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The Spanish Influenza Tour of Spring Hill
Item 2 of 16
This is a contributing entry for The Spanish Influenza Tour of Spring Hill and only appears as part of that tour.Learn More.

Lyle Franklin Mahan and Carrie Mahan Bagby

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

Mahan-Bagby Family Headstone

Headstone reading "Mahan Bagby"

Grave Marker of Carrie Mahan Bagby

Grave marker reading "CARRIE MAHAN BAGBY 1894-1918"

Image of Lyle Mahan

Lyle Mahan wearing hat

Draft Card of Lyle Mahan

Draft Card of Lyle Mahan

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Lyle Franklin Mahan is our second gravesite and our first World War I soldier on our tour. As the Spanish Influenza Pandemic had its beginnings in the final year of the first World War, many of its victims were soldiers. It is estimated that 45,000 American soldiers died from the Spanish Flu and its opportunistic infections(3). Lyle was drafted into the American Expeditionary Forces on June, 14th 1918. At the end of his training, he sailed out from New York on October 5th, 1918. His destination was to be France. His sister, Carrie Ethel Mahan Bagby, missed sending him off as it had already sailed away. Unfortunately, this would have been the last time the siblings would ever see each other. When Carrie returned home, she soon fell ill. She left this Earth on October 19, 1918 at the estimated age of 24. Unknown to the family, Lyle would too pass away, just a few days prior to his sister on October 15th at the age of 27. The family received word of his passing on October 25th via telegram. They were the children of Nannie Scott Kirk Mahan and Robert Mahan.

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. Durr, Eric. Worldwide flu outbreak killed 45,000 American Soldiers during World War I, https://www.army.mil/. Accessed April 28th 2021. https://www.army.mil/article/210420/worldwide_flu_outbreak_killed_45000_american_soldiers_during_world_war_i.
Image Sources(Click to expand)

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/62895027/lyle-franklin-mahan

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/58244198/carrie-ethel-bagby

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/62895027/lyle-franklin-mahan

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYY1-4RP?i=2709&cc=1968530

Additional Information