Ogle County Newspapers / oglecountynews.com • Friday, July 3, 2020
| OGLE COUNTY NEWS
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LOCAL HISTORY
Erxleben family tombstones reminder of pandemic Editor’s note: Otto Dick, Oregon has researched the people, places and events important in the Oregon area’s history for the Ogle County Historical Society. The following is one of a series of the articles he has written.
BY OTTO DICK While driving by the Riverside Cemetery in the front row close to the Burchell Mausoleum is the monument of Herman Erxleben. His daughter Clara who died of the Spanish Flu is buried at this gravesite. Buried at Riverview Cemetery, just north of Riverside Cemetery, are Erxleben’s son Edward, his wife and five children who all died from the Spanish Flu starting Jan. 21, 1920 to Feb. 9, 1921. They lived on a farm located on the German Church Road. Their farmhand and nurse also succumbed to the flu. This monument is a reminder of the flu pandemic lasting almost 36 months. An article entitled “Spanish flu: The deadliest pandemic in history” describes this deadly influenza pandemic lasting from January 1918 to December 1920. This outbreak began during the final months of World War I and some believe the war was partly responsible for spreading the virus. This virus was hardest on young adults between the ages of 20 and 30. Between 30% to 40% of people who worked or lived in confined areas, such as schools, barracks and government buildings, became infected. The symptoms of the flu included a headache, tiredness, dry hacking cough, loss of appetite and stomach problems. Doctors urged people to avoid crowded places or simply other people and to cover their mouths and noses in public. They were also advised not to shake hands with others, to stay indoors, to avoid touching library books and to wear masks. Schools and theaters closed. New York City also made spitting in the streets illegal. Schools and other buildings became makeshift hospitals and medical students had to take the place of doctors in some instances. This article also mentions another pandemic that happened 500 years earlier, when the Black Death traveled around the world. One estimate was 25% of Americans were
TOP LEFT: The Herman Erxleben family monument is located at Riverside Cemetery. Clara, his daughter, died of the flu is also buried also here. TOP RIGHT: Governor Lowden on a horse. Photos supplied by Otto Dick infected with the virus killing over 675,000 people in the U.S. The Spanish Flu reduced the life expectancy by 12 years. Governor Frank Lowden, our 25th Governor, served from Jan. 8, 1915 to Jan. 10, 1921. He served during WW1 and the outbreak of the Spanish Flu. During his term in office on April 6 the U.S. declared war on Germany. On July 25 the war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. During this war an estimated eleven million personnel and seven million civilians died.
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Another event that occurred during Lowden’s term as Illinois Governor was the 19th Amendment which granted women the right to vote. For the first 144 years of American’s early his-
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tory married women couldn’t own property, had no legal claim to any money they might earn and no female had the right to vote. Women were expected to focus on housework and raising a family, not politics. It’s ironic that the first woman running for President of the United States won the majority vote but not the electoral college. And finally another U. S. event during Gov. Lowden’s term in office was the passage of the 18th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution which banned the manufacture, transportation and sale of intoxicating liquors. This act led to a rise in gang violence and other crimes. Prohibition ended with the ratification on Dec. 5 of the 21st Amendment.
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