Sarah H. Baker - Calvert, TX
N 30° 58.861 W 096° 40.180
14R E 722541 N 3429827
Sarah Harris Baker was one of many who died during the yellow fever epidemic that struck Calvert in 1873. She is buried with her mother-in-law, daughter, and her husband -- another casualty -- in the beautiful Calvert Cemetery, Calvert, TX.
Waymark Code: WM161XR
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 04/16/2022
Views: 0
Mary McCarthy is another casualty of the epidemic, buried within view of the Bakers, and her own
Findagrave page provides some background as to what happened here:
On September 3, 1873, W.F. Hughes, a young man from yellow fever-stricken Shreveport, LA, stopped in Calvert. On September 5 he became ill and died a couple of days later. Then, other people started getting sick. This yellow fever epidemic spread to the northeast in the direction of the prevailing wind. Of Calvert's 1,500 white residents at the time, all but about 600 had the fever; a quarter of these died. For several months, the entire town was quarantined. Trains were not allowed to stop when passing through and the windows of all coaches were tightly closed until all cars had passed beyond the city limits. Trains would stop outside of town to let passengers off and unload caskets.
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. Mrs. Baker's husband, William, is buried right in front of her, and they died two days apart. Also buried here, just a few feet from Mary McCarthy, are Dr. Edward Arrel Pye and his wife, Matilda. They were safe at their home in Hearne when the call came for help, and jeopardizing their own safety, they answered that call, only to succumb to the disease themselves.
Mrs. Baker's final resting place is marked by a marble headstone with a hand holding a bouquet of flowers at the top. Complemented by palm leaves, the inscription reads:
Sacred to the
memory of
Sarah H.
Consort of
Wm. A. Baker
Born
July 11, 1846,
died of yellow fever
Oct. 12, 1873.
------
Blessed are the dead which die in the
Lord.
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