Fred and Ada Lee

I love a good mystery and certainly Fred and Ada have provided one.

Fred and Ada were born during the Civil War in 1861. They married in 1881. Two of their three children, Bessie and Thomas, died in early childhood. Their son, Walter, is my grandfather. (See Walter Lee post)

Now for the mystery. Above is a section of the California census taken in 1910. You can see on the census that Fred, Ada, and their son, Walter, lived together just outside of Los Angeles. Ten years later in the 1920 census, Walter is living with his eighty-one year old grandmother Ellen Lee. Where were Fred and Ada? I was unable to find them listed in any census. I found only hints in death records, with one “hint” they might have died in 1919. If so, why was eighty-one year old Ellen alive while Fred and Ada died? How did they die? Was it an accident or other health issue? There is a possibility worth considering.

Near the end of WWI in 1917, soldiers began mysteriously dying of a common flu bug. This “bug” made its way into the military hospitals where relatively healthy young men succumbed. By the time the war ended, the flu had spread across the globe. By late 1919, 27% of the world’s population had contracted the flu and 20% of those died. There had not been a pandemic of this proportion since the Black Plague of the 1300’s.

Younger, healthier adults were unable to survive the flu, while the very young and the elderly, or those with weakened immune systems, survived. Scientists correctly suspected that the flu virus triggered a victim’s own healthy immune system to over react, eventually killing the victim. Known as the H1N1 virus, the flu appeared again in recent years. It is no wonder that health officials responded quickly with massive production of vaccinations.

Could it be that Ada and Fred died from the flu? Someday, I hope to find the answer to that question!

Ada's brother, Clinton DeWitt Hubbard, wrote a short but interesting autobiography which is shown in his post.