We have been learning about the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic from its origins in Kansas; to its spread across the nation, aided by the movement of troops during WWI; to its mutation into a more deadly form over the summer; to its reaching our region in the fall of 1918.

October 1918 was an awful month in our region. The influenza epidemic raged through the region, infecting hundreds and took at least twenty-six lives through October 17. The suffering and death continued through that month.

The Lyon County News-Messenger continued carrying front page coverage of October influenza deaths in its Oct. 25 and Nov. 1 editions.

Joseph Willard, the 15-year-old son of the W.D. Willard’s of Sodus Township, died Oct. 18 after suffering with influenza about two weeks. Fred J. Longtin, a well-known, 43-year-old Marshall shoe store owner and father of eight, died Sunday, Oct. 20 after contracting influenza only a few days earlier. 29 year-old J. Douglas Falconer had been working as a pharmacist at Marshall’s Rexall Drug only since September when he contracted influenza and died in the hospital a week later on Oct. 21.

Many of the epidemic deaths seem usually cruel. Mrs. R.Y. Stickter was a 27-year-old mother of a 2 ½ year-old daughter when she died in the hospital on Oct. 27, one week after giving birth to her second daughter. The Charles Lee family, that included three daughters and a son, moved onto a farm south of Marshall earlier in the year as property managers. The old farmhouse had no telephone and but a single room, so the family had slept in an outbuilding until cold weather forced them into the house together. Four family members contracted influenza and 18 year-old Evelyn and 22 year-old Walter both died on Friday evening, Oct. 20 before neighbors even knew the family was in distress.

The paper’s “Lyon County News-Notes” and “Local Gossip” sections on its inside pages revealed additional, epidemic-driven tragedies unfolding across the region.

The Balaton correspondent reported that Hugh Jones, a farmer in Custer Township died of influenza on Thursday, Oc. 17 at his home near Garvin. He left his wife, Eleanor; two daughters, Mabel and Ruth, who was married; and two sons, Richard and Rees, who was serving in France. Two days later, Ruth (Jones) Spencer, Hugh and Eleanor’s married daughter, also died of influenza. Father and daughter were buried Sunday, Oct. 20. Balaton also lost to influenza Mrs. Lars Christianson, a young mother of two, on Friday Oct. 25. The Anderson’s, relatives from Nebraska, attended her funeral and took her two, young children back with them to a new home in Nebraska.

The correspondent from Amiret reported the influenza death of Mrs. Anna Larson at the Summers Hospital in Tracy on Sunday, Oct. 20. She left a husband and three children in mourning. Influenza leading to pneumonia took Lily (Williamson) Edwards, also of Amiret, on Monday Oct. 28, leaving her husband and a 15- year-old son behind. Her funeral was the following Sunday at the family home. Five other Amiret families continued fighting influenza infections.

Ghent reported that 30-year-old Louis Fontaine died of influenza Friday, October 25. He had emigrated from Holland five years earlier and had been working for Leo Hennen. Ghent’s Mrs. Henry Lord traveled to Tracy to visit her niece, Mrs. Joseph Padke, who was very ill with influenza. Mrs. Padke died Friday, Oct. 25.

The Green Valley correspondent reported that little Donna Mae Pilotte, the 8-month-old daughter of the Herman Pilotte’s died Wednesday, Oct. 23 of influenza that developed into pneumonia. Green Valley’s St. Clotilde Catholic Church closed for the epidemic and Father Schaefer joined the list of at least five Green Valley families fighting influenza.

The correspondent from Lynd shared the sad news of the influenza death of a young wife and mother, Mrs. Alfred Roloff, on Tuesday, Oct. 22. She, her husband, and young daughter, had only arrived in town a few weeks earlier. Several other Lynd families continued to fight influenza infections.

The Sodus Township correspondent reported the influenza death of Mrs. Hugh Edwards at her home near Amiret on Oct. 28, leaving her husband and children to mourn her passing. That same week Miss Marie DeVinck of St. Paul had the misfortune of contracting influenza while visiting her parents in Sodus.

The News-Messenger’s “Local Gossip” feature also included news of illness and death beyond Marshall. Mrs. William Duncan, Jr. of Milroy died October 22 from influenza that led to pneumonia. She left her husband and two daughters, ages 14 and 4 years. Marshall’s Rev. E.A. Burkholz presided at the October 24 funeral in Arco of a Mr. Marcellus, who was the third member of his extended family to die over a two week period. The section included by-name lists of 11 Marshall families who were recovering from influenza, including Dr. Ijams.

The News-Messenger published a bulletin on page 6 of the Oct. 25 edition that outlined influenza guidance from the U.S. Public Health Service. The guidance included a description of how to distinguish influenza from a cold; encouraged those showing symptoms to take to bed immediately; and encouraged those caring for them to wear gauze masks. This public guidance, appearing deep inside the paper, came well after the epidemic had taken firm hold in the region and over three weeks after the region’s first confirmed death from influenza.

As our region’s terrible October came to a close, the epidemic appeared to slow, but had not yet expired.

I welcome your participation in and ideas about our exploration of prairie lives. You may reach me at prairieview pressllc@gmail.com.