Daily AncestorScurvy
Scurvy was a disease caused by too little vitamin C, causing weakness, sore gums, bleeding under the skin and, untreated, death.
Scurvy develops after a month or more without fresh fruit or vegetables. It struck sailors on long voyages, soldiers, prisoners, miners, overland travelers and anyone else living on salted or dried food.
A scurvy death points to hard living conditions and a poor diet, such as on a ship, in an army camp, a prison or a remote mining camp, not to an illness that ran in the family.
As seen in a recordCause of death column, 1850 to 1880 federal mortality schedule
Wm. Long, 29, M, W, Miner, Feb., Scurvy
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Daily Ancestor. "Scurvy." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/causes-of-death/scurvy. Last checked 2026-10-01.