The Emma Ferrer Letters, Part 11: A Note from Mrs. Johnson

In March of 1901, Judge Wood received a letter not from Emma Ferrer – but from her mother, Mrs. M.E. Johnson of Melvin, AL.  In the letter, Mrs. Johnson reiterates her daughter’s refusal to give away her eldest son, Olin.	Melvin, Alabama, highlighted at bottom,  is 53 miles south of Meridian and a few miles east of the Alabama state line. The Johnson family seems to have a long history in Choctaw county.
At the moment, Dixie Roots has very little confirmed information on Mrs. Johnson. We believe that Mary Elizabeth Graham and William Johnson were Emma’s parents. The 1880 U.S. Census shows Mary E. and William living in Choctaw County, AL along 12-year-old Emma E. (among other children).  Because Emma’s age in the census matches her known birth year (1868), this document seems like solid evidence for identifying her parents. However, one lonely census record isn’t much to go on. Research will continue. Mrs. Johnson’s letter, although brief, offers much and leads to big questions.
The first question regards timing. The last letter to Judge Wood from Emma was dated September, 1899. Mrs. Johnson’s letter is from March of 1901 – a full 17 months later! Why is there such a huge gap in correspondence? (Of course it is possible that some letters were lost in the 113-years since these were penned. But is that probable considering how meticulous the home’s record keeping seems to be?) And better yet:  Why is Reverend McCoy (or anyone else for that matter) still trying to obtain young Olin? One would think that Emma’s impassioned refusal to allow his adoption would put an end to this matter. Was Emma harassed to give up her children for most of their time in the home? And what is wrong with poor Emma?! In her letter in September, she notes that she was “sick nearly all of the summer and in the company of strangers.” Now in the spring of 1901, she’s so ill she’s retreated home to be with her mother and is so weak, she cannot write her own letters. This seems like more than a battle with the common cold. At the turn of the century, there were several rather vicious diseases disrupting the population of the United States, including: smallpox, scarlet fever, diphtheria, cholera, and tuberculosis. Medical treatment being what it was, any of these could have knocked Emma out for months at a time and affected her ability to work. Also, although not as rampant on a national level, hookworm plagued a fair portion of Mississippians toward the end of the 1800s. Although it was more common in rural areas, it was directly linked to inadequate sanitary facilities. Emma’s residence in a boarding house (which may or may not have featured indoor plumbing) and job as a hotel maid could both have left her exposed to more filth than her fellow Meridians. Finally, and only slightly less speculative, it’s possible Emma was a lifelong sufferer of anemia. When she passed away in 1925 at only 57 years of age, the cause of death was listed as “Acute nephritis due to pernicious anemia.” Most simply, her persistent anemic state caused her kidneys to fail.  Using pernicious as the keyword, it seems possible that Emma suffered the symptoms of anemia off and on for many years. With symptoms such as mood swings, lethargy, headaches, light-headedness, and shortness of breath, it’s possible that she was generally able to live with her condition most of the time (as she did in 1899).	Side Note: Fire thwarts Dixie Roots again!  We tried to research which diseases were plaguing the good citizens of Meridian, MS at the turn of the century. Along the way, we learned that between 1810 and 1900, the U.S. Census included a “Mortality Schedule,” which would have definitely answered the question. In addition to standard name and birthplace information, this schedule included date of death, cause of death and sometimes the attending physician or coroner! Jackpot! Or not.  Referencing both the 1890 and 1900 data would’ve covered the date ranges in Emma’s letters. Unfortunately, the 1890 mortality schedule was destroyed by fire along with the rest of the 1890 census. After generating statistics based on results, the 1900 mortality schedule was deliberately destroyed by an act of Congress. To learn more, read Thomas MacEntee’s article, Bring OutYour Dead: A Look at Mortality Schedules

Sources: 

•  The Importance of Wearing Shoes: Hookworm Disease in Mississippi
  
• Nephritis Causes and Symptoms
• Anemia Causes and Symptoms

Next Week:  Things Are Looking Up