Daily AncestorYellow jack
Yellow jack was a nickname for yellow fever, a mosquito-borne virus that caused jaundice and bleeding and struck Southern port cities in epidemics.
Yellow jack was a popular and sailors' name for yellow fever, a virus carried by mosquitoes. It turned the skin and eyes yellow from liver damage and could cause internal bleeding.
Epidemics hit New Orleans and the lower Mississippi Valley; the 1878 epidemic there killed an estimated 20,000 people. Large outbreaks also reached Philadelphia, Baltimore and New York in the 1700s and 1800s.
As seen in a recordCause of death column, 1850 to 1880 federal mortality schedule
Henri Doucet, 28, M, W, Single, France, September, Yellow fever, 5 days
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Yellow jack." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/causes-of-death/yellow-jack. Last checked 2026-10-01.