serum. Measures to eradicate the disease are being taken in the stricken territory. These steps are the destroying of the causes of typhoid as well as the inoculation of the individuals. 

Over a thousand people in Crittenden County have been vaccinated for typhoid fever within the past few weeks, most of the vaccinations being made by Dr. T. A. Frazer, County Health Officer.

The entire student bodies in five schools of the county have already been vaccinated. The districts are Caldwell Springs, Boaz, Frances, Owen and Bethel. The vaccine is administered at the school buildings where Dr. Frazer is accompanied by Fred McDowell, county school superintendent. 

In these districts many of the parents and other relatives of the school children have also taken the vaccine.

Employees of five mines operated by the Franklin Fluorspar Company have been vaccinated, or are in the process of being vaccinated, all expense being met by their employers who are also paying for the vaccination of the families of the employees and the students enrolled in the school districts in which the mines are located.

The vaccine was administered to the employees and their families at the Haffaw mines last year and will not be necessary this year. 

The other Franklin mines and the school districts in which they are located are Mary Belle Mine, Bethel school, Hodge mine, Owen school, Franklin mine, Siloam school, Beard mine, and Forest Grove school.

A few of the deaths caused from the typhoid epidemic were reported to the Press.

Miss Eula Brown, fifteen-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Brown, of near Frances, died Thursday August 18, after a short illness of typhoid.

Mrs. Elvin Travis, whose home was near Caldwell Springs, died Wednesday, August 24, after several weeks illness of typhoid fever. She was 27 years old. Surviving are her husband, Elvin Travis and her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Tammell, of Caldwell County.

Mr. T. W. Davenport, 59, a farmer of the View community, died August 22. Surviving Mr. Davenport are his wife and two sons, Owen and Ercil and a daughter, Miss Lucile Davenport.

By the end of the year the typhoid epidemic was about under control and news of its sickness and deaths were not heard from the Press news items. School and community activities were once again back to normal.

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