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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.

Eliza J Hale Shaw

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 Eliza Shaw

Headstone reading "ELIZA SHAW 1877-1918"

Death Certificate of Eliza Shaw

Death Certificate of Eliza Shaw

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Eliza J Hale Shaw was buried in a lonely grave. Though her death certificate indicates she was married, no record of her husband could be found. Her parents can also be found on her death certificate, however their gravesites are not in Spring Hill. Eliza contracted Spanish Influenza in early October, which likely exacerbated her heart defect. She left this Earth on October 12th, 1918 at the age of 40. She was the daughter of Thomas Hale & Mahala Gullet. Note that this section of the tour will be the most numerous with seven individuals being buried in this section of the cemetery.

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/63892510/eliza-j-shaw

http://www.wvculture.org/vrr/va_dcdetail.aspx?Id=696859

Additional Information