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This is a contributing entry for The Spanish Influenza Tour of Spring Hill and only appears as part of that tour.Learn More.

Joseph Weekley

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

The 1918 Spanish Influenza Pandemic ravaged the world in a way man had not seen in generations. One of the few truly worldwide pandemics, the 1918 Spanish Influenza Pandemic claimed an estimated 50-100 million deaths worldwide(1). This number is more than both world wars combined. In 1918, Spring Hill Cemetery was one of the primary cemeteries for Huntington, West Virginia. As such, a number of victims from the Spanish Influenza Pandemic are buried here. The Spanish Influenza hit Huntington fairly hard with 200 deaths, most of which occurring in the month of October(2). Even Huntington's Mayor, Leon S. Wiles, perished from the flu. On this tour, you will visit 17 gravesites of Huntington residents who perished from the Spanish Influenza Pandemic. Please keep in mind during the tour that you are visiting the final resting places of these people. Please treat all graves and the cemetery with the utmost respect and courtesy. Do your best not to step on top of a person’s final resting place and follow all posted rules.

Images

Headstone of Joseph Weekly

Small headstone embedded with brightly colored marbles

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Unfortunately not much is known about the next victim of the Spanish Influenza Pandemic. Joseph Weekly, however, does have one of the more unique headstones of the tour. It has unfortunately suffered significant damage in the past 100 years, however the marbles embedded within the headstone itself are quite beautiful. Joseph is buried next to his brother, Fred, who died when Joseph was only four years old. The year of Fred's death is not known, however the context implies he died young. Joseph himself was quite young, dying at the age of either 15 or 16. The Spanish Influenza was particularly hard on the young due to a condition known as Cytokine Storm. Essentially, the immune system would overreact to the flu, which can weaken the lungs. This made secondary infections - particularly pneumonia - more likely. This overreacting by the immune system is more likely to happen in young individuals, as their immune system has been exposed to fewer illnesses(3). Young Joseph likely suffered from this condition, though we will never truly know for sure. Joseph left this Earth in October of 1918. He was the son of Henry W Weekly and Cora Alice Kelley Weekley and brother to Fred, Charles Edward, Rosella Corra, and Frank Earl.

Sources

  1. Spreeuwenberg, Peter. Reassessing the Global Mortality Burden of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic. American Journal of Epidemiology, ser. 2561-2567, vol. 187, no. 12. Published September 7th 2018. NCBI.
  2. Casto, James E.. "Deadly 1918 flu hit Huntington hard." The Herald-Dispatch (Huntington) May 1st 2009.
  3. Robson, David. Why the flu of 1918 was so deadly, BBC.com. October 30th 2018. Accessed April 28th 2021. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20181029-why-the-flu-of-1918-was-so-deadly.
Image Sources(Click to expand)

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/65498428/joseph-weekley

Additional Information