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July 13, 2018
In the 19th century, before science uncovered the secrets of cholera, yellow fever and typhoid, and cities like Nashville and Memphis lacked adequate sanitation and clean water, epidemics spread terror and death, leaving thousands of people who had survived the Civil War dead.
A new exhibit at Belle Meade Plantation pays tribute to Catholic nuns and priests from the Diocese of Nashville who cared for the sick during the deadly cholera, yellow fever and typhoid outbreaks in Tennessee in the mid-19th century.
In 1866, a cholera epidemic swept through Nashville killing 753 people. It returned in 1873, killing more than 1,000 people, one in every four living in the city.
Memphis was hit by yellow fever outbreaks in 1873, 1878 and 1879, killing thousands – hitting the Irish Catholic community particularly hard – and devastating the city.
In all these cases, while many fled, Catholic priests, brothers and sisters stayed to nurse the sick and comfort the dying.
And in the process, many lost their own lives to the outbreaks.
At Belle Meade Plantation, located six miles west of downtown Nashville, an exhibit is honoring some of those nearly forgotten heroes.
“The exhibit does not have an official title, but it is one of our popular, mansion experience tours, running from June to Oct. 1,” said Curator Jesse Williams. As the museum’s curator, Williams explained that he “supervises collections, organizes exhibits, and researches the history of the house, family, and all it connects.”
The current exhibit is comprised of four themes: “Mourning,” “Cholera,” “Yellow Fever,” and “Typhoid.” Williams noted that “we utilized our large collection of period clothing, and pictured here are those items that the family actually wore.”
The current exhibit, said Williams, “includes one bedroom scene dedicated to the Catholic rescuers, showing a nun tending to a dying person.”
Williams noted that, “everybody else left; only one Protestant (minister) – as far as we know – stayed, but these people came to help, and have been forgotten.”
The various epidemics, and especially those that struck Memphis, had a devastating effect on Nashville. “This city was swamped by some 30,000 people fleeing the 1878 Yellow Fever epidemic in Memphis,” said Williams.
Williams noted that “Memphis also lost its charter from 1878 to 1893 (and went bankrupt) because of the decline in population.” Memphis suffered 5,150 casualties during the 1878 outbreak, with more than 2,000 Catholics included among the dead.
A total of 16 priests and religious brothers and 30 religious sisters died during the 1878 epidemic. The 1870s saw more than 20 priests, 50 sisters, and thousands of lay people perish while aiding the victims of these recurring outbreaks.
What is known today is that yellow fever – now curable through a vaccination – and cholera, are caused by mosquito bites and unsafe drinking water, respectively. After large-scale natural disasters like earthquakes, however, typhoid can also break out due to exposed corpses slowly decaying in the sun.
The Belle Meade Plantation was founded in 1807 by John Harding, who was born in 1777 and died 1865. He turned the property into – among other attractions – a showplace for thoroughbred horse racing.
Harding’s son, William Giles Harding, assumed management of the plantation in 1839, and during the Civil War held a general’s rank in the Confederate Army.
Harding’s oldest daughter, Selene, married another Confederate general, William Hicks Jackson, and Jackson’s brother Howell married Selene’s sister Mary Elizabeth.
Howell Jackson’s first wife, Sophie, had died in the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1873.
The tremendous sacrifice in and around Nashville spurred at least two members of the Jackson family – both women – to convert to Catholicism.
The Harding-Jackson families, however, said Williams, were not spared further tragedy even after the epidemics ended. “Typhoid killed William Hicks Jackson’s son – the only male heir – three months after the father’s death, and Belle Meade mansion was sold in 1906,” Williams explained.
Five successive families alternately owned the property until 1953, when it was converted into the present historical museum. Belle Meade Plantation is located on nine acres at 5025 Harding Pike in Nashville, and tours end at 5 p.m. daily.
For more information about the exhibit, call 615-356-0501, ext. 125.