Northwoods Notes: A monthly column by reporter Sarah Beth Radomsky
This winter has been a rotation of various feverish, nauseous, coughing, achy bodies on my living room couch and numerous calls to the school to excuse one of my seven children from activities yet again. I don’t think I have been the only one in this situation, and when we have visited the doctor, I have been told that many families and individuals seem to be similarly stricken this winter with a variety of ailments, over and over.
Looking at the history of healthcare and illness in the North Woods gave some perspective to me recently, which made me grateful for many things, such as access to care, sanitation and the fact that there are a lot of illnesses we no longer face due to modern medicine and the remedies available to us. Referencing the historian Don McClure’s Frederic, Wisconsin Early Years Facebook page, there were several interesting facts that were revealed about our local history that made me glad to live in our current age, which I’ll highlight here.
I was struck with the young ages and intensity of issues faced by earlier generations prior to access to better health care. It was summed up well in this excerpt cited by Sara DeLuca with a viewpoint from the local Milltown area in her book called, “The Crops Look Good.” “Alva, a new bride dies of a burst appendix. A doctor’s attempt to save her failed. The death of a young person like Alva brings many past losses to Olava's mind. Her beloved sister, Clara, died in 1912, at the age of 38, from a bowel obstruction. A half-sister, Bella, died of ‘brain fever’ in 1903, at 13. Another half-sister, Agnes, died of a ruptured appendix in 1897, at the age of 6. The nearest doctor at that time was 20 miles away, in Taylors Falls, Minnesota, and he was not easily summoned. Most rural homes were without telephones, and if someone was dispatched to bring the doctor, it could be hours – even days – before he arrived at the bedside. Often it was too late. In later life, Adele describes health care – and lack of it– during her early years. Imagine, with all the dangers on a farm – working with big animals, ornery bulls, pitchforks, knives and sickles, poisons, jerry-rigged machines. And dynamite. Felling trees, climbing slippery silo ladders, breathing all that chaff and dust – and Papa was brought near to death by a cut from a corn leaf. Blood poisoning, the doctor called it. His whole body was infected and there wasn't much to be done. Antibiotics were not yet available. Clean dressings, rest and prayer, that was about all the doctor had to offer. Mama always said it was a miracle that they raised all nine of us. So many neighbors had young ones in the cemetery. All the babies were born at home, mostly with the help of midwives, though Papa did call the doctor for the later ones. Except for the scarlet fever, which was really serious, most of our ailments were common, treated at home, with steam tents, mustard plasters on the chest, hot packs on the feet, made of turpentine and goose grease. (I guess the goose grease was to keep you from getting bunted by the turpentine.) She made onion collars, too – cheesecloth bags filled with cut-up onions tied around our necks. That helped open up the sinuses. You didn't call for a doctor unless something was life threatening.” Currently, life expectancy in the U.S. has gone from 39.4 years of age in 1901 to 78.7 in 2011. (Source: ourworldindata.org/life-expectancy)
Other local historical examples to be found included that in 1902, typhoid came to Frederic. “Louis Anderson, the owner of the First Hotel, and Charles Birch, a carpenter, were victims of the disease. In 1919 Harry Gifford, a former Frederic policeman, also died at his home with typhoid fever.
“Linda Ackmann of Frederic contracted polio in 1905 and lived in a wheelchair from the age of 13 until she died at age 95 in 1987.
“In 1909 Dr. Arveson reported to The Frederic Star that his ‘patients suffering from scarlet fever are improving.’”
Two Frederic residents were mentioned by McClure in regard to the 1918 Spanish flu. “In 1918 Minor Erickson, a 35-year-old early blacksmith and operator of the first Ford garage in Frederic, was a victim of the flu epidemic. The other was 41-year-old Clarence Hoover who died traveling with a circus. He became ill while in Birmingham, Alabama, and was in the hospital three-and-a-half days. He then felt better and went on with the show to Atlanta, where he grew worse and passed away three days later.”
McClure writes, “By 1925, advances in science and technology are making life easier and healthier for many Americans. Death rates from infectious diseases such as typhoid fever and diphtheria have been greatly reduced, thanks to improved sanitation as well as increased use of vaccines and antitoxin serums.” However, during 1934 in Frederic, scarlet fever, whooping cough and chicken pox were reported, and homes were quarantined for 23 days.
Regarding polio, McClure says, “In the United States, the 1952 polio epidemic became the worst outbreak in the nation's history, which included Frederic. Of nearly 58,000 cases reported that year, 3,145 died and 21,269 were left with mild to disabling paralysis. Intensive care medicine has its origin in the fight against polio. Most hospitals in the 1950s had limited access to iron lungs for patients unable to breathe without mechanical assistance. In 1953 some 5,500 Polk County children received gamma globulin shots. A staff of 350 volunteers were giving shots in clinics set up in the high school gyms at Amery, St. Croix Falls and Frederic. Unfortunately, it was found that the immunity provided by the serum did not last long, that the protection offered by the antibody was incomplete, that re-injection was required during each epidemic outbreak, and that the optimal time frame for administration was unknown. By 1955 the Salk Polio Vaccine was deemed safe, very effective, and potent. A vaccination program started in Polk County the same year.”
There weren’t any hospitals in the beginning and so there were a few homes where patients were taken care of in the community. This included that of Mrs. Charles Hildreth and Mrs. Lawrence Corty. The construction for the first Frederic Hospital began in 1915. It opened Nov. 9, 1916, offering both doctors and dentists. A new hospital on United Way Drive was dedicated in 1975. The village of Frederic sold that hospital building to Northwest Passage Ltd., Webster, in 1996.
Interestingly, McClure’s post included a bill from an eight-day stay at St. Mary's Hospital in Minneapolis for Linda Ackmann dated 1924. It was noted that she contracted polio in 1905. Linda would have been 31 or 32 in 1924. He says, “Remarkably the room rate was $3.50 per day! Converted to 2016 dollars, it was still a bargain at $49 per day. Supplies for her operation were given at $10, anesthetic $3, surgical dressings $6.50, and medicine $0.60, and urinalysis at $1.” Too bad our hospital bills haven’t remained at similar rates, even if you factor in conversion.
For more interesting history, check out the full post at facebook.com/groups/419010411623431/permalink/1014116118779521. There are also more in-depth files on polio and the Spanish flu in regards to the area available on the page as well.
