Death by Dying

My current project at work involves scanning death records from the last century and linking them to an on-line index. As sexy and cutting edge as that may sound, it can become a tad boring at times. So I amuse myself by taking note of names, places and other types of data as the hours crawl by. The data in this case has to do with death and dying.

I do not mean any disrespect for those who died of terrible diseases such as cholera and typhoid in the later part of the last century. And I certainly don't mean to make light of the high rate of infant mortality either - that was very evident and very sad. I was shocked to learn of the surprising number of babies who died from teething and measles!

Many of the reported causes of adult death were unfamiliar names such as "sprue" - which is celiac disease today and "dropsy" which had nothing to do with being clumsy but everything to do with congestive heart disease. "Consumption" was another popular cause of death - it was what they called tuberculosis. "Scarlet Fever" and "La Grippe" sound almost harmless and kind of exotic but they were very deadly and people died within days. These were all terrible ways to die, and what is really sad is how many young people died and how fast they succumbed to their particular illness.

So please forgive me for my insensitivity in pointing out some of the other more amusing causes of death as listed on official death certificates.

Here are some examples:

"diarrhea"
"poisoned by eating phosphorous off matches"
"machinery run down"
"worms"
"gravel"
"sore leg"
"shot in face"
"suddenly"
"worn out"
"don't know"
"brain trouble"
"sickness"
"murder"

Below are listed some of my personal favorites. Remember, these are listed as OFFICIAL causes of death:

"kick of a horse"
"sudden death"
"fell down a well"
"96 years"
"possibly lightning"
"doctor did not say"
"baffled state of physician"

...and the best of all - "husband of Olive Leger"

We certainly are lucky to live in this modern world where measles will not kill you in a matter of days. Many of these terrible diseases have been eradicated but I suspect people will continue to die as they are struck by lightning and fall down wells. I guess the best we can hope for is that most of us will just "run down" and succumb to the number one cause of death in this or any other century - old age.