There has been much discussion about how the average life
expectancy is continuing to increase. For example, since 1900, the average life
expectancy in the US has gone from 47 to nearly 80. But the reason for this is
not that everyone is living longer, but that the “average” is going up because
of a decrease in early deaths. For example, if person A lives to age 85 but
person B dies in childhood at age 5 due to an infectious disease, then the average
life expectancy is only 45 (85 + 5) / 2 = 45. If we eliminate that cause of
early death by better health measures or vaccines, and then person B lives to
age 65, then the average is (85 + 65) / 2 = 75.
As a good article on this (*1) points out, “In the early
part of the twentieth century, public health measures and improved nutrition
led to rapid reductions in mortality caused by infectious diseases.” [As a side
note, Figure 1 in this article which shows the average each year. If you look
at 1919, you can see the dramatic plunge in life expectancy caused by the
Spanish Flu. Let’s hope that the measures being taken in response to the
current COVID-19 virus do not have the same sort of impact!]
But these discussions are all just about overall averages. I
thought I’d look in my own family tree to find concrete examples of “early
death”, particularly in the period just before and after 1900 – the time that
my grandparents and great-grandparents would have been impacted. While not all
deaths were recorded in places that I have access to, my search will be greatly
aided by the census records of 1900 and 1910, when women were asked “how many
children” AND “how many living children,” so you can get a sense of how many
had died. I’ll look at each of my grandparents and their families in the below
analysis and see how many deaths under the age of 50 I can find. If I can find
the cause of death, I will also note it.
Maternal Grandfather – Pierpont/Merrill/Hall
Richard Irving Pierpont (1886-1889) – My grandfather was one
of eight children. His older brother Richard died in 1889 at age 3. I have not
found any records as to the cause of his death.
Annie Merrill (1858-1898) – My grandfather’s mother died
just a few days after he was born due to complications from childbirth. She was
only 40.
Ransom Hall (1852-1889) – Following the death of Annie, my
great-grandfather married a widow, Anna [Root] Hall. Her first husband had also
died early at the age of 37.
(Boy) Hall (1888-1888) – Anna [Root] Hall had five children
from her first marriage. One of them, a boy who was never named, was stillborn
in 1888. His gravestone only reads “Infant son”.
Maternal Grandmother – Blackman/Talmadge
Emma Minor [Blackman] Huckins (1874-1894) – my great-grandfather’s
sister died in childbirth when giving birth to her first (only) son Raymond.
Paternal Grandfather – Russell/Merchant
Allen Percy Russell (1901-1905) – my grandfather’s youngest
brother died at age 4 – cause unknown.
Anna Pauline [Merchant] Russell (1871-1903) – my great-grandmother
died at the age of only 32 when her youngest daughter was only 4 months old.
Lois Ann [Cook] Russell (1855-1883) – my great-grandfather’s
mother died at the age of only 28 after having had 6 children.
Gertrude Louise Russell (1880-1903) – my great-grandfather’s
sister died at the age of 22.
Walter James Russell (1852-1895) – following the death of his
first wife, Lois Ann [Cook], Walter remarried, had 4 more children, then died
himself at the age of 43.
Cornelia [Sutphin] Russell (1858-1897) – Walter’s second
wife also died at the age of 49, leaving her children who were then sent to an
orphanage.
Iva M Pulver (1892-1892) – my step-great-grandmother’s
daughter by her first marriage, Iva (twin sister of Eva) was stillborn.
(Boy) Waldron (1900-1900) – my step-great-grandmother had
one last child with her second husband, Lewis Waldron, who was apparently stillborn.
Paternal Grandmother – Levy/Northrop
Two Levy children (190x) – In the 1900 census, Maurice Levy
and his wife Caroline [Northrop] were living in Brooklyn, NY, with their two
daughters. Caroline is shown with two children, both living. In the 1910
census, still in Brooklyn, Caroline notes that she is the mother of four
children, but only two are living. This is the only record I have found of the
births and deaths of two of my grandmother’s siblings during that decade. Until
looking at these census records there were no family stories about these two
children.
Maurice Levy (1870-1910) – Only a few months after the 1910
census, Maurice passed away at the age of 40. No cause of death was recorded
that I have found.
Siblings of Maurice – Maurice’s mother, Phoebe [Isaacs]
Levy, is noted in the 1900 census as having had 10 children but only 5 are
living. One of them is Maurice’s brother, Benjamin, who died in 1893 at the age
of 22. But I have no records of who the other four children are or when they
died.
Mary Drake Northrop (1876-1884) – Lawrence Northrop and Mary
Lois [Rogers] Northrop had 7 children, but only 6 survived to adulthood. Their
middle daughter, Mary Drake, died in 1884 at the age of only 8. No cause of
death was listed.
Conclusion
Early death is not just an academic subject. Above are
listed twenty-two such incidents just in my own family tree in the span on one
generation (1883-1910).
Notes:
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