When this smallpox epidemic broke out, many Bostonians fled and the provincial government was temporarily relocated to Concord.
Meanwhile, remaining townspeople and town leaders responded to the epidemic by setting up facilities where people could be inoculated using a treatment called variolation. One of these facilities was established at Castle William, a military outpost on Castle Island in Boston Harbor. (Today’s Fort Independence occupies the site. The former island is now attached to the mainland as an extension of South Boston.)
Letters to Miss Abigail Smith, Soon to be Mrs. Abigail Adams
At the time of the epidemic, John Adams was a young attorney living in Braintree, about 14 miles south of Boston. He traveled up from Braintree and crossed over to Castle William to take advantage of the variolation treatment. During his two-week stay on the island, he wrote letters to Miss Abigail Smith (soon to be Mrs. Abigail Adams). As an old man, he recollected the episode in his autobiography.
Adams shared a room with nine other men. In preparation for the inoculation, the men were given medicines to make them vomit. In his letters to Abigail, John made the experience seem jolly for a while. According to his April 7 letter (http://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/): “We took turns to be sick and to laugh. When my Companion was sick I laughed at him, and when I was sick he laughed at me. Once however and once only we were both sick together, and then all Laughter and good Humour deserted the Room.”
Medicines Blamed for Loss of Teeth in Old Age
Adams and the others were also given medications. In his autobiography (http://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/), Adams blamed the medicines for the loss of his teeth in old age. As a result of treatments at the time, “every tooth in my head became so loose that I believe I could have pulled them all with my Thumb and finger.”
In his letters to Abigail, Adams made no complaint about medications. He said in his April 11 letter that he was more bothered by the hubbub and visits from people he didn’t want to see: “…if I could but enjoy my Retreat in silence and solitude, there would be nothing Wanting but Obliviscence of your Ladyship, to make me as Happy as a Monk in a Cloyster or an Hermit in his Cell.”
The usual process of variolation involved making a cut in the arm of a healthy person and then applying to it scabs collected from the sores of a person with smallpox, according to The Invisible Fire: The Story of Mankind’s Triumph over the Ancient Scourge of Smallpox, by Joel N. Shurkin. Adams’ description suggests a variation of this. He wrote on April 13: “They [the doctors] took their Launcetts and with their Points divided the skin for about a Quarter of an Inch and just suffering the Blood to appear, buried a Thread about (half) a Quarter of an Inch long in the Channell. A little Lint was then laid over the scratch and a Piece of a Ragg pressed on, and then a Bandage bound over all—my Coat and waistcoat put on, and I was bid to go where I get and do what I pleased.”
After variolation, Adams and his companions were quarantined to await their sickness, normally a mild case of smallpox, which would provide lifetime immunity from the disease. Adams wrote to Abigail that the room was equipped with a card table, “Chequer Bord,” flute and violin to distract the men while they waited for the disease to take its course.
Variolation Risky, But Less Deadly Than Smallpox
Variolation was risky. According to Public Health, Its Promise for the Future by Wilson George Smillie, 47 people out of 4,977 innoculated—about 1 out of every 100—died during that epidemic. Still, variolation was safer than getting the disease the natural way. Of 669 people who “naturally” contracted the disease during that epidemic, 124 did not survive—about 18 of every 100. Those who survived could be horribly scarred. In his April 17 letter, Adams described one man: “His face is torn to pieces, and is as rugged as Braintree Commons.”
Adams was lucky. His illness was mild. According to his April 26 letter, it consisted of “A short shivering Fit, and a succeeding hot glowing Fit, a Want of Appetite, and a general Languor.” He counted no more than ten sores.
Variolation disappeared after 1796. That’s when English physician Edward Jenner discovered that germs from cowpox, a mild disease, could provide immunity from smallpox. From his discovery, smallpox vaccinations, much safer than variolation, were introduced.
Brian Deming - Brian Deming has a master’s degree in American history from Northwestern University. He has taught U.S. history and media history at ...
