April, 1801
“Monday Betsy’s arm very much enflamed & red spots in various parts – sent for Dr. Colman. Tuesday morn he came jest after sunrise – gave her some medicines. Tarried till near noon, got the pustules coming out cleverly.”
As the number of fully vaccinated individuals in Massachusetts surpasses 50% and long-awaited in-person reunions with friends and family detail the type, side effects, and relief felt after receiving the Covid-19 vaccine, a history of inoculation at the Porter-Phelps-Huntington house offers immediate relevance. In her diary, Elizabeth Porter Phelps recounts the trials and tribulations of her family’s inoculation against smallpox in April of 1801.
Smallpox had long been a danger – particularly to Native Americans whom colonists deliberately attempted to infect – and in Elizabeth’s time, inoculation through a process called variolation was the primary defense against a disease that had a mortality rate as high as thirty percent. In rather stark contrast to the modern Covid-19 vaccines, which use mRNA to give your body a blueprint to fight off the coronavirus, variolation was the process of injecting the pus of a smallpox pustule into another person, with the hope that it would cause a milder case of smallpox than actually catching the disease would. Such a practice, as can be seen in Elizabeth’s diary, was not always pleasant for the recipient but was decidedly safer than not being inoculated at all.
On April 12, 1801, Elizabeth Porter Phelps recorded that Mr. Phelps, her husband, had been home “on account of his inoculation.” A day after having been inoculated, he “took a large dose of salt peter for salts – had a dreadful day – vomited once about 2, then the Dr. Left him but his distress increased to such a degree we sent again for him. about 8 in the evening he vomited largely which relieved him.” Though we do not know what exactly the doctor did to help, there is some insight into contemporary medical practices, with Mr. Phelps’s self-medication with saltpeter “for salts” presumably attempting to replenish the electrolytes in his system. Nevertheless, some of the side effects of the variolation are plain to see. Interestingly, however, in her diary entry two weeks later Elizabeth records that despite having “been twice inoculated with the small pox,” Charles had not broken out in pustules. She writes that this is “in consequence of the cow pox last winter,” a medically astute observation: the first successful vaccine developed for smallpox, completed in 1796 five years before the Porter-Phelps family was inoculated, used the much milder cowpox variant (that infected cows) to provide immunity to its more dangerous cousin.
Also inoculated at the House was Elizabeth’s (then adult) daughter, in her words, “Betsy.” Married to Dan Huntington earlier that year, Betsy had travelled all the way from Litchfield, Connecticut, to visit her family’s home and be inoculated at the house. On April 26, Elizabeth writes that “Betsy tarries here. This day she inoculated with the small pox & many others.” A week later, on May 3, she recounts that “Betsy had the symptoms of the small pox. Satt. very poorly, at night removed to our tan house.” For the next few days, Betsy was seriously ill. As Elizabeth wrote on May 10:
“Monday Betsy’s arm very much enflamed & red spots in various parts – sent for Dr. Colman. Tuesday morn he came jest after sunrise – gave her some medicines. Tarried till near noon, got the pustules coming out cleverly. Wednesday night Betsy had a very ill night – in the morning of Thursday her symptoms were alarming – sent for Dr. Colman got here about 1, staid till near night – got the pustules out again they were almost gone.”
Much like today, it seems like different people could have wildly variable reactions to their inoculations.
Even though Elizabeth’s diary is often very matter-of-fact, the emotion and concern in these excerpts can be clearly felt. In a week that must have been incredibly emotionally and physically taxing – seeing her husband and then her daughter stricken with a disease that had claimed so many lives must have been a scarring experience – she ends her diary entry with a palpable feeling of relief: “Fryday Mr. Huntington came found his wife charmingly – Lord I hope thou will grant us truly grateful hearts.” Though Elizabeth often discusses her religion in her entries, there is the sense that this particularly trying week left her all the more grateful for her piety, her family, and her health.
Sources:
Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Variolation." Encyclopedia Britannica, July 20, 1998. https://www.britannica.com/science/variolation.
Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Smallpox." Encyclopedia Britannica, July 24, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/science/smallpox.
Phelps, Elizabeth Porter. The Diary of Elizabeth (Porter) Phelps, edited by Thomas Eliot Andrews with an introduction by James Lincoln Huntington in the New England Historical Genealogical Register. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, Jan. 1968, p 63-64 in Porter-Phelps-Huntington Family Papers.