“There was a little girl, she had a little bird, And she called it by the pretty name of Enza. But one day it flew away, but it didn’t stay, For when she raised the window, in-flew-Enza.” (1894 by Massachusetts Reformatory)

Laura Fessler was an early leader in Rochelle. She was a fighter. Whether for public parks, women’s rights, or humane treatment of animals, Laura was at the front of the line to lend her hand. During 1918, Laura was in a different type of fight; she was literally fighting for soldiers’ lives at Camp Grant in Rockford.

Camp Grant had been established in 1917 as a training center for World War I soldiers. By 1918 it was the center of the Spanish Flu outbreak in our area. On Oct. 1, 1918 there were eight cases of influenza at the camp; on Oct. 3 there were over 800 cases.

The next week there were over 10,000 cases of flu and the soldiers were dying at the rate of 75 to 100 a day. The death rate was so extreme that the Camp Commander, Col. Charles Hagadorn, committed suicide. Laura Fessler volunteered as a nurse at Camp Grant and fought to make the ill as comfortable as possible.

The Spanish Flu did not originate in Spain; it is believed to have started in the United States. Due to censorship during the war most countries were hiding information on the flu and its severity. Spain was a neutral country and the first to honestly report the spread and severity of the flu; thus Spain was widely considered to be the country of origin.

Spanish Flu would ultimately be responsible for 45,000 fatalities of American soldiers, almost half of those lost in World War I. Another 630,000 civilians would die in the United States from the flu. The outbreak of flu became so devastating that the military draft was suspended until the cases could be brought under control.

Otto Wedler was the vice president of the Rochelle Trust and Savings Bank. Following a business trip to Washington D.C. with W.C. Whitcomb of Whitcomb Locomotive, Otto became ill with the flu. He was one of the first to die of the flu in Rochelle.

His obituary appeared in the Oct. 2, 1918, issue of the Rochelle Herald. The Oct. 16, 1918, edition of the Rochelle Herald demonstrated the speed with which the problem grew. Leo Sherlock, Steward; Walter Haine, Scott Township; Harry Haye, Stillman Valley; Dorothy Conrad, 19; John Lamb, 33; and Fred Horton, 32, all of Rochelle, had obituaries with flu-related pneumonia listed as the cause of death.

Rochelle responded by closing churches, schools, and the Majestic Theater along with all other gathering places. The local newspaper featured stories about the most modern methods to fight the flu.

The Rochelle Herald featured articles espousing the use of such powerful medicines as Vick’s VapoRub. “In order to stimulate the lining of the air passages to throw off the grippe germs. To aid in loosening the phlegm and keeping the air passages open, thus making the breathing easier, Vick’s VapoRub will be found effective”.

Another article recommended the three Cs.:“clean mouth, clean skin, and clean bowels”. Whether it was mustard paste foot baths, warm lemonade, or any of the other suggestions, nothing seemed to slow the spread of the Spanish Flu.

The outbreak of flu was so severe that Rochelle opened a second hospital. The Ettinger house on the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Sixth Street was converted into a 20-bed hospital. Charles Berry was the supervisor and Miss Sturdevant was the nurse in charge of patient care. Over a period of the next two months, Miss Sturdevant and her staff served over 100 patients. This was the only time that Rochelle had two hospitals, and both were filled.

The Spanish Flu would resurface for the next few years. Emanuel Hilb was one of Rochelle’s early leaders. In 1919 Emanuel fell victim to the flu. Mrs. James Milligan was nursing her parents, Mr. & Mrs. Scott Gale, when she too fell victim to the flu and passed.

Dr. Etzbach became the community doctor for Steward when Dr. Kimball joined the army. In October of 1918, Dr. Etzbach was notified that his daughter was sick with influenza. He rushed to her side and by the following Saturday, he too was ill and died.

The Erxleben family near Oregon was an example of how devastating the flu could be. In a 10-day period there were eight deaths from the Spanish Flu. Edward Erxleben perished first, leaving the family fatherless. Within days, Vivian passed leaving the children as orphans. Elmer, 14, and Lee, 10, were the first children to pass, followed quickly by 8-year old Vivian.

The children’s Aunt Clara had come to help the family in their time of need. Clara nursed the sick family members until she, too, was stricken by the flu and quickly passed. Miss Mary Bursing was called in to help the family. She and her brother, Joseph, took turns nursing the sick family. Mary soon took ill and died from the flu, Joseph followed soon after. The situation was so bad that a sled was sent to the residence and the survivors were taken to Rockford for hospital care.

The Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918-1919 took the lives of about 23,500 people in the state of Illinois. It has been estimated that one third of the world population was infected with the virus. Approximately half of those that died in World War I died from the flu.

The Spanish flu was no different than any other flu. Once it infected a host, it changed slightly so that it could be spread again to a new host. It was these changes that made the flu less deadly. We can only hope that a future change does not once again create the deadly flu of 1918.

Tom McDermott is a Flagg Township Museum historian and Rochelle city councilman.