From the Sept. 28, 2012, WECT 6 NBC TV, Wilmington, NC by Bob Townsend.
It was wet this summer and there is the threat of West Nile virus and there was another threat to Wilmington 150 years ago An alarming number of Wilmington's 10,000 population were getting sick and dying from yellow fever with there possible explanations as to how it arrived in town: on the blockade-runner Kate, it had already been in town before the Kate, and perhaps it was a Yankee-induced plot.
Some 6,000 fled the city and over 600 died.
In Oakdale Cemetery, there is a Yellow Fever section where many no longer have tombstones., but records indicate that 343 are buried in the plot. before the war, the section was known as the public burying ground and was set aside for people of lesser means, were indigent, or died while passing through the town.
Others were buried in family plots.
There will be a Yellow Fever walking tour of Oakdale Cemetery October 20th and a luminary event October 28th.
Not a Pleasant Thing to Live Through. --Old B-Runner
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