DUNHAM DISPATCH

Spanish American War Recalled

Typhoid Fever Rampant

Two photographs from the Dunham Archives recall the days of the Spanish-American War, which took place between April & August in 1898, when everything, including the military, was vastly different from what it is today. One photo (top right) shows William Fargo Sims, husband of Rosa Dunham Sims (l88l—1952), in proper military uniform of the period, complete with sword. The other (middle) shows Frank S. Dunham (1876—1942), Rosa‘s brother, at an army camp somewhere in the South (Georgia or N. Carolina, it is believed).

There appears to be an enpty fitted suitcase open on the chair, & the bed, judging [from] the angle of the mattress, looks a lot like a rollaway. Frank would seem to be well supplied with drink, but possibly the carafe in the foreground contains only the impure water that caused him to come down with typhoid fever while at camp. The military notified the family of the illness, but instead of sending him home, as you might expect they requested that someone come to get him. His parents, Samuel E. & Maria Sands Dunham, were out of the country on vacation at the time, & so it was decided that his oldest sister, Miriam [ ] wife of Luther Ferriss) (bottom) should make the trip, which seems quite strange for that period. (Why didn't her husband go along with her?) She didn't seem to mind making the trip at all, but the aftermath was unfortunate. She too caught typhoid, and lost all her hair as a result of the fever.

She had had straight fair hair, but when she recovered & her new hair came in, it was dark and curly. Her baby didn't recognize her, and for many years her husband joked that he had been gypped. He'd married a blonde & then found he was stuck with a brunette!