LeRoy Pennysaver & News

LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - MAY 17, 2020 by Lynne Belluscio The year was 1918, and the United States was in the midst of the Great War. Yet Americans soon would be faced with another war that would be fought at home and would claim thousands of lives – more than the Great War itself. It was called the Spanish Flu. It emerged in September 1918. Again, like today, its origins were obscure but once it came to America, it found a foot hold in military training camps. For a while, it was thought to just be a strain of the “grippe” but the symptoms were alarmingly different. When it was over, one third of the world population would be infected and it is estimated that between 50 million and 100 million people died worldwide. In the United States, 650,000 people died. It hit Genesee County in October. Yet the county medical advisor suggested that it was nothing to worry about. The families in Bergen knew he was wrong and were overwhelmed as entire families came down with the virus. Bergen’s only doctor contracted the disease. Dr. Davis and Dr. Ganiard of LeRoy went to Bergen to help. Tragically, Dr. Ganiard brought the disease back home to his sixteen-year old daughter, Martha, who died on October 11. She was a student at the high school. On the same day, it was reported that Lynn Parsons, 32, of LeRoy had died, leaving his wife and a two-year old son. This was the beginning of a two-month ordeal for LeRoy, that would ultimately claim 32 people, including 3 high school students and 6 young children and leave 35 children without a parent. The best source of information are two articles written by Terry Krautwurst which are posted on his website. “Autumn Brings a County Fair, Heartening War News – and a Merciless Disease" www. g e n e s e e c o u n t yww i . com/2018/09/15/flu/ and “Remembering the Victims of Genesee County’s Autumn 1918 Spanish Flu Epidemic” www. g e n e s e e c o u n t yww i . c om/ 20 18 / 11 / 15 / v i c t ims / I would certainly encourage anyone interested in this part of local history to visit those two sites. Terry has done an enormous amount of research and there is a lot of information. Bergen and LeRoy issued orders to close schools, pool halls, churches, theaters, and bowling alleys. Batavia soon followed, although curiously, Batavia ordered that all the fall leaves be gathered and burned, in an effort to eradicate the virus – never minding that all the smoke greatly affected the breathing passages of victims. Four days after the death of Martha Ganiard another LeRoy high school student, Alice Ruth McCowan, died. On the same day, Mrs. Hattie Toal Root, aged 48 died, leaving her husband and two children. The next day, little 14-month old Dorothy Katherine Mooney died after being ill only 24 hours. Martha Washington Duncan died the next day. Nineteen-year old Carrie Frank Iannello, mother of two, who lived with her husband Joseph on Pleasant Street, died. Her 1 ½ year old daughter died nine days later leaving her husband with the care of their 3-month old son, Gaton. On October 18, Louise Caccamise died. Her brother was serving in the Army. Three deaths occurred on October 20: Lillian Westacott, 25 survived by her husband, Mabel Elizabeth Brown was thirty and lived on Lincoln Avenue with her parents. Two-year old Bartholomew Gucuzzo (Yacuzzo) died. On October 21, Peter Keenan, of Mill Street died at the Batavia hospital. He had been ill for a week. His brother, Private Henry Keenan was serving in the American forces in France. Ora Elizabeth Booth had graduated from LeRoy High School in June. When her family became ill, she took care of them. She succumbed to the virus on October 22. The next day, Samuel Magavero, age 21 died survived by his wife of one month. Joseph W. Shirley, age 34 died, survived by two brothers and six sisters. Isadore Zelasko, age 30, died leaving a wife and one son. He had been in Cleveland and was taken ill and decided to return home. He lived on Erie Street and had been working at the LeRoy Cotton Mill which had closed. He left a wife and one son. The funeral was held at St. Joseph’s Church and he was buried in St Francis Cemetery. On October 24, William Jeffreys, 25 died. The paper noted that on the same day, Mrs. Antonina Lena DeCarlo, age 28 died. She and her husband William, lived on Pleasant Street and had lost three children earlier that year. William was left with the care of their three surviving children. On October 25, Mrs. Frances Dunn age 33 died, and was survived by her husband and an eight-month old daughter. The same day, Bridget Melroy, a widow died. She was 51. On October 26, Anna Amato, age 23 died, survived by her husband Leonardo, and four small children. Three days later, Mrs. Mary Lewis, age 33 died, survived by her husband and three young children. Two- year old Marion De Loris White, died the same day. Roslia Zimmerman, wife of Karl Zimmerman died at 8:30 in the morning at her home on Lincoln Avenue. She was 32 and had just given birth to a baby boy. The entire family, including Carl 6, Francis 5, Katherine 3 and Henry, the 15 day-old baby, were also stricken with influenza. On October 31, Eleanor Horgan died. She was 31 and had been a nurse caring for patients. She was assigned to St. Jerome’s Hospital in Batavia. She was survived by her parents Mr. & Mrs. John Horgan. Anthony Leone, 23, died on November 4. Anthony Piazza, 28, died on November 5, survived by his wife and four small children. On November 12, Mrs. Fannie Squires, 35 died at the State School for the Blind while caring for her daughter Marion, who was a pupil at the school. Fannie was the daughter of James White who had died just two weeks prior. Fannie left a daughter 11 and a son 6. She was buried in Machpelah Cemetery. Harold Gardnet was almost two when he died on November 13. Mrs. Eva Gardner, wife of Howard Gardner had been ill for two weeks and died on November 17, leaving two small children. Maggie, seven year old daughter of Joseph Legatta, died at home on Stanley Place on November 18. Ada White, 38, of Clay Street, died on November 27 after the birth of a baby daughter, leaving five children, Elwood, Helen, Richard, Harold and Bette without a mother. In the midst of these eight weeks, the Great War in Europe ended. Armistice Day would be celebrated in LeRoy on a cold rainy November day, with a parade up Main Street. But the pandemic continued. It seemed that by the end of November it had subsided, but it would reappear in December and again in February. LeRoy would recover, but as you walk the cemeteries, you will see the date 1918, and know that LeRoy would never be the same. When Mayor Ward Closed the Pool Halls