The Cholera epidemic of 1832 in Rochester

by
Richard T. Halsey

Among the diseases that killed the people in the 1800s, none was feared more than the cholera. In less than a day from it's outset, cholera affected a person by violent diarrhea, vomiting, muscular contraction and many cases death. In 1832, cholera was spread throughout the entire country as witnessed by the accounts of various cities in the local newspapers.

The first case in Rochester was that of Edward Pearsol (also called Isreal Pearsall). He came to Rochester by way of the Erie Canal on the 11^th of July. He had had diarrhea several days. On the morning of the 12^th he went to a doctor to get some medicine, but was soon stricken with vomiting. He died at about ten o'clock that evening and fearing the spread of the disease he was laid to rest at 2:00 A.M.. The second case of cholera was an unnamed woman from the Isle of Man that also arrived via the canal. That the Erie Canal helped spread the disease can be seen by one account of a canal boat that buried one passenger in Perinton and one in Pittsford. Also, two of the deaths in Rochester were canal boat drivers.

Although only 121 persons died in Rochester, this was a true epidemic. The population of Rochester in 1832 was approximately 12,000, thus 1 in 100 died from the cholera in just six weeks. In today's numbers, 1% of the population of Rochester would be about 2500 deaths. The total number of documented cases was 388 but there probably more cases as some people only suffered minor diarrhea and survived. Also, fearing the stigma of the disease some people were probably listed as dying of some other cause.

Some of the cholera deaths were listed in the general death notices in the newspapers. This web page of vital records from those newspapers may have further information on people that died from the cholera.

The following list of deaths during the epidemic was in the Rochester newspaper after the epidemic had passed.

Go to Monroe County GenWeb page.

© Richard T. Halsey, 2000