Ora Herbert Watts

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

Watts Family Headstone

Headstone reading "THE FAMILY OF C. F. WATTS"

Grave Marker of Ora Watts

Grave marker reading "ORA HERBERT WATTS FEB. 4 1890 OCT. 1 1918"

Image of Herbert Watts

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Ora Herbert Watts was a World War I soldier who entered service May 25th of 1918. He trained and was stationed at Camp Lee, Virginia. Ora contracted the Spanish Influenza and had rapid onset symptoms. According to his father, he was "in the best of health" on Tuesday and succumbed to illness on Wednesday. This demonstrates just how alarming the illness was - a soldier in his prime cut down in a single day. Ora's funeral was not open to the public due to "the highly contagious nature of the plague"(3). Ora Watts left this Earth on October 1st, 1918, when he was 28 years old. He was the son of Charles Franklin Watts and Virginia Cyrus Watts and brother of Lora E Watts, Lena Watts Harper, and Ivan Richard Watts.

Sources

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.
Casto, James E.. "Deadly 1918 flu hit Huntington hard." The Herald-Dispatch (Huntington) May 1st 2009.
Woodard, Benjamin. Watts, Ora, https://cabellwwi.wordpress.com/. Accessed April 29th 2021. https://cabellwwi.wordpress.com/watts-ora-2/.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/156340023/ora-herbert-watts

https://cabellwwi.wordpress.com/soldiers/dedication-list/watts-ora-h/