Rachel Todd letter to Charity Rotch, Farmington, May 25th 1808

News of family and the recurrence of a fever that befell New England between 1807 and 1810. Rachel Todd writes that "from 2 to 5 miles out in every direction the people are distressed beyond description. numbers are taken from a state of health, to violent delirium, & from delirium to stupidity, & some from stupidity to the grave all in the short space of from 12 to 24 hours." These symptoms suggest yellow fever or typhus. The latter was prevalent from Philadelphia throughout much of the northeast between 1794 and 1847. 7.7" x 13.5" (19.5 by 32 cm