In the 1800’s, tuberculosis, once widely known as consumption or the ‘white death,’ reached its peak pandemic levels, accounting for up to a fourth of all deaths in Europe. The disease was an ancient one, leaving evidence of its presence among Egypt’s mummified dead and other six-thousand-year-old skeletal remains.
Henry Peach Robinson's staged albumen print 'Fading Away' showing a romanticized view of tuberculosis' deadly cost (1858).
It was a terrifying disease, not only because of its mortality, but its unpredictability. Some families seemed haunted by consumption, others were untouched. Although it was more common in impoverished communities, wealth offered no guaranteed protection. And while some people made remarkable recoveries, most victims slowly wasted away.
Despite its terrific toll, not much was known of tuberculosis at the time. It was not until March 24, 1882, that German physician Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch finally identified the bacillus that caused tuberculosis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, but it would be years before treatments reduced its mortality.
Image of tuberculosis bacteria (courtesy of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
A major reason for the disease’s apparent mystery was that most tuberculosis infections show no symptoms and pose no risk to their host. Even today, a quarter of the world’s population may have latent tuberculosis. Only a small percentage of latent infections progress to the active disease, which is commonly characterized by a chronic cough with bloody mucus, fever, night sweats, and the terminal weight loss that gave the disease its colloquial name of consumption.
Tuberculosis is primarily spread when people with active tuberculosis cough, spit, or sneeze. However, even in its active phase, tuberculosis is unpredictable. Even untreated, some victims recovered completely. Some inexplicable recoveries led to the belief that ‘healthier’ climates could cure tuberculosis, although the definition of ‘healthier’ varied. While some doctors recommended hot dry climates, others insisted that cold brisk ones were better.
Minnesota, with its brisk dry winter air, was often promoted as a beneficial climate for tuberculosis victims. Hence, between the disease’s high incidence rates and sufferers deliberately coming to Minnesota, it was no wonder tuberculosis affected Winchell’s Geological and Natural History Survey and the Geology Department in many ways.
However, untangling its impacts was made more difficult by the fear tuberculosis invoked. People were reluctant to admit they or their loved ones had tuberculosis, often out of fear of how it would be perceived by others. Often, especially with women, the victim of tuberculosis was simply referred to as being invalid, or ill, for some time. Yet there was a good chance that in the 1800’s almost any unexplained death of a young man or a young woman was due to ‘consumption.’
First Annual Report of the Minnesota Geological and Natural History Survey with Newton Horace Winchell (courtesy UMN archives).
Throughout most of his life, Winchell was noted for his physical fitness and activity, a stark contrast to the conventional image of a consumptive and both he and his immediate family managed to avoid the scourge of tuberculosis. Yet the chances were quite high that Winchell had latent tuberculosis simply because he worked so closely with people who were active sufferers of the disease.
Cassius Marcellus Terry
Cassius Marcellus Terry with his dog Cardigan around 1879 (Minneapolis Tribune - March 25, 1923)
Cassius Marcellus Terry was a Saint Paul minister who turned to geological fieldwork to help alleviate the symptoms of his consumption. Details of his early life are posted at this page on his dog, Cardigan, who had once been owned by George Armstrong Custer.
Terry arrived in Minnesota in 1872, the same year that Winchell arrived to begin his Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota, but the two would not cross paths for a few years. Terry contracted tuberculosis sometime before 1870 while he was living in Massachusetts. In an effort to regain his health, he began to engage in outdoor activities, including geology, a subject he was introduced to by his wife. Like many consumptives though, the possibility that a healthier climate might provide a cure drew him to Minnesota.
With their common interests in geology, it was inevitable Terry and Winchell would come together. However, as Terry’s health declined, he spent more time in the field. In 1879, Terry left the ministry altogether to work with Winchell’s survey. Terry spent his last summers in northern Minnesota and his winters in Winchell’s General Museum in Pillsbury Hall. Terry compiled what would become Minnesota’s first hydrogeological survey, although he would die of consumption on August 18, 1881, before his survey’s completion.
Clarence Luther Herricks
Clarence Luther Herrick was born on June 21, 1858, in Minneapolis, the oldest child of Henry Nathan Herrick and Anna C. Strickler. He entered Central high school in 1874 and published his first article on insects at the age of 16. The next year, Herrick joined the University of Minnesota as a sub-freshman. He attended the University of Minnesota for several years, graduating in 1880.
His delayed graduation was largely the result of Herrick working as a laboratory assistant and naturalist for Winchell’s survey beginning in 1876. Herrick collected birds and plants in one of the survey’s first significant natural history investigations. He wrote his first survey reports on ornithology in December of 1876 and a new species of crustacean, Cyclops lonqicornis. Herrick accompanied Winchell on a geological reconnaissance of Morrison County in 1877 but continued to focus on ornithology and botany.
In 1879, Herrick did little survey work, but that year Cassius Terry joined Christopher Webber Hall on a survey of the North Shore of Lake Superior. That fall, Herrick and Terry worked together in the General Museum. The two also worked together on the survey in 1880. Because of his health, Terry resigned from the survey in mid-May of 1881. That September, Herrick left to study in Leipzig after submitting another report on Minnesota’s freshwater crustaceans.
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In 1883, Herrick returned to the survey and began working on the mammals of the state and submitted his final report on Minnesota crustaceans. On June 25 of that year, Herrick married Alice Keith of Minneapolis. They would go on to have three children. Herrick also served as a zoology instructor at the University of Minnesota from 1882 to 1884.
In fall of 1884, Herrick took a position teaching at Denison University in Ohio but returned at the start of 1885 and submitted his preliminary report on Minnesota mammals that year. He also received his master's degree in science from the University of Minnesota.
Herrick returned to teach full time at Denison from 1885 to 1889 and then taught zoology at the University of Cincinnati until 1891. While at Cincinnati Herrick broke off from geology and zoology to help establish the field of neuroscience in the United States, studying reptile, fish and amphibian brains and founding The Journal of Comparative Neurology.
Herrick returned to Denison in 1892 to 1894. In 1892, his 300-page Mammals of Minnesota bulletin was finally published, his last official connection with Winchell’s survey.
Unfortunately, by this time Herrick was seriously unwell. Most likely he had developed tuberculosis sometime earlier as Herrick endured several bouts of illness attributed to malaria or other undiagnosed diseases. However, in December of 1893 Herrick suffered a massive hemorrhage that left no doubt he had active pulmonary tuberculosis.
At the time, the arid Southwest was considered a restorative climate for consumptives and hoping the desert might restore his health, Herrick moved his family to Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1894. To support his family, Herrick returned to his geological roots, working as a U.S. Deputy Mineral Surveyor. In 1897, he became the second president of the University of New Mexico, and in 1898 received his Ph.D. from his old alma mater, the University of Minnesota. A remarkable polymath, for his dissertation, Herrick abandoned his previous fields of geology, zoology, and botany, concentrating instead on neurology with ‘A Theory of Somatic Equilibrium with Illustrations of a Possible Mechanism Therefor in the Skin.’
Deteriorating health forced Herrick to resign from the University of New Mexico in 1901. For the next two years Herrick managed the Cat Mountain Mine for the Socorro Gold Mining Company, but on September 15, 1904, Herrick lost his battle with consumption.
That Herricks and Terry would both die of consumption may not be a coincidence. It can take years after a victim’s initial exposure to develop active tuberculosis. Working closely with Terry in the field and especially in the close confines of the General Museum and the survey’s laboratory meant there is a chance Herricks contracted tuberculosis from Terry.
On the other hand, at the age of 56, Herrick’s father died at Clarence’s home on May 8, 1886, after ‘a long and protracted illness.’ News reports did not identify his illness and in the late 1880’s tuberculosis was so widely dispersed that it is impossible to know for sure where or when someone contacted it.
Thomas Sadler Roberts
However, Thomas Sadler Roberts’ connection with consumption clearly had nothing to do with his work on Winchell’s survey. Rather, it was his father’s consumption that brought Roberts to Minnesota and placed him in Winchell’s orbit.
Roberts was born on a Pennsylvania farm on February 16, 1858, but shortly after his birth, his parents John Roberts and Elizabeth Jane Sadler moved to Germantown, Pennsylvania. Sometime during Roberts’ childhood, his father developed active pulmonary tuberculosis and was advised to move to Minnesota, where the brisk, dry winters might alleviate his symptoms. Attempting to spend as much time outdoors as possible, Robert’s father took him on long weekend buggy rides through the countryside, which reinforced Robert’s love of nature and birds in particular.
Roberts was a close classmate of Clarene Luther Herricks and while still in high school, the two founded the ‘Young Naturalists’ Society’ which was devoted to the study of birds, botany, geology, and mammals. Before his 18th birthday, Roberts had amassed a collection of over 600 bird skins, that would form the base for the ornithological collection he later donated to the University of Minnesota.
Thomas Sadler Roberts in 1900 (courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society)
In the fall of 1877, Roberts enrolled in the University of Minnesota and with Herrick, began working with Winchell’s Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota, primarily focusing on zoology and birds in particular. In 1879, he was a member of Christopher Webber Hall’s party that explored the Lake Superior coast from Grand Marais to Duluth.
Although the trip was a scientific success, Roberts began showing serious symptoms of tuberculosis, providing yet another potential source for Herrick’s consumption. Being advised to spend as much time outdoors as possible, Roberts left the university in 1880 to work as a land examiner for James J. Hill’s St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Manitoba and the Northern Pacific railroads. Roberts was one of the fortunate tuberculosis patients that completely recovered, although it is doubtful his survival was due to being outdoors.
Having recovered though, Roberts enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania’s medical school and completed his M.D. in 1885. After internships in Philadelphia hospitals, Roberts returned to Minneapolis to practice medicine. In 1887, he married Jane Cleveland of Minneapolis, and the couple would have three children. From 1901 to 1913, Roberts taught pediatrics at the University of Minnesota Medical School.
In 1915, Roberts retired from medicine to devote his time to ornithology and act as Director of the university’s Museum of Natural History. Roberts published his ‘Birds of Minnesota’ in 1932, but that success was offset by the death of his wife on October 7 of that year. His wife had chaired the tuberculosis seal sale campaign for several years, was on the board of directors of the Hennepin County Tuberculosis Association and pioneered occupational therapies for tuberculosis patients. At the time of her death, Jane Roberts had been an invalid for six years. Consequently, tuberculosis haunted Roberts’ entire life.
In 1940, Roberts’ museum left its cramped quarters in the old Zoology Building for a new building built by a past patient and longtime friend of his, James Ford Bell. In 2018, that museum moved to its current quarters on the Saint Paul campus.
Roberts died on April 19, 1946, and was buried in Minneapolis’ Lakewood Cemetery. Along the southern boundary of that cemetery lies the Thomas Sadler Roberts Bird Sanctuary.
James Ford Bell Museum of Natural History in 1940 (courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society)
Roberts was one of the few victims of tuberculosis lucky enough to make a full recovery. Yet his father’s struggle with the disease was what brought Roberts to Minnesota, and along with Herrick, into Winchell’s orbit. Roberts’ own bout with consumption also likely played a prominent role in he and his wife’s lifelong commitments to improving the care for tuberculosis sufferers.
Aris Berkely Donaldson in 1893 Gopher (courtesy of UMN Archives)
Aris Berkely Donaldson
Aris Berkely Donaldson was the University of Minnesota’s first professor of English, but shortly after he was forced to leave the university, Donaldson accompanied Winchell on the 1874 Black Hills Expedition. Donaldson acted as Winchell’s assistant on the expedition, collecting botanical samples but he also wrote articles for the Saint Paul Pioneer.
Although Donaldson did not suffer from consumption himself, his connections with the disease were particularly tragic as consumption claimed his children rather than his parents or spouse.
His daughter, Emma Donaldson, died in 1880 after a lengthy time as an invalid. Her death occurred just twelve days before her 19th birthday. Although newspapers did not identify her illness, that was common for young women victims of consumption. Nearly ten years later, her younger brother Joseph died consumption. Another Donaldson daughter, Ira, was also sick and disabled for an extended period of time but recovered.
Christopher Webber Hall
Like Donaldson, Christopher Webber Hall did not suffer from consumption, but the disease still affected the trajectory of his life and cost him dearly.
Christopher Webber Hall was born on February 28, 1845, in Wardsboro, Vermont. He graduated from Middlebury College (Vermont) in 1871 and earned his master’s in 1873. Hall served as principal of Mankato high school in 1873 and then as superintendent of Owatonna schools from 1873 to 1875. After earning his Ph.D. from Leipzig, Hall came to the University of Minnesota in April of 1878, He worked on Winchell’s survey and replaced Winchell in the Geology department as the instructor in geology, biology, and mineralogy. Hall was promoted to Assistant Professor in 1879 and became a full Professor in 1880. Beginning in 1889 Hall was curator of the university’s General Museum. From 1892 to 1897 Hall served as Dean of the College of Engineering, Metallurgy and the Mechanical Arts. Hall was chair of the Department of Geology and Mineralogy from 1900 to 1911. He died on May 11 of 1911 of pernicious anemia.
However, Hall’s connection with consumption occurred much earlier. While principal of Owatonna schools, Hall married Nellie Dunnell of Owatonna on July 27, 1875. Nellie was the daughter of Congressman Mark Hill Dunnell who had been State Superintendent of Public Instruction from 1867 to 1870. ‘Nellie’ was actually Achsah Ellen Dunnell. She was born on April 2, 1854, in Hebron Maine and her family moved to Owatonna in 1865.
Christopher Webber Hall (courtesy of UMN Archives)
Hall and Dunnell married shortly before leaving for Germany. Their European journey had dual purposes. Hall wished to pursue geological studies at Leipzig University, but the couple also hoped the change in climate would allow Dunnell to regain her health.
Although news reports do not identify Dunnell’s illness, it carried all the hallmarks of consumption: a young woman, invalid for a long time, moving to a new ‘healthier’ climate to recover her health. Unfortunately, as with so many victims of consumption, the attempt failed and Nellie died only a few months later, on February 21, 1876, in Leipzig. It would be six years before Hall married again.
Mary Adams Van Cleve
Mary Adams Van Cleve was the long-time administrator of the University of Minnesota’s Geology Department from June of 1911 to her mandatory retirement in June of 1942. A biography of Van Cleve is posted at this link.
Although Van Cleve’s professional connection with the department postdated Winchell’s time and tuberculosis’ peak, consumption still lay behind her association with the department.
Van Cleve was born on February 4, 1874, in Providence, Rhode Island, the daughter of Edward Mortimer Van Cleve and Sarah Martindale Adams. Van Cleve might have spent her life on the East Coast except that her mother died in November of the following year. Her mother did not die of accident or childbirth. Uncharacteristically, newspapers admitted that she had died of consumption.
Grief stricken and with an infant child to care for, her father returned to Minnesota so his daughter could be raised by her grandmother, Charlotte Ouisconsin Clark Van Cleve. Charlotte, the daughter and wife of Army officers, was one of the earliest settlers of Minneapolis and later blazed a trail as an early suffrage advocate and social reformer, founding Bethany Home, Minnesota’s first home for unwed mothers. Charlotte, along with Charlotte Winchell, were the first women elected to public office in Minnesota, decisively defeating prominent wealthy male opponents in the 1876 school board election.
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Mary Adams Van Cleve (Earth and Environmental Sciences records)
Growing up with her grandmother’s guidance and social contacts, Van Cleve graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1896 and joined the Geology Department as a clerk and later as secretary. She played an unparalleled role in its early success but often overlooked in our department history is the role tuberculosis played in bringing her to Minnesota.
Charles Lewis Anderson
However, the first intersection of tuberculosis and Minnesota Geology occurred over a decade before Winchell came to Minnesota.
In May of 1861, at a time when Charles Lewis Anderson was engaged in an unsuccessful attempt to start what would have been Minnesota’s first Geological Survey, Anderson was surprised to host a famous visitor.
Henry David Thoreau, already famed for his 1854 book Walden Pond, showed up unexpectedly at Anderson’s door. Accompanied by his traveling companion, botanist Horace Mann Jr., Thoreau had sought Anderson out for his knowledge of Minnesota’s geology and natural history. Anderson, Thoreau, and Mann spent May and June of 1861 roaming different areas of Minnesota’s countryside.
Charles Lewis Anderson (on left from an image taken later in his life) and the last photograph of Henry David Thoreau taken a few months after his 1861 visit to Minnesota.
At the time though, Thoreau was in the last stages of the consumption that would kill him. When he first arrived, Anderson was shocked to learn Thoreau’s name, not because of his fame but because his gaunt visage no longer looked like any of his circulated photographs. Thoreau’s doctors had urged him to visit Minnesota because of its climate’s reputation for restoring consumptives. Like all claims of healthier climates for tuberculosis though, that reputation was undeserved. The next year, on May 6, 1862, Thoreau died of consumption.
If Governor Ramsey had not curtailed the Minnesota’s legislature’s first attempt to create a state geological survey in 1861, Anderson would have been the most likely candidate to become Minnesota’s first State Geologist. Consequently, his rambles with Thoreau might have been enshrined as the first steps of that stillborn survey. Instead, on May 13, 1862, coincidentally a week after Thoreau’s death, Anderson left Minnesota to go to Carson City, Nevada and eventually to California, never returning to Minnesota.
Legacy
Tuberculosis undoubtedly played other roles in Minnesota’s early geological studies as it was disseminated throughout late 19th century American society. However, fear of the disease, or of the ostracization that accompanied being afflicted by the disease, obscured its impacts. Many of its victims never publicly identified as being tuberculosis sufferers.
Yet, even with what little is known, tuberculosis greatly affected the course of geology in Minnesota. It not only culled the ranks of Minnesota geologists but attracted afflicted researchers to our region in their search for a healthier climate. In other cases, it changed the trajectory of people’s lives to bring them into the circle of early Minnesota geological and natural history research.