Causes of Death

The Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1878 killed 20,000 people throughout America. Our ancestors did not escape this horrible disease. The people of Montgomery County, Tennessee seem to have been particularly burdened. Our Halliburton family of Montgomery Co., TN was one of the most affected. Elizabeth Halliburton Current, lost 6 relatives in 1878 alone. Five of the deceased were children, and the other an old man. Also, the era after the Civil War (1860's, 70's, and 80's) seems to have brought a huge number of deaths to the people of the conquered South. Elizabeth lost 3 of her children and was herself dead at the age of 33.

Below is an outline of the descendants of George and Mary Halliburton that died in the 1860's, 70's, or 80's. A great portion of these are attributed to the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1878.

George Coffee Halliburton, on May 1, 1878 (aged 62).
Mary (Grant) Halliburton on Mar. 16, 1870 (aged 49).

• Elizabeth (Halliburton) Current, on Jan. 10, 1875 (aged 33).
  • Esther Frances Current, on Jul. 16, 1865 (aged 1 year).
  • Franklin Current, between 1860 and 1870 (aged 1-10 years).
  • Frances Current, on Jan. 1, 1878 (aged 7).
• Mary Frances Halliburton, on May 3, 1870 (aged 24).
• David Halliburton.
  • George C. Halliburton, on Sep. 29, 1871 (aged 17 days)
  • Emma M. Halliburton, on Sep. 4, 1878 (aged 11).
  • Mary J. Halliburton, on Aug. 31, 1878 (aged 9).
  • David W. Halliburton, on Aug. 30, 1878 (aged 5).
  • Rena B. Halliburton, on Sep. 11, 1878 (aged 2).
  • Maudie R. Halliburton, on Sep. 10, 1883 (aged 7 months).
  • Infant Halliburton, born and died on May 15, 1887.
  • (David only had one other child, Robert, who survived to adulthood)
• Allen Halliburton in 1886 (aged 34).

• Louis H. Plymale (brother to Benjamin H. Plymale) committed suicide by slashing his throat with a razor on Dec. 29, 1916 in Medford, Oregon. He was 44 years old.
• Mrs. Evangeline Marsh Wadleigh (first wife of Odin F. Wadleigh) suffered from postpartum depression after giving birth to her son Gerald in July 1920. She committed suicide on February 21, 1920 by drinking Draino. She was 33 years old.
• Mrs. Lee P. Jones died on March 23, 1919 at her home in Christian Co., KY, from the effects of Influenza, of which she suffered from the Influenza Epidemic of 1918, she was 49 years old.
• Josiah Stearns died on July 25, 1788 in Epping, NH of Cancer of the Lip. He was 56 years old.
• Mrs. Susanna Smith died on Jun. 12, 1680 in Hampton, NH, when she was struck by lightning. Susanna was 65 years old.
• Mrs. Mary Hatfield Plymale died on April 3, 1875 from Paralysis (inability to use certain body parts). She was 71 years old.
• Charles H. Custer died from dysentery (inflamation of the colon) on August 7, 1903 in Boone County, Indiana. He was 77 years old.
• Deane F. Bixby (brother of Patricia Bixby) died on Dec. 4, 1944 in a field hospital in Germany from wounds received in battle during World War II.
• Henry J. Hoffman died on Sep. 13, 1907 in McPherson Township, MN. He had developed blood poisoning from an accident and died from Bright's Disease. He was 41 years old.
• Gabriel Plymale died in November 1852 at Jacksonville, OR from Typhoid Fever which he contracted during his journey on the Oregon Trail.
• Mrs. Mary Foust Brown died on Jan. 23, 1883 in Montgomery Co., TN from injuries resulting from a fall. She was 73.
• Elijah Custer (brother to James Custer) died in 1825 in Jefferson Co., IN when he was hit by a falling tree. He was 15 years old.
• Mrs. Abigail Freese Tilton died on Jun. 3, 1858 in Sanbornton, NH from complications in childbirth giving birth to her 12th child. She was 38 years old.
• Louis P. Kling (brother of Christina Kling) died on Nov. 15, 1906 in a forest near Brainerd, MN, when he was mistaken for a deer and shot by his friend in the stomach.
• Mollie L. Merriman (sister of Vera Merriman Plymale) died on Dec. 3, 1934 in San Francisco, CA from the affects of Multiple Sclerosis. She was 42 years old.
• William Swaine died on October 20, 1657 off of the coast between Hampton, NH and Boston, MA when his ship was shipwrecked and suredly drowned. He was about 38 years old.
• George Custer was murdered by Indians on September 12, 1756 in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. He was about 51 years old.
• George Taylor died sometime around 1800. He left his family in New York and went to Ohio for a trip and supposively drowned on his way but his family never heard of what happened to him. His widow became too emotional to care for the children, so they were adopted out across the country.
• Joseph W. Merriman died around July 1852 at Goose Lake on the Oregon Trail. Joseph was an infant and was fed the milk of a cow that had eaten wild parsnips (which are poisonous).
• Mrs. Anna Murray Fairclo (sister of Mary Murray Merriman) died on March 28, 1905 in Ashland, OR of a brain tumor. She was 37 years old.

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