Daily AncestorGout
Gout was a painful disease of the joints that came in attacks and almost always struck the big toe first; old doctors thought it could also attack the stomach.
Webster's 1913, quoting Dunglison, describes gout as inflammation of the joints in attacks, almost always starting in the great toe, and adds that it could attack internal organs such as the stomach and intestines.
The word comes from French for a drop. Podagra was the Greek name for gout in the big toe. IPUMS codes rheumatism and gout together in its scheme for the 1850 to 1880 mortality schedules.
As seen in a recordCause of death column, 1850 to 1880 federal mortality schedule
Col. Josiah Pruett, 68, M, W, Gout
Sources
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Daily Ancestor. "Gout." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/causes-of-death/gout. Last checked 2026-10-10.