Sympathy Saturday: Michael Joseph Gatlin

I have previously written about my great-grandfather John Schneider's sister Marie (Schneider) Illig, who died of bronchopneumonia due to influenza during the 1918 pandemic. Marie was not my only relative that died in the pandemic; Michael Joseph Gatlin, brother of my great-grandfather Henry Brown Gatlin, also died of bronchopneumonia.

In 1918, the Gatlin family lived in Chicago, Illinois. On 1 October 1918, 374 cases of influenza were reported to the Public Health Service by the Illinois Health Officer. The 2 October 1918 issue of the Chicago Daily Tribune reported the effects of the disease on hospital staff.

Chicago Daily Tribune, 2 October 1918, page 17

By 9 October 1918, 135 people had died as a result of the influenza pandemic.

Chicago Daily Tribune, 9 October 1918, page 8

On 10 October 1918, there was another death: Michael Joseph Gatlin. He died of bronchopneumonia at Augustana Hospital. Dr. S. J. Burrows had attended him on October 9 and 10.

Illinois State Board of Health. Bureau of Vital Statistics. Death certificate no. 27450, Michael Joseph Gatlin, 1918.

Michael was only 22 years old at the time of his death. Like many members of his family, he had worked in the printing industry. He was buried in Mount Carmel Cemetery in Hillside, Cook County, Illinois.

Chicago Daily Tribune, 12 October 1918, page 11

Pandemic Influenza Storybook: Update

I have just been notified that my submission has been added to the Pandemic Influenza Storybook!  A more updated version of the book is available at http://www.cdc.gov/publications/panflu/index.html. The previous version, at http://www.flu.gov/pandemic/history/storybook, is apparently not being updated. My great-grandfather's sister Marie (Schneider) Illig's story is now included in the updated version, and can be read at http://www.cdc.gov/publications/panflu/stories/imtale_schneider.html.

Pandemic Influenza Storybook

The April 30, 2014 issue of the Weekly Genealogist, published by the New England Historic Genealogical Society, contains an article on the influenza pandemic of 1918. Several links were included at the end of the article. One of them was of particular interest to me.

The Pandemic Influenza Storybook contains accounts (first-person and by family and friends) of the influenza pandemics of 1918 and 1957. The stories deal with courage, loss, and survival. As they see how real families were affected, readers will gain a better understanding of what people went through during the pandemics.

Stories may still be submitted. I have submitted the story of my great-grandfather's sister Marie (Schneider) Illig, who died in 1918 of bronchopneumonia due to influenza.

52 Ancestors: #9 Marie (Schneider) Illig

The 1918 influenza pandemic killed approximately 50 million people worldwide. One of them was my great-grandfather's sister Marie (Schneider) Illig.

Marie was born Maria Schneider on 11 April 1890 in Remagen, Kreis Ahrweiler, Rheinland, Germany. She was the youngest child of Carl Joseph Schneider and Christina Nagel. In 1892 the family immigrated to St. Louis, Missouri. In 1901, when she was eleven years old, Marie's father died. In 1906, Marie began working as a sales clerk at the May Co. She continued to work as a clerk until she married William F. "Bill" Illig on 12 June 1912 at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in St. Louis, Missouri. Marie's brother Carl J. Schneider and Louise Scheffer also married at this time, and the couples were each other's witnesses. On 20 December 1913, Marie and Bill's son William Philip Carl Illig was born. On 28 November 1918, Marie died of bronchopneumonia due to influenza. She was buried at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Cemetery in St. Louis.

 

Marie and Bill Illig

Marie Illig death certificate. Missouri State Board of Health. Bureau of Vital Statistics.

 

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 30 Nov 1918, page 6