Daniel Drake Carter papers

• Box VF-24, Folder 1, Item 1

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W.T. Risque reports 22 to 24 cases of scarlet fever that he has treated. Of these, only four of them are in Woodford County. Risque lists and describes these four cases: The first is a young girl of five or six named Alice Boon. The second is Alice's sister, Katie, who was around three or four years old. Third is the youngest Boon, possibly named Jannice, who was only 18 months old. The last case he reports is a man named Johnny Smith, who was only 10 months old.

• Box VF-24, Folder 1, Item 2

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Dr. Sutton describes to Drake 10 cases of scarlet fever he has treated. He uses baths to try to treat most of these patients, and sometimes this helps. He points out that cases six through 10 all are in the same family, and that compared with others he had treated, their cases of scarlet fever were relatively mild.

• Box VF-24, Folder 1, Item 3

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Dr. Hart describes to Drake about a dozen of his cases of "Scarlatina" that he has treated. The first is a male infant of 10 months named Willie P. Hart says his case was very severe, and that it had erupted all over his back and slightly on the neck and face. His glands increasingly swelled with each day, and his nasal passages had to be constantly cleared so that he could breathe. Despite the severity, Willie recovered. Case number two was Willie's sister, who was three years old. Her case was even worse, and she died within 36 hours of the start of the disease. When Hart went to treat her, he tried to giver her mustard baths, but that did not help , and she died a few hours later. Case three was Lou P., a white female of nine years old. Cases four and five were Mary P. and Sam P., Lou's sister and brother. Both of them had very swollen cervical glands, and Hart tried cold baths to treat them. Both eventually recovered. Case six was their brother, Willie, age five. He had a very mild case, and Hart used many preventive measures in order to assure that he didn't get sicker, and they seemed to work. Case seven was a 10-month-old infant who had the same "strawberry throat" that some of the first cases had. Case 13 was a 3-year old colored male, who had an extremely high fever at first, but after some warm baths, eventually recovered.

• Box OVF-3, Folder 1, Item 1

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Callius has few cases of scarlet fever, but the majority were light. First six cases occurred in family of Elya Davis, three girls and three boys, and he says the contagion came directly from Lexington, where the mother went just days before and nursed a Scarlatina patient.

• Box VF-24, Folder 1, Item 4

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Dr. Rodgers explains that he had treated a total of 26 cases of scarlet fever in Woodford County. Ten of these cases occured in white individuals, and 16 in African Americans. He also says "the whites were all mild" and "the blacks were mostly severe", noting the differences in severity according to race. In all the cases he treated, he says that enlargement of salivary and lymphatic glands was common, and two resulted in abscesses. Eight of his patients had Diptheria during desquamation and convalescence. Three cases were followed by nephritis. In one of these patients, a 6-year old African-American boy complained that he was being choked, and Dr. Rodgers gave him a vapor bath, which helped him for a while. Unfortunately, the boy later died, five weeks after the onset of the disease. Rodgers remarks that this was the only fatality from scarlet fever in the 26 cases he treated.

Rodgers says that he believes the cause of Scarlatina to be septic in nature, and that it chiefly affects the pharynx, "where it induces a peculiar inflammation and reproduces the peculiar virus". He also says that it very closely relates to Diptheria, Erysipelas, and other diseases.

He says that in some cases, treatments for Diptheria are effective, but not always. He says that a certain potion of medicine and water should be administered and gargled, and that this helps the throat of the infected person.

Rodgers concludes by saying, "My success in these cases I attribute to my frequent visits, unremitting attention and earnest counsel to observe strictly my directions for administering medicines and other attentions."

• Box VF-24, Folder 1, Item 5

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Dr. Poynter reports to Drake a total of 39 cases of Scarlatina treated, and of these, two deaths. The first death was in a 9-year old white male, who died on the eighth day of being sick from an abscess of his throat that burst internally, which choked him. The second death was a white male, age four. He died on the first day of being sick, in only 13 hours. Poynter had no special treatment, he was just going to try to bathe him in water 12 degrees cooler than his body temperature in order to bring down the fever. The boy died before this action could be taken.

• Box VF-24, Folder 1, Item 6

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Collins gives a brief list of the families who had reported cases. There were two cases of scarlet fever in H.G. Davis' family in January 1877. Then there were six cases in Elija Davis' family in January and February of 1878. Then, four cases occurred among the McCoys in March 1878. Two cases occurred in the Johnson family in March 1878. Then in December 1878 there were two cases in the Damar family. Finally, six cases in January 1879 occurred within Henry Rainey's (sic) family.

• Box VF-24, Folder 1, Item 7

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Thompson says that he had only seen 10 cases of Scarlatina in his practice, and that two of these were fatal. The eldest patient was 35 or 40 years old, and the youngest was only about four or five months. All the cases came from three families, and each case could be linked to another. Treatments included disinfecting the rooms of the infected and the homes with chemicals such as chlorine.

• Box VF-24, Folder 1, Item 8

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The first case of scarlet fever, Collier writes, was in the family of Solomon Rice, who worked on Collier's mother's farm. The father was the first to become sick, followed by a couple of his family members. The next four cases occurred in the family of a Mr. Smith. All but one of the cases were slight, and the one that wasn't occurred in the 9-year old daughter, who died four days after being infected. In William Stout's family, his nephew Beu Crouch, 11 years old, died, as well as a 14-year old African-American girl. Mrs. Smith, a daughter of John Utterback (sic), went to visit her father in Richmond, Ky., to visit her father, and her infant child contracted the disease.

• Box VF-24, Folder 1, Item 9

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Rodgers gives a very brief overview of the cases of scarlet fever he had seen. He lists his cases in a small chart: two in November 1875, three in January 1876, two in March 1876, one in December 1876, two in February 1877, two in March 1877, nine in July 1877, three in August 1877, one in October 1878, and one in December 1878.

He says that most cases had enlarged glands and with the tongue having a "peculiar color of a ripe strawberry."

• Box VF-24, Folder 1, Item 10

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Sutton lists the cases treated: Jennie, age 15; John, age 12; Amanda, age nine; Johnny, age seven; and Sallie, age four. He then goes on to explain how he treated these cases, including using Belladonna stimulants, which is also mentioned by some of the other doctors who wrote to Dr. Drake.

• Box VF-24, Folder 1, Item 11

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Risque says that 18 children were directly exposed to the disease, meaning that they "were in the same room with the disease when it broke out." Six of these children got the disease, but all of the cases were very mild.

• Box VF-24, Folder 1, Item 12

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Seeley describes in detail a few of the cases that he had treated of Scarlet Fever.

His first case was on January 7, 1877, and was a 5-year old boy named Jonnie Davis, son of Jas (sic) Davis. He had very red skin and his tongue was completely coated. Seeley tried treating him with a bath of water and vinegar every half hour for two hours, in addition to administering various medicines and powders, including quinine. He eventually made a complete recovery.

The second case was on January 11, in a 15-month old boy named Samuel. He had a minor case, and was chiefly symptomatic only on his skin. This led to a very speedy recovery by him.

On April 2, 1878, Seeley treated a 4-year old boy named Marcus, son of W.M. Shipp. The boy was playing outside when he suddenly began throwing up. The next day, his fever had risen to over 100 degrees, and Seeley thought it was Roseola, because several of the neighbors had previously had it. Later that night, his pulse began to rise significantly and his temperature went up to 104 degrees. He continued to have severe bowel problems. He died on April 4. "This was the first case of Scarlatina that had appeared in Midway for fourteen years". On why he believed the boy's bowels were struck so badly: "I cannot but believe that the disease attacked his weakest point, as the trouble seemed to be located there from its very incipiency." He had previously remarked that the boy had never had good bowels.

Seeley goes on to describe a few more of the cases he had worked.

• Box VF-24, Folder 1, Item 13

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This is a follow-up letter that Dr. Hart sent shortly after his other letter on April 11. He apologizes for the delay in getting back with Drake, and says that he hopes his report will be successful.

• Box VF-24, Folder 1, Item 14

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Hunt remarks that there were six cases of scarlet fever in his family in 1877. Two of these were fatal. Gordon, he says, died about 28 hours after being infected, while Joe died about three days after being exposed.

Cases were: three males and three females. Of those, four whites and two African Americans, ranging from three years old to 40 years old.

• Box VF-24, Folder 1, Item 15

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Munday says he treated four cases of scarlet fever in the family of Newt Rodgers of Midway: two girls and two boys. He also treated a few other families, but no deaths were reported. He remarks that they resembled severe cases of Roseola.

• Box VF-24, Folder 1, Item 16

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Dale provides a large chart of the cases of scarlet fever that he had in the years 1877 and 1879. He had a total of 28 cases, here two of them died. The eldest patient he had was 20 years old, the youngest five months. Ten cases occurred in whites, and 18 in African Americans.

• Box VF-24, Folder 1, Item 17

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Name at the end of the note is illegible, but appears to say the initials R.V., and off to the side the name "Vaughn" is written.

This doctor reports a total of 62 cases of scarlet fever, 22 in white males, 20 in white females, 20 in "coloreds." Six people died of these cases. Fifty-six of these cases were in 1877, and four were in 1878, two in 1879.

He says that he treated patients by lubricating the skin with lard, sometimes mixed with sulfur. For renal troubles, he would use "lactate potassa." As a general treatment in cases, he used Belladona as a prophylactic.

• Box VF-24, Folder 1, Item 18

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Ward says in his cases, he often saw vomiting and diarrhea. Patients sometimes benefitted from opium. Blood poisoning sometimes occurred. There were 33 cases and three deaths. He provides a full-page chart of cases of scarlet fever that he had treated.

• Box VF-24, Folder 1, Item 19

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Dale writes again to Dr. Carter. He says that the epidemic began on December 4, 1877, and that the disease prevailed in March 1879 in the area. He comments on his previous letter, saying that if he dated any of his cases of scarlet fever in 1878, that is wrong, and that there were no cases in 1878.

• Box VF-24, Folder 1, Item 20

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The author of the note remarks that from 1875 to January 1879 he treated 18 cases of Scarlatina, with 10 of those in Franklin county. There were 11 male cases and seven female cases, with the youngest case being a 3-year old and the eldest a 13-year old. Twelve cases occurred in whites, while six were in African Americans. Only one of his patients died, and it was an African American. He says that most of his cases occurred in the fall months.

For treatment, he said that he used a lot of "purgatives," and that these helped stem the moderate arterial action and helped relieve head pain, as well as helping to prevent delirium. Also, he said that bathing the skin with whiskey and water was beneficial. If the fever was intense, he recommended putting flax seed meal in with the bath as well. Lastly, he says that if it is possible, to find a "separate apartment for the sick."

• Box VF-24, Folder 1, Item 21

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In this letter, Dr. W.A. Smith is writing to Dr. Carter from Cave Spring, Ky. It is written that there were eight cases of scarlet fever in May 1877, and one case not reported. He doesn't report any fatalities, and says that his patients are all "about well."

• Box VF-24, Folder 1, Item 22

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Ward writes about four cases in 1878: five black and nine white. Of those, two females died. There is no location given.

• Box VF-24, Folder 1, Item 23

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This appears to be a piece of scrap paper that Daniel Drake Carter used. It says, "Notes of Scarlet Fever cases from all of the doctors who treated cases in this county from the beginning of the epidemic in the fall of 1876 to May 1879."

• Box VF-24, Folder 1, Item 24

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Dr. Neet reports a total of 23 cases of scarlet fever, but does indicate the year. There were six cases in January, three in February, three in March, one in April, two in May, five in July, two in November, and one in December. All of his cases were in children 10 and under. A few of them died, some within a very short amount of time of being diagnosed.

• Box VF-24, Folder 1, Item 25

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This was a small note written to Dr. Drake on a business card for "H. W. Smith & Son, Druggists, Versailles, KY." This appears to be linked to Henry Whitington Smith of Versailles, Ky. The back of the card appears to be written by a Dr. Sullivan. He reports 30 cases of Scarlatina in 1877 and 1879. He remarks that two of these patients died, ages six and seven. Most of his other cases were mild, he says.

The front of the card seems to be written by another man, a Dr. Davis. He reports 23 cases, 20 in whites and three in African Americans. Six to 10 of these cases were fatal.

• Box VF-24, Folder 1, Item 26

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This undated letter appears to be from a Dr. Smith. He said that he had eight cases of Scarlatina in May 1878, three in males and five in females.

His treatment included Belladonna, Glycerine, and Turpentine. He reported that belladonna twice a day seemed to be the most effective.

• Box VF-24, Folder 1, Item 27

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Dr. Drake Carter lists his scarlet fever cases as follows: three in August of 1876, three in June of 1877, nine in November 1877, six in January 1878, and four in February 1879. He gives extensive details of the ethnicity and sex of each of these cases, as well as if they survived or not.

His treatment usually included ipecac. If the patient's fever was really high, he used a soup of ipecac and chlorate.