H. Cox Letter, MSS.4126

Abstract: Letter from uncle in Mt. Vernon, Alabama, to niece in Brooklyn, New York, telling her about the yellow fever outbreak in Mobile.Scope and Content Note: The collection consists of a letter from H. Cox written on October 17, 1839, in Mt. Vernon, Alabama, his niece Elizabeth (Mrs. James P.) Whitson in Brooklyn, New York. In the letter, Cox describes how the yellow fever epidemic had emptied Mobile. He tells her about the devastation of Mobile - that of the population by the disease and that of city itself by fires, some which were probably set by accident but others which were most likely arson. He says, "The fever depopulated the place - the fire has laid it in ashes."Biographical/Historical Note: In 1704, the first case of yellow fever came to Fort Louis de la Mobile, then the chief town of French Louisiana via a ship from the West Indies. Since the 1704 epidemic, there have been almost fifty outbreaks of the disease in Mobile and Alabama. In 1839, the first case occurred on August 11, with the final case reported on October 20. In that one epidemic 450 people died