Daily AncestorTwo little marks, one deadly word
1850 U.S. Census, Mortality Schedule, Monroe Township, Grant County, Indiana
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The Month in which the Person died. | Profession, Occupation, or Trade. | Disease, or Cause of Death. | Number of Days Ill.
Aug. | Blacksmith | Cholera | 3
July | | " | 4
" | Farmer | " | 6
The farmer on the third line was ill for 6 days. What does the schedule say he died of?
Correct
Not quite
The two small marks are ditto marks: "the same as above". The second line's cause is a ditto of "Cholera", and the third line's is a ditto of the second, so all three died of cholera. His month of death is also a ditto, so it reads July. Three cholera deaths in a few weeks on one page is a clue to the epidemic that swept the Midwest in 1849.
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