The Rural Pandemic: A Family Story of the Impact in Sevier County, Tennessee of the 1918 Flu
bryan@bryanmccarter.com
This is not our first pandemic. There was an almost unbelievably devastating one concurrent with World War I and it impacted families in Sevier County. I first heard about that pandemic from my grandmother when I came across a photo of a WWI soldier in her collection of old photographs. (She kept a large collection of photos of family members and friends that dated from almost the dawn of photography, several were printed on tin, up to the present. She could identify every one of them along with the individual stories that went with the people, and even pets, depicted in them. It was this photo collection and her oral recollections that established my love of history.) The photo was of a young man in a WWI-era Army uniform. I didn’t know of anyone in our family who had been in that war so I asked about it.
The photo was of Robert Preston Clabo. My grandmother called him “West.” He was not a relative, but someone that had worked for her family, I believe at their farm on Caney Creek, likely as a part-time farm hand. West grew up nearby. I do not know why she remembered him as West. Westley was a common name in various branches of the Clabo (or ‘Clabough’ he seems to have spelled it both ways) family at that time, so she would have heard that name used. My grandmother, Selma Ownby (later Stott) had eight sisters, no brothers. They were known as the ‘Ownby Girls’ and had a habit of making up new names for each other. She told me this was because they did not like the names they were given. It is easy to imagine that her family decided “West” was a better name for “Preston” and began calling him that instead. My grandmother was about seven when she knew him. She remembered West as a kind person who had a lot of respect for her father, Jim Ownby. Jim was a school teacher at that time and may have taught West in a nearby one-room schoolhouse. My grandmother also said that her father “helped” West in some way; West’s own father, John, a Union Army veteran who fought in the Battle of Knoxville, had died a couple of years earlier. I think my grandmother likely meant that her father served a surrogate father role and also that he helped West continue his education. According to family stories, Jim Ownby really enjoyed teaching people things.
News from a front porch
Most of Sevier County, as well as much of the United States, was quite rural and agrarian when the U.S. entered World War I. Information flowed in a way that is unrelatable today. This was especially true in rural areas where illiteracy was common. As an educator, my great-grandfather was acutely aware of this reality and tried to support his hyper-local, Caney Creek community by providing regular updates on the news of the day from his front porch. He would read out detailed accounts of the War’s progress from newspapers and letters he received from WWI soldiers like West or his brother, Allen Ownby. Newspapers and letters were practically the only sources of news at that time, save for occasional telegrams; telephones and radio were not yet available to most in the county. If you were not able to read the accounts for yourself you were completely in the dark. This must have been especially troubling for parents with children in the War when neither side could read or write. So, Jim would stand on his porch and read aloud to keep everyone up-to-date. My grandmother said listening to these sessions was terrifying. The narratives were often very graphic, including many details that were not child friendly like a description of how one soldier might use a bayonet to slice another open on the battlefield.
This stream of terrifying news was delivered in the mail. She and one of her sister’s had the daily duty of walking about a mile to a central location where several mailboxes were set up together to make the horseback delivery of mail more efficient. One day, her father asked her to get the mail and she refused, claiming she was afraid. When her father asked what she was afraid of, she said “the Germans.” She told me that she listened closely to the newspaper articles her father read but did not understand that the War was something happening far away. She had come to believe that a soldier might jump out from behind any bush and bayonet her on her walk to the mailbox and she did not think this was safe.
Two wars intertwined
Once the United States entered the War in April 1917, a draft was put in place and by June of that year West was called, along with other young men from the local area, to report to the draft board. West was inducted into the Army as part of the ‘automatic replacement draft’ the following year on June 23rd, 1918. He was sent to Camp Gordon that afternoon by train along with 21other men, including at least one cousin. Camp Gordon was a hastily built training facility outside Atlanta where the newly drafted received accelerated training to prepare them for what was to come. Built in 1917 specifically to prepare replacement troops for the American Expeditionary Force (the U.S. Army in France), Camp Gordon was one of 16 cantonments (temporary training camps) built throughout the country to enable the military to meet the mandate from President Wilson that troops would be mobilized very rapidly. Often, these cantonments were built near major cities which ensured access to the country’s existing transportation network. There was a great deal of travel between camps as part of the War effort. Together, this set of circumstances enabled the fast spread across the country and then onto Europe of the worst pandemic ever know. A new flu virus that would kill far more than the War itself.
Despite the name often used for the 1918 flu pandemic, “Spanish flu”, the 1918 flu may have originated at Camp Funston Army Training Camp in Kansas. At the very least, Camp Funston had the first reported case. There is also a new theory that places the origin point of the 1918 flu in Asia, then traveling to Vancouver with a group of Chinese laborers en route to Europe. Then from Vancouver somehow to Kansas. This theory has not yet been proven, but it is more in alignment with how other flu pandemics, before or since, have developed — -as well as modern seasonal flu variants. Flus usually originate in Asia. Why the 1918 flu might not have followed this pattern is unknown.
Familiar prevention measures
Due to the War effort, with so much travel between training camps, many cantonments had severe outbreaks of flu. In 1918, the nature of influenza was not well understood and treatment options were very limited. Mainly, the afflicted were given palliative care, often in close proximity to other patients.
Prevention measures were common across the country, though they were not coordinated nationally. Most of the steps taken sound like what we are doing now. Cities nearest the camps sometimes enacted stay-at-home orders very similar to the ones we have today with the coronavirus pandemic. Atlanta even ordered residents of Camp Gordon to stay out of the city, recognizing the camp as a source of the disease. It was common for people across the country, including soldiers, to wear face masks. Some schools closed, public transportation was restricted, businesses closed, public gatherings were restricted and hand washing was encouraged.
The 1918 pandemic had three waves; Spring 1918, Fall 1918, Winter 1919. West travelled to Camp Gordon right between the first two, narrowly missing the most dangerous periods to be in the camp.
A dangerous adventure
Since West was drafted into a group of replacement forces the Army knew he was going to the Western Front from the beginning, though they did not know with what regiment. He was part of a designated group, or ‘replacement depot’, from which the Army would draw individual soldiers to replace casualties during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. This campaign was the largest in American military history, involving 1.2 million American soldiers, and the last major battle of the War; it ended with the signing of the Armistice on November 11th, 1918. He received a general survey of battlefield basics to prepare him for anything; endurance training, hand-to-hand combat, use of standard infantry weapons like his rifle, possibly grenades and especially a bayonet, which would be critical in the intense, relentless fighting in the trenches of the Argonne Forest in France. West may have even received some instruction in French. After arriving in France, replacement soldiers waited until they were added one-by-one to different regiments on an as needed basis. This is how West ultimately ended up fighting as part of a New York regiment.
I think this was an exciting adventure for West. He listed his occupation as “farmer” on his draft registration card. He likely had never traveled much outside of Pigeon Forge.
The pandemic was in the news at the time, although often downplayed due to wartime censorship. The countries involved in the War did not want it known how devastating the flu pandemic actually was. Because deaths were enormous though, communities were aware of its local devastation and more and more coverage broke through as it ran its nearly year-long course back-and-forth across the Globe. In the end, an estimated 50 million people died globally including about 675 thousand Americans. Far more than any other event before or since.
In August, West and his troop were sent by rail to New York for further transport to France. This was probably only West’s second train trip and he was headed to the Big City. West boarded a ship called SS Pyrrhus bound for Brest, a small port town on the north west coast of France and the primary arrival port for military personnel headed to the Front. As a common soldier he was given 3rd class accommodation (sometimes called steerage). Officers received 1st or 2nd class staterooms.
Almost Lucky
For most of the War and the pandemic, West seems to have been one of the lucky ones. He wasn’t drafted until very late in the War. He was in Pigeon Forge during the initial flu outbreak, a pretty safe place to be due to the relative isolation of Caney Creek. He was inducted when cases dipped between the first and second waves and left Camp Gordon just before the second wave gained strength. In France, West was transferred to the 165th New York Infantry, Company M in September. His company participated in the final, third wave of the offensive, minimizing his time on an active battlefield. The final wave started at the end of October and ran up until the moment the Armistice was signed at 11:11 on November 11, 1918. West may have only seen a couple of weeks of active fighting in what has been called the ‘sausage grinder’ of the Western Front. He then spent several more weeks in France before boarding a ship back to the States and his luck ran out.
On January 23, 1919, West boarded a troop carrier that had been a luxury cruise liner before the War, the SS Adriatic. The Adriatic was owned by the White Star Line, the same company that had operated the Titanic (she had helped bring some Titanic survivors back to England in 1912.) In 1919 the U.S. was operating the ship as a troop carrier and using the standard designation for a steam ship, ‘SS’. Before and after the U.S. borrowed her, this ship used the designation ‘RMS’, for Royal Mail Ship, indicating that she was a British steam ship authorized to carry the mail.
As a Private, West was back in 3rd class. He shared a cramped compartment with the rest of Company M in the forward part of the ship. The Adriatic would carry over 2,000 passengers that trip, mostly American military personnel along with a few ‘casuals’ including family members, reporters and other individuals who had been granted permission by the military to sail.
Getting home was difficult for everyone. There was a global shortage of passenger ships and thousands of people were trying to leave war-ravaged Europe at the same time. Organized withdrawal was attempted but there was chaos. Many troops were back in Brest awaiting departure. Brest was the main departure point for soldiers leaving France. It was also a hotspot of influenza transmission. The Adriatic was delayed leaving for two days due to discrepancies in orders. During this delay, West contracted the flu.
A casualty of the pandemic
Several hundred passengers on the Adriatic were designated ‘sick or wounded’ and bound for hospitals in New York, a voyage that would take about one week. West was not showing any signs of illness as of January 23rd, and was not on this list. His illness would have been recognized within a day or two of leaving port though, probably by one of his Army buddies in Company M. When West’s illness was reported it would have been one of several, possibly many, others on the voyage and led to his being moved to an isolation ward on a separate deck of the ship. In isolation, little would have been done for West; he would not have been expected to recover. Victims of this flu often died very fast, sometimes the same day they were diagnosed. Frequently, the actual cause of death was a related complication like pneumonia. This is what happened to West. Mid-way through the voyage, West died. He would have been promptly sewn into a winding sheet (a shroud-like piece of canvas) and taken to an upper deck. Assisted by honor guards and a chaplain, Army personnel would have added weights to the foot of his winding sheet to ensure sinking and placed West’s body on a board that was then tipped to allow it to slide into the Atlantic. The chaplain would have said a prayer, his name would have been read out and all present would have saluted respectfully. Others who died on the voyage would receive the same ceremony.
West’s mother was informed of his death, probably with a telegram. Since West died on the way home, she would have received word that he was safe and coming back shortly before being informed of his death and burial at sea. West’s mother died about two years later.
Burial at sea was not an absolute necessity by the early 20th century. Not all passengers with influenza who died on sea voyages during WWI were buried at sea; some were embalmed. Likely, this precaution would have been taken to minimize the risk that the contagions in his body would infect others. By the time of West’s death, in the pandemic’s final wave, all medical personnel were well aware of the ongoing risks, whereas in the earlier stages of the pandemic, ship personnel may have not fully understood the risks of keeping the remains of flu victims on board. It is also possible that there were a large number of flu cases on this trip. Though I was not able to confirm how many passengers had the flu on this voyage, some ships reported hundreds of cases while they were at sea. Very close quarters with no way to maintain social distancing just after leaving a European focus area of the disease put a large number of infected persons in close contact, they didn’t have much of a chance.
When I first heard this story it seemed incredible. Almost science fiction. Both World War I and the flu pandemic touched everyone, even the tiny Caney Creek community. And, West made his mark, though I’m not sure he knew it. My family never forgot him and I hope this article keeps that going.
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Bryan McCarter grew up in East Tennessee, his parent’s families both (very) long standing Sevier County residents. He lived most of his adult life in New York City, but recently moved back south with his family. Bryan works in marketing but has a passion for history, particularly when it connects to his own southern roots.
