Page 12 - The CRAIG family

Note: Research provided information that the “Pest House” was another name for The “Eruptive Hospital”
New Albany Ledger – Friday, April 6, 1883
New Albany Ledger – Thursday April 12, 1883
Based on these articles we now know that Samuel died Thursday, March 29, 1883, and that all 6 of the sons that were still living at home were afflicted with smallpox and 4 of them died. (William, age 22; George, age 14; James, age 13 and Oliver, age 7) Samuel, who would have been 16 and Charlie who would have been 10 survived. The article also says that they lived in Watson at the time of death. The article also says that Samuel was buried at midnight the same day that he died and the employees of the “pest house” buried him. This would validate the story told by my great grandfather that he remembered it was late at night, raining and muddy and that a group of men put the bodies into a mass grave. My Daddy and Aunt Mildred recalled Colmore telling the story. The exact dates of when the boys died is not certain, but we do know it was between March 31, 1883 and April 12, 1883.
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