Delaware County Medicine & Health Winter 2017 - 14

FEATURE

When it became known that there was an outbreak of
yellow fever at the quarantine grounds, the community
was seized with feelings of anxiety and dread. During the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, American coastal cities
had been ravaged repeatedly by this disease, which became
known as the "American Plague," and the possibilities of
an epidemic struck fear into the hearts of the populace.

This was the same Dr. Forwood who later would become
the	first	chief 	of 	surgery	at	the	Chester	Hospital	and	a	
three time mayor of the city of Chester. He was said to be
familiar with yellow fever and to understand its treatment.
The Republican, in an attempt to bring calm to the community,
issued the following statement: "There is no need of
unnecessary alarm or excitement on the part of our citizens.

A rumor circulated that the disease had spread to the
city of Chester, and the Media American printed an article
asserting that four women had died of yellow fever in
Chester. The Republican replied indignantly that the deaths
in Chester were caused by typhoid fever and stated that
the Media article did great injustice to the city of Chester,
that it was calculated to alarm people in other parts of the
county and to cause injury to businesses in Chester; that
there had not been a single case of yellow fever in Chester
for many years, and that the sanitary conditions in the city
were as good as usual and quite equal to that of any city of
like size in the United States. No mention was made of any
connection between typhoid fever and sanitary conditions.

"All that is requisite in the emergency is proper regard
to regimen, good temper, and avoidance or all provocation
to disease of any kind, and there is little fear but that
we shall go through the present panic unharmed." Dr.
Forwood must not have followed this advice because he
soon came down with yellow fever as did two of the nurses
who worked with him in the hospital at the Lazaretto.
Fortunately Dr. Ulrich was available and under his attendance,
Dr.Forwood and both of the nurses survived the disease.

Upon the death of Dr. Thompson, the Board of Health
of Philadelphia appointed R. Jonathon Forwood to the
position of temporary physician at the quarantine station.

Pulmonary Associates of Drexel Hill
Specializing In:
Critical Care
Pulmonary Medicine
Sleep Medicine

Thomas F. Prestel MD FCCP
James W. Ortmeyer MD FCCP
Michael S. Weinstein MD FCCP
Geoﬀrey L. Koﬀ MD

610.394.9860 | 610.394.9922 fax
https://secure.mydrsoﬃce.org
2100 Keystone Ave Suite 309 | Drexel Hill, PA 19026

12 DELAWARE COUNTY MEDICINE & HEALTH

winter 2017

As the warm summer weather continued, new cases of
yellow fever occurred, and Dr. Ulrich, forsaking all other
activities, devoted his energy to the treatment of those
suffering from this disease. In comparison with other
doctors who treated victims of the disease, he enjoyed an
enviable degree of success. Before he was called upon, out
of 	nineteen	cases,	there	were	fifteen	deaths,	while	in	sixteen	
cases which came under his care there was only one death.
It would be of interest to know his method of treatment,
but no records are in existence. Given the nature of yellow
fever, and the fact that even today treatment is essentially
supportive, it would seen that there must have been a
fortuitous element in this excellent recovery record. By
the middle of September the epidemic had run its course,
there having been no new cases reported for several
weeks. Dr. Ulrich was applauded by the press for his skill
and devotion in caring for the victims of yellow fever
and received a citation from the City Council of Chester
for preventing the disease from spreading to the City.
The circumstances which led to Dr. Ulrich's presence at
the time of the outbreak of yellow fever came about by
fortunate coincidence, in that he arrived in the area at the
same time as the outbreak began. In the summer of 1870,
he had come to Chester from Louisiana to visit his father,
Samuel Ulrich, who was in poor health. He had been in
practice	first	in	Natchez,	Mississippi,	and	then	in	Concordia	
Parish, Louisiana, since graduating from the Philadelphia
College of Medicine in 1850. While in the South, he
went through four epidemics of yellow fever and became
skilled in the diagnosis and management of the disease.
In 1965 he had taken a post graduate course in tropical
diseases at the New Orleans School of Medicine and was
well versed in the treatment of infectious diseases. When
an infectious disease of unknown nature appeared at the
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Delaware County Medicine & Health Winter 2017
