Young Diphtheria Victim, Herbert Ellis

Herbert Ellis (1869-1881)

Herbert Ellis was born on January 20, 1869. His parents were Albert C. Ellis and Harriet L. Tuttle Ellis, who was known as Hattie. Herbert was their first child.

Albert Ellis was a farmer like his father and lived in the neighborhood of South Dedham colloquially referred to as the “Ellis section,” near the Ellis Station (northeast Norwood). He was also a Civil War veteran.

On August 31, 1881, Herbert Ellis, then 12 years old, died of diphtheria, a highly contagious and most often lethal disease. Throughout the 18^th and 19^th centuries, this devastating disease, commonly referred to as “throat distemper,” caused countless deaths, chiefly among children. Its symptoms included general weakness and a swollen neck which signified the presence of an accumulation of dead tissue in the throat. The disease derived its name from the Greek word “diphthera” which meant leather, a reference to the thick membrane that made breathing and swallowing difficult, especially for children, who, of course, had relatively small air passages.

Physicians and parents were forced to watch helplessly as children coughed and choked, until eventually the tissue blocked their airway entirely and they suffocated. Children who survived, generally went on to die young; the belief was that this “throat distemper” somehow left them with a weakened system.

It was not until the end of the 19^th century that scientists began to identify the bacteria that caused diphtheria. After years of experimentation, in 1913, the first diphtheria vaccine was developed and, by the 1930s, diphtheria vaccines were widely promoted in the United States. These campaigns led to a universal program of infant vaccination. Largely as a result of these routine vaccinations, diphtheria is rare in the U.S. today.

Herbert Ellis was interred in lot 101, although his name is not on the stone which was erected for his father and mother, who died in 1903 and 1929.

Twelve year old Herbert Ellis interred in this lot in 1881.