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

Charles Wentworth Bockway

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

Bockway Family Headstone

Headstone reading "BOCKWAY"

Grave Marker of Charles W. Bockway

Grave marker reading "CHARLES W. BOCKWAY 1913-1918"

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Charles Wentworth Bockway is our youngest stop on the tour. Charles was only 4 or 5 years when he contracted the Spanish Influenza. Though Charles would have been to young to participate in school, his siblings were not. The issue of keeping schools open or not was a debated topic during the pandemic. Some cities, such as New York City, opted to not close schools as it was the best way to monitor students. This also gave the city an opportunity to educate children about the pandemic, in hopes that they would pass this information on to their parents. Unfortunately, this was not the case in Huntington as cases swelled in the area. Local health officials closed down "the public schools, Marshall College, all theaters, revival meetings, billiard parlors, dance halls, and other crowded places" on October 8th in order to slow the spread of disease(2). Charles left this Earth sometime in October of 1918. He was the son of Frank Wallace Bockway and Minnie E Henderson Bockway and brother to Frank Wallace Bockway Jr., Beulah Gilbert Bockway Smith, and Henderson Augustus Bockway.

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.
Image Sources(Click to expand)

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/58499765/charles-wentworth-bockway

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/58499765/charles-wentworth-bockway

Additional Information