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CAUSES OF DEATH

EMMA LEIER
born March 4, 1891 in Gravesend - died July 27, 1891, age 5 months.

Father: Lawrence Leier (1862-1899)
Mother: Amelia Nowasky (1865-1931)

Cause of death: Cholera Infantum

Cholera Infantum, also called Summer Complaint: a common, non-contagious diarrhea of young children, occurring in summer or autumn. Symptoms are those of cholera. It was common among the poor. Death frequently occurred in three to five days. Probably due to food poisoning from spoiled milk as was most common in hot weather.

Typically, after a meal was served, food was covered and set aside (left at room temperature) for the next meal. Refrigerators did not exist. Infants and small children who had been recently weaned from the breast hadn't had time to build up an immune system, as had the adults and older children. If the child was started on solid food during the cooler parts of the year, the chances of ingesting spoiled food was less than in the hot summer months.

In little Emma's case, the summer heat spoiled the food, her immune system was still too weak, and she became seriously ill. She suffered severe diarrhea and fever, and died within a few days.

Emma was buried in Old Gravesend Cemetery with her cousins William and Albert Kuntze who both died within days of each other in July 1888.

July was a cruel month for poor babies.

LEIER/NOWASKY FAMILY WEBPAGE