Health & Disease
During the time of Avalon there wasn't a hospital to be found in Rockingham County. It was 1924 before the first hospital opened its doors in Leaksville--now part of Eden. In 1900 the field of medicine was still in the dark ages in comparison with today. Doctors were working out of genuine crocodile handbags and making house calls. Some doctors of the time could be likened to the herbalists of today using only natural treatments while other doctors' methods ranged to extremes. Many diseases and illnesses were not understood and for that reason the doctor's focus was sometimes more on comforting the patient than fixing unidentifiable problems. It wasn't unusual for a doctor diagnosing a patient exhibiting strange symptoms to make a rough guesstimate then prescribe narcotics. Unfortunately, a lot of doctors who did address unidentified ailments did so through crude and sometimes bizarre experimentation. Back then, there existed a wide variety of medicines and medical devices that were backed by outlandish claims but were devoid of any scientific proof. Many of these devices and treatments employed electric shock, radioactive substances, vibrations, and even the administration of mercury. The use of such unscientific treatments is considered quackery today. However, times were changing and several positive medical breakthroughs came from the era. Around 1900 antibiotics were discovered and, to the relief of blood transfusion patients, Karl Landsteiner figured out that blood came in different types and that those types were not compatible.
Fig. 24. Dr. Thomas Whitmell Davis served the village of Avalon between 1901 and 1906.
Avalon never had a resident doctor. Whenever urgent medical attention was required the doctor in Mayodan had to be summoned. Dr. Thomas Whitmell Davis served the villages of Avalon and Mayodan beginning in 19011. In 1906 he left for Johns Hopkins Medical School in Baltimore, Maryland to further his studies. Mr. Davis was replaced by Dr. George Harrison1. Until about 1908, there were no telephones in Avalon so fetching the doctor literally meant fetching the doctor. Without a means of speedy communications it took a considerable time to get the doctor to the village. When children were born a few of the women at Avalon served as midwives and a self-trained nurse tended to those with dire needs1. Whenever someone passed away, Mrs. Belle Carter prepared the body for burial1. Nora Vaden Scearce, a native of Avalon, recalled that when any person had illness in the family, the neighbors looked after each other1.
In addition to the doctor there were alternate ways of getting medicines in Avalon, though many of these "so-called" medicines belonged in the category of quackery. There were street peddlers who visited Avalon to sell their wares including patent medicines. Patent medicines typically had some secret ingredient--the cure--which was diluted with an amount of alcohol or other impacting substance to manifest an effect. The effect would be noticed by the consumer who might interpret it as a sign that the medicine was working and become a repeat customer. Exaggerated and ridiculous claims made these medicines enticing but there were rarely any scientific grounds to back them.
Houston Highfill of Mayodan would come to the village of Avalon peddling household products and patent medicines. His best-selling product was said to have been Japanese Oil2. Japanese Oil was touted as "A medicine that is equally valuable for man, beast, or fowl."3 Amongst the ailments the oil claimed to remedy was asthma, cholera morbus, fever sores, gout, headache, snake bites, rheumatism and the itch. It was also claimed to be excellent for getting hens to lay3. The oil came recommended for internal or external use and the going price was around fifty cents for a two fluid-ounce bottle--more than a day's pay for the younger workers in the mill. A 1915 analysis of Japanese Oil deemed it to contain alcohol, capsicum, fusel oil, and oil of eucalyptus3.
Another street peddler came to Avalon walking with a pair of harnessed geese and exalted his product, Goose Grease Liniment, by calling out "Cures all aches and pains."4 Goose Grease Liniment was manufactured in Greensboro, North Carolina5. And like Japanese Oil, Goose Grease also carried an impressive list of ailments it was allegedly good for including: Sore throat, cough, cold, croup, fire burns, and scalds5. An advertisement claimed that Goose Grease Liniment was the "BEST known remedy on EARTH for PNEUMONIA."5 In 1906 it is possible that more than a few bottles of Goose Grease were purchased in Avalon because in April of that year there was a pneumonia outbreak.
In February 1906 Dr. Davis was busy dealing with the pneumonia outbreak in the villages of Avalon and Mayodan. "Pneumonia seems to have a hold of our people."7 In April four deaths were reported: Mr. Pleas Mabe age 58, Mr. Smith, Mr. George Stewart, and Marshall Pike age 128. A George Stewart has been listed amongst management in Avalon Mill9.
Around 1900 there was a growing smallpox epidemic in Rockingham and neighboring Guilford County. From May 1, 1899 to May 1, 1900 there were five-hundred and twenty cases and twenty deaths reported in Rockingham County9. The reason for the high number of cases in both counties was that proper measures were not taken to control the disease. It seems the "attending physician"9 in said counties was incorrectly diagnosing the disease as chicken pox9. Fortunately, the disease's true identity was figured out and the number of cases began to decline. For the year May 1, 1903 to May 1, 1904 the reported cases were thirty-nine for Rockingham County with no deaths listed11. Dr. Samuel Ellington of Wentworth went about the county administering vaccinations and strict quarantine requirements were imposed. People who were exposed to smallpox were confined to "pest houses." The pest houses were roped off as a warning for people to stay away1. Of course, being exposed to the disease didn't mean it was ever contracted. The exposed were quarantined as a precautionary measure to further limit spread of the disease.
Fig. 26. Pest house at Avalon. Rope surrounding the house can be seen in the foreground.
- 1. Foushee, Ola Maie, Avalon: A North Carolina Town of Joy and Tragedy (Chapel Hill, NC: Books, 1977), 38-39.
- 2. Ibid., 43.
- 3. Thirty-Ninth Annual Report of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, (Hartford: Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor, 1916), 399.
- 4. Foushee, Ola Maie, Avalon: A North Carolina Town of Joy and Tragedy (Chapel Hill, NC: Books, 1977), 43.
- 5. Goose Grease Liniment. Advertisement. The Times Dispatch (Richmond, VA) April 2, 1900, 12.
- 6. Goose Grease Liniment. Advertisement. The Times Dispatch (Richmond, VA) October 9, 1912.
- 7. "The Month in Wachovia: Mayodan," The Wachovia Moravian (Winston-Salem, NC) February 1906.
- 8. "The Month in Wachovia: Mayodan," The Wachovia Moravian (Winston-Salem, NC) April 1906.
- 9. Foushee, Ola Maie, Avalon: A North Carolina Town of Joy and Tragedy (Chapel Hill, NC: Books, 1977), 13.
- 10. Eighth Biennial Report of the North Carolina Board of Health 1899-1900, (Raleigh: Edwards & Broughton, 1900), 47.
- 11. Tenth Biennial Report of the North Carolina Board of Health 1903-1904, (Raleigh: E.M. Uzzel & Co, 1905), 30.
- Fig 24 - Unknown, Dr. Thomas Whitmell Davis (unknown), Location, unknown Image [from Avalon: A North Carolina Town of Joy and Tragedy (Chapel Hill, NC: Books, 1977), 38].
- Fig 25 - Unknown, Goose Grease Liniment (unknown), Advertisement [from Premium List and Regulations of the Fifty-Second Great State Fair of North Carolina (Raleigh: Edwards & Broughton, 1912), 138].
- Fig 26 - Unknown, Avalon Pest House (1900-1911), Location, Avalon, NC, Image [from Avalon: A North Carolina Town of Joy and Tragedy (Chapel Hill, NC: Books, 1977), 40].