The flu epidemic in Clintwood in 1918

Part 1

A letter written by Judge Alfred A. Skeen, Clintwood, Virginia, to his mother-in-law, Mrs. Jesse H. Woodrum appeared in the book, Pioneer Recollections, by E. J. Sutherland. In that letter, Skeen wrote about the flu epidemic in Clintwood in 1918.

“We people here sure have had a terrible time. More than two hundred people went down like poisoned flies. Several whole families had not one left to give them even a cup of water. Clintwood and nearby vicinities to this date [October 29, 1918] have had 68 deaths. We dug three graves in our cemetery at one time and no able bodied men left on foot to dig them. A few old men and small boys were compelled to do the work. We made soup at our kitchen and prepared other things and I carried to destitute families for several days. I saw a lot of people gasping for breath like fish out of water. It was simply terrible. Several died without getting a doctor. One family near town lost six children. A lady (widow) three miles out of town lost her three grown daughters in 24 hours and never got a doctor in her house, although she called persistently. It was pathetic. I hope we may never pass through anything like it again.”

Skeen’s hope that such an epidemic should never happen again has happened again. The world is presently experiencing a pandemic caused by the coronavirus, an illness similar to the flu but more highly contagious. Experts say that our country has not experienced an epidemic of this magnitude since the 1918 flu. Most of the country is presently under a mandated “stay at home” order.

Historical Society members are adhering to that order and are working from home. Although the Historical Society has already written a story about the 1918 epidemic, we have been asked to repeat it. That article along with additional information will be presented beginning with this article.

The booklet, Dickenson County In War Time - A Community History, which was written by E. J. Sutherland and J. H. T. Sutherland mentions the Spanish Influenza epidemic in the section about the local Red Cross and the work that was performed by that organization.

The booklet states that “A Home Service committee [of the Red Cross] was appointed, with Professor M. W. Remines, chairman, and Mrs. J. K. Damron, secretary. This committee did splendid work during the influenza epidemic in 1918, assisting more than twenty-five families by loaning garments, furnishing food, medicine, etc., and nursing the sick. The influenza epidemic was perhaps more fatal in Dickenson than in any county of the State in proportion to the population...”

An article titled the Influenza in Southwest Virginia was found in the November 30, 1918, issue of the Dickenson County News. Excerpts from that article are presented below:

“It is hardly likely that the general public will ever realize the extent of the suffering and the anguish caused by the Spanish influenza in some of the more remote mountain communities of Virginia where the frightful malady raged with a degree of severity which is difficult to explain.

“Scores of sufferers in mountain cabins and shacks far distant from railroads, could not be reached at all, and in some instances it was hard even to find persons to bury the dead. In several neighborhoods the supply of coffins utterly ran out while almost everywhere there was a shortage of doctors and nurses. Worse still, the well people of some communities became so terrified when they noted the ravages of the disease, that they were either afraid or unwilling to help the sick; and, consequently, a few dauntless spirits were left to perform duties which taxed their endurance to the staggering point.”

“In Dickenson County, which had only one railroad, the “flu” literally ran riot, and it is little to be wondered at that many persons became panic-stricken, for in some sections they saw death and suffering on every side. Worse still, the disease did its deadly work with horrifying rapidity; and no man, sick or well, could tell when his hour might come.

“In the Clintwood neighborhood alone there were probably 1,000 cases of “flu” while 300 out [of] 500 persons in Fremont and its environs became ill. To add to the terrors of the situation, pitiless rains drenched the mountains and made ordinary travel, almost impossible. In one household four out of ten people succumbed [sic] to the malady...

“Report also has it that in one lonely cabin both the father and mother died without help, or at least with no help save that which came to them from a tiny child. And had passersby not heard the wail of distress which came from this little one, she too would have perished in that desolate abode.

“In many instances whole families-sometimes three generations were ill at the same time in the same house and starvation almost stared them in the face.

“The State Board of Health knows of at least one case in which an entire family lived for several days on canned tomatoes alone. No one in the habitation had strength enough to go for food or assistance.

“So far as Dickenson County is concerned, it may at first appear strange that so isolated a section should have been so sorely afflicted when the health authorities everywhere proclaim that Spanish influenza was ‘a crowd disease.’ Everybody would have to admit that Dickenson’s heart-rending story presented a sort of scientific mystery, were it not for the fact that her people had their county fair just a few days before the scythe of death began to reap its human harvest. That fair probably did the work which has left desolation in its wake.”

Whether or not the fair was the cause for the outbreak of the influenza in Dickenson County over 100 years ago will probably never be proven. However, the same issue of the Dickenson County News reported an interesting fact that might help prove that fact.

“Frank Keller, of Chicago, who was with the Carnival Company that was here during the fair, died at Dotson’s hotel Saturday afternoon, October 5th, from Spanish Influenza. He was buried by the Carnival people on Sunday morning. Mr. Keller was a man about 35 years old and was sick when he came to town the first of the week. The show people informs us that he had no relatives.”

More information about the 1918 Spanish Influenza in Dickenson County will be presented next week.

Because of the present Coronavirus situation in our country, our office will be closed until further notice. However, our patrons are asked to use the contact information below and we will provide services whenever possible.

All of our newspapers articles are reprinted in the Historical Society’s Stories of Yesteryear booklets. Currently, Volumes 1-12 are available for purchase. For more information about this article, or any of our publications, or to make corrections or additions to an article, to purchase a local history book, or to inquire about a Historical Society event, please contact the Historical Society office at 276-926-6355, P. O. Box 52, Clintwood, Va., 24228, or dchs1880@gmail.com. If no answer, please leave a message (which includes your name and phone number) and one of our volunteers will return your call. Or contact Edith Faye Redden at 276-926-4117.