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Letter written on September 11, 1878, by William Neilson Chunn in Humboldt, Tennessee, to his sister Sarah Louise Taylor about the Yellow Fever epidemic. The transcription is as follows:
[page 1] Office of W.N. Chunn,
Humboldt, Tenn., Sept 11, 1878
My precious sister,
I trust you have received a letter from me before this time & if so your anxiety is allayed. I should at the very first appearance of the Fever here, remove from the place. There is scarcely any apprehension of its coming here, every precaution is being used, such as a very strict Quarantine burning logs & stumps all over & around the Town for miles, firing of Anvils-concussion – Disinfecting low & filthy places. We have had but one case of fever & that a refugee & this case has recovered several weeks since, one active case – a refugee too – died about six miles east of this place, over Two weeks since. This is all we have had of the Fever here [page 2] or near us. We have had some scares & some of the families of our City have left but there never has been any necessity for leaving. You need not give yourself any uneasiness, for if it becomes my duty, I will close up & get out of the place. I wrote to Sammie some days ago, hope he received my letter, though the mails are very irregular. Our town is Quarantined against even the mails from infected districts, but I hope you will get this Let some of your family write to me I may get the letter. I received your Postal Card, yesterday, by what means I do not know – I supposed the mail agent threw off the mail bag as he passed here, in defiance of our Quarantine laws[?] Let us put our Trust as you say, in God, for He has always been good & merciful to us in the past an [sic] He will bless & protect those what love & serve Him, & if it is His good pleasure to call us hence, let us receive the message with joy & gladness, & all will be well when we meet in Heaven Love to all. Anna is up now. W.N. Chunn
Identifier
sc.0009.001_002.001
Date
1878 September 11
Subjects
Chunn, William Neilson.; Yellow fever.
Recommended Citation
"Letter: William N. Chunn, Humboldt, Tennessee, to Sarah Louise Taylor, 1878" (2021). Documents. 4.
https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/speccoll-mss-chunnwn1/4
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