Cholera in Detroit

During the mid– to late 19th century, Detroit and the American Midwest were the sites of five major cholera epidemics. The first of these, the 1832 outbreak, was of particular significance—an unexpected consequence of the Black Hawk War. In order to suppress the Native American uprising then taking place in regions around present-day Illinois, General Winfield Scott had been ordered by President Andrew Jackson to transport his troops from Virginia to the Midwest. While passing through New York State the men were exposed to cholera, transmitting the disease to the population of Detroit once they reached that city. As a result, cholera was established as an endemic disease in the upper Midwest. Further outbreaks took place in 1834, 1849, 1854 and 1866, ultimately resulting in the deaths of hundreds of individuals. This book is the story of those outbreaks and the efforts to control them.

Richard Adler is a professor of microbiology at the University of Michigan–Dearborn. He has written five other books and numerous professional articles as well as works for the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR).

Richard Adler
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 228
Bibliographic Info: 24 photos, 3 maps, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2013
pISBN: 978-0-7864-7479-0
eISBN: 978-1-4766-1212-6
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments vii

Introduction 1

 1. From India to America 9

 2. Cholera Crosses the Border 19

 3. Cholera Among the Troops 34

 4. Detroit, Vintage 1832 42

 5. Detroit, Cholera and the Black Hawk War: Events

      of 1832 54

 6. Cholera Returns: 1834 84

 7. Between the Cholera “Wars” 101

 8. The Epidemic of 1849 115

 9. Epidemic of 1854 127

10. Epidemic of 1866: New York, Detroit and Beyond 142

11. The 1870s and Beyond 164

12. Isolation and Identification of the Cholera Bacillus 174

13. Aftermath 191

Chapter Notes 199

Bibliography 213

Index 217

State History Award—Michigan Historical Society
“This book is a model of what a local history study should be; it is extensively researched and well written…highly recommended”—Choice; “researchers interested in the history of Detroit and Michigan medical history will surely find this book useful…provides good historical information”—The Michigan Historical Review.