La Grippe (pronounced La greep) was the name for the Spanish Flu which caused the Pandemic in 1918-1919. In the United States, it was widely spread by military personnel in the spring of 1918. Worldwide, 500 million people became infected with this virus. The number of deaths was estimated to be at least 50 million worldwide with 675,000 occurring in the United States.
In my stack of death certificates, I found only three individuals whose cause of death was listed as “Lagrippe.” The 3 that I found were all from one branch of my family, the Veal family. These were close relatives of my grandmother – a great aunt Jane Veal Bethly, and 2 older cousins, Civil War Veteran Noland Veal and his older brother Duncan Veal.
- Duncan Veal died March 30, 1915, at age 74.
- Noland Veal died April 9, 1919, at age 72.
- Jane Veal Bethly died February 9, 1921, at age 74.
All had “Lagrippe” listed as the cause of death by Dr. Charles W. Catchings of Woodville. All died in the early or late spring. The duration of sickness was around 10 months.
Now I understand why my Grandmother was frightened into not going outside.
- Was Lagrippe already in town when Duncan Veal died in 1915?
- Was Lagrippe still there when Jane Veal Bethly died in 1921?
- Was the Spanish Flu brought into this family by someone, maybe a soldier, from outside the area?
- Were there other families in Woodville who had family members who died from Lagrippe?
- Do you have stories of your family members 100 years ago, in 1918, during the Pandemic?
Final Note: My grandmother’s youngest brother, Oceanus Veal, was born May 17, 1919, during the pandemic – just 1 month after Noland Veal died of Lagrippe. He died of influenza 2-1/2 years later on March 9, 1922. My grandmother, in remembrance, named her oldest son Oceanus.
Shelter in place! Wash your hands! Wear your mask!
Tell your 100-year old stories!
Great follow up. So many different stories can be told from this piece.
Thanks Marlon. In 1918 there were more questions than answers. The same is true in 2020.
Hi I’m a descendant of the Gaines family of woodville Mississippi and we can’t seem to find what happened to my grandmothers grandmother ida broom aka ida brown who had children with a man named Dan broom maybe brown their children were Florence broom aka brown and gaines Martha broom/brown and Robert broom maybe brown.Ida died at a young age no trace of her other relatives
Arica, I will send you a friend request and help you find your great grandmother.
Excellent finding that connection and history of Spanish flu impacting your family through death certificates and family stories. Thanks for the example.
Thanks Mayo.
Hi, Alvin!
Glad to have found your blog (and this post) since we are now Facebook friends! I also wrote a post about the 1918-1919 pandemic, in case you’re interested. What I’ve found is that many of my ancestors who died during that period had “pneumonia” as their cause of death. Most likey, they had the influenza virus, which led to pneumonia and took them out. Here’s my post, if you’re interested! https://justthinking130.blogspot.com/2020/03/north-carolina-and-spanish-flu-pandemic.html
Renate Sanders
Hi Renate! Thanks for reading. There were so many unanswered questions about the 1918 Pandemic. I don’t know why this Dr specifically listed La Grippe as the cause of death over a period of years. He listed influenza as the cause of death before 1915 and after 1921. I read your post and really enjoyed it. I will send you a comment.
According to my limited research on historic causes of death, “la grippe” was used for influenza, not just the spanish flu. Hope that helps. 🙂
In going through my family death certificates for that period I saw plenty of deaths from influenza, but I only saw “la grippe” used in the three deaths mentioned. It is not evident from the death certificates why the doctor made the distinction for these 3 cases. Thanks for reading and commenting.