1647 — Influenza, CT (~40-50) and MA (~40-50) Natives and other colonies (?) — >100
— >100 Blanchard estimate.[1]
–~80-100 Massachusetts State Board of Health. Twenty-First Annual Report of… 1890, p. 327.[2]
— 90 Purvis, Thomas L. Colonial America to 1763. NY: Facts On File, Inc., 1999, p. 173.
— ? Shawnee, Appalachia to the Mississippi. Greene. Shawnee Heritage IV, p. 449.[3]
Connecticut:
— ~40-50 Massachusetts State Board of Health. Twenty-First Annual Report of… 1890, p. 327.
Massachusetts:
— ~40-50 Massachusetts State Board of Health. Twenty-First Annual Report of… 1890, p. 327.
Narrative Information
Duffy: “The first recorded influenza epidemic in North America occurred in 1647, when John Winthrop recorded:
An epidemical sickness was through the country among the Indians and English, French and Dutch. It took them like a cold, and light fever with it. Such as bled or used cooling drinks died those who took comfortable things, for the most part recovered, and that in a few days. Wherein a special providence of God appeared, for not a family, nor but a few persons escaping it, had it brought all so weak as it brought some, and continued so long, our hay and corn had been lost for want of help; but such was the mercy of God to his people, as few died, not above forty or fifty in the Massachusetts, and near as many at Connecticut.
“John Eliot described the epidemic as ‘a very deep cold, with some tincture of a feaver & full malignity & very dangerous if not well regarded by keeping a low diet.’ In addition to sweeping through the colonies on the mainland, the outbreak extended to the West Indies, where it struck with great severity. An estimated five to six thousand deaths occurred on the islands of St. Christopher and Barbados.[4]” (p. 186.)
Massachusetts State Board of Health: “In 1647, according to Gov. Winthrop, ‘a malignant fever prevailed, and an epidemic influenza passed through the whole country and universally affected the colonists and natives; but it was not very mortal. Wherein a special providence of God appeared: for, not a family nor but few persons escaping it, our hay and corn had to be lost for want of help; but such was the mercy of God to his people as few died, — not above forty or fifty in Massachusetts and near as many at Connecticut.’”[5] (Massachusetts State Board of Health. Twenty-First Annual Report of the State Board of Health of Massachusetts (Public Document No. 34). Boston: Wright & Porter Printing Co., State Printers, 1890, p. 327.)
Purvis: “1647. Influenza. Massachusetts, Connecticut (90 deaths).” (“Table 6.7 Outbreaks of Epidemic Disease in Colonial America,” pp. 173-174 in Purvis, Thomas L. Colonial America to 1763. NY: Facts On File, Inc., 1999.)
Sources
Duffy, John. Epidemics in Colonial America. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1953, reprinted 1979.
Greene, Don. Shawnee Heritage IV, Pre-1700’s M-Z. Lulu.com, 11-8-2014. Google preview accessed 3-29-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=WtAeCAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Massachusetts State Board of Health. Twenty-First Annual Report of the State Board of Health of Massachusetts (Public Document No. 34). Boston: Wright & Porter Printing Co., State Printers, 1890. Google digitized. Accessed 2-17-2013 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=3vs4AAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Purvis, Thomas L. Colonial America to 1763. NY: Facts On File, Inc., 1999. Google preview accessed 1-9-2018 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=BZRJSx3uMYEC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
[1] Our number based on Winthrop’s estimate of not more than 40-50 in MA and near as many in CT. We are comfortable with using high-end of this estimate in that Winthrop’s numbers only apply to MA and CT, and the influenza was noted as present elsewhere in the colonies and in Native American tribes, with it being listed as epidemic among the Shawnee that year, over a large region. We would guess that at least many dozens if not hundreds died.
[2] Our number based on Winthrop’s estimate of not more than 40-50 in MA and near as many in CT.
[3] From section titled: “Epidemics 1300-1729. Fatality estimate not noted.
[4] Cites, in footnote 2, p. 186: John Winthrop, The History of New England from 1630 to 1650, 2 vols. (Boston, 1825-26), II, 310; Packard, History of Medicine, I 96; Ebenezer Hazard MSS, I, Library of Congress; Webster, History of Epidemic Diseases, I, 188; “History of New England,” in Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, Series 2, VI (1817) 531-532.
[5] Cites: Winthrop’s Journal, Vol. II., p. 310.