Daily AncestorPneumonia
Pneumonia meant inflammation of the lungs, a leading killer of the 1800s and early 1900s; certificates later split it into lobar and bronchopneumonia.
Webster's 1913 defines pneumonia as inflammation of the lungs and separates croupous or lobar pneumonia, with sudden chill and high fever, from catarrhal or bronchopneumonia. In 1918 William Osler called pneumonia the captain of the men of death, as it had overtaken tuberculosis as a leading cause of death.
The 1911 Census Bureau manual asked doctors not to write pneumonia alone but to say lobar or bronchopneumonia.
As seen in a recordCause of death column, 1850 to 1880 federal mortality schedule
Silas Brandt, 63, M, W, Mar., Pneumonia, 9 ds.
Sources
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Daily Ancestor. "Pneumonia." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/causes-of-death/pneumonia. Last checked 2026-10-12.