Legacy tip – How many of your relatives died in the Influenza Epidemic of 1918?

Geoff Rasmussen

08 Apr 2010

This morning I located the obituary for Herbert S. Harper who died in January 1919. The obituary stated that he died from influenza. His death was one of nearly 50 million who died as a result of the Influenza Epidemic of 1918 that swept the world.

I wondered how many others of my 23,017 person Legacy family file died in the same year. Using Legacy's Search tools, this was simple to learn.

Go to Search > Find > Detailed Search and enter the following conditions (click on image to enlarge). Then click the Create List button.

Legacy found 16 individuals that also died in the year 1919. Since the influenza epidemic began in 1918, I then searched for those in my family file who died in 1918 and added them to the list.

Go back to Search > Find > Detailed Search, change the year to 1918. Then in the lower left, change the option to "Add results to existing List".

After clicking on the Create List button, my Search Results grew to 46 (combination of persons who died in 1918 or 1919). About a quarter of those died under the age of 20. I don't know that all of these died from the flu, but now I have a nice list that I can print for further research.

How many of your relatives died in 1918 or 1919? Follow the steps above to find out.

For more about the 1918 Influenza Epidemic, including documents and photos, click here.

Comments (12)

My mother’s sister died in 1918 from the flu. The next day my mother was born. The day after that her father died of the flu. My mother was not bathed for a week after she was born for fear of catching it. All in Oakdale, TN.

My Grandmother died in this pandemic on a farm in rural Canada, at the age of 43 yrs; leaving 5 children, including a baby. She died on Jan 19, 1919, one day after her sister in Sweden died of the same pandemic, at the of 28 yrs. She left 4 children; the youngest was 6 yrs. Currently 5 members of my immediate family are recovering from H1N1 which I believe is closely related to this pandemic. Relapses occur but it appears they will have full recovery. They were vacinnated.

Hoping for WW 1 research, I visited St Margaret’s Bodelwyddan (Nr Colwyn Bay Wales) unfortunately finding a sad piece of Canadian Military History -“The Kimnel Park Camp Riots 1919” [Logistics at their worst!] of the 83 Canadians buried in the churchyard, most were from this disease.

I didn’t know a lot about this pandemic so I googled it to learn more. I then searched my own data base of a mere 1700 individuals and found that 5 had died in my dutch family tree during 1918-19.
Can I save that list and how would I go about doing that?

My Great Aunt died from flu in the 1918 epidemic. She was only 10 and her parents buried her 1 Jan 1919. My mother was named after her.

In Lewisburg, Union, PA, my grandmother, Emma C. Frederick Moyer, age 38, died of influenza 14 hours after giving birth to my mother on 11 Dec 1918; leaving 6 children, several of whom were ill with the disease but none died. My aunt recalled her father coming upstairs and telling them they no longer had a mother. The three youngest children were each adopted into separate families, but they all grew up in this small town knowing and visiting with each other. My mother was adopted by her father’s cousin and husband, so at one point the family trees join each other with shared ancestors.

My grandfather died in this epidemic in Nov. 1918 in Pittsburgh, PA. My dad was only 4 months old. My grandfather was 23.

Ironically the mother of the woman whose family history research I have been building on for the past several years died as a result of this epidemic. Gertrude McKeon died 1918 in Brooklyn.

It is said that more people died from this disease and complications than died in WWI.
My grandmother was one of those stricken. My grandfather say’s it was a very painful death.

My great-grandfather died of this in 1918 in County Limerick.

My grandfathers brother in Leadville Colorado died of the flu in 1918. His name was Peter Travison son of John Trevison. Peter was born in Colorado.

My grandfather and my 18-month-old aunt both died of complications from this disease.

EC
Earl Cook

15 years ago

My mother’s sister died in 1918 from the flu. The next day my mother was born. The day after that her father died of the flu. My mother was not bathed for a week after she was born for fear of catching it. All in Oakdale, TN.
EU
Elaine Uhryniw

15 years ago

My Grandmother died in this pandemic on a farm in rural Canada, at the age of 43 yrs; leaving 5 children, including a baby. She died on Jan 19, 1919, one day after her sister in Sweden died of the same pandemic, at the of 28 yrs. She left 4 children; the youngest was 6 yrs. Currently 5 members of my immediate family are recovering from H1N1 which I believe is closely related to this pandemic. Relapses occur but it appears they will have full recovery. They were vacinnated.
GO
Godfrey Owen

15 years ago

Hoping for WW 1 research, I visited St Margaret’s Bodelwyddan (Nr Colwyn Bay Wales) unfortunately finding a sad piece of Canadian Military History -“The Kimnel Park Camp Riots 1919” [Logistics at their worst!] of the 83 Canadians buried in the churchyard, most were from this disease.
JV
John Van Zwam

15 years ago

I didn’t know a lot about this pandemic so I googled it to learn more. I then searched my own data base of a mere 1700 individuals and found that 5 had died in my dutch family tree during 1918-19.
Can I save that list and how would I go about doing that?
L
Lee

15 years ago

My Great Aunt died from flu in the 1918 epidemic. She was only 10 and her parents buried her 1 Jan 1919. My mother was named after her.
ME
Mary Ellen

15 years ago

In Lewisburg, Union, PA, my grandmother, Emma C. Frederick Moyer, age 38, died of influenza 14 hours after giving birth to my mother on 11 Dec 1918; leaving 6 children, several of whom were ill with the disease but none died. My aunt recalled her father coming upstairs and telling them they no longer had a mother. The three youngest children were each adopted into separate families, but they all grew up in this small town knowing and visiting with each other. My mother was adopted by her father’s cousin and husband, so at one point the family trees join each other with shared ancestors.
K
Karen

15 years ago

My grandfather died in this epidemic in Nov. 1918 in Pittsburgh, PA. My dad was only 4 months old. My grandfather was 23.
T
Tom

15 years ago

Ironically the mother of the woman whose family history research I have been building on for the past several years died as a result of this epidemic. Gertrude McKeon died 1918 in Brooklyn.
TR
Tim Rosenlof

15 years ago

It is said that more people died from this disease and complications than died in WWI.
My grandmother was one of those stricken. My grandfather say’s it was a very painful death.
SH
Steve Henkel

15 years ago

My great-grandfather died of this in 1918 in County Limerick.
LT
Linda TravisonCour

15 years ago

My grandfathers brother in Leadville Colorado died of the flu in 1918. His name was Peter Travison son of John Trevison. Peter was born in Colorado.
BB
Bill Burton

15 years ago

My grandfather and my 18-month-old aunt both died of complications from this disease.