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Causes of Death circa 1900, Hawaii
By Melody Lassalle
One bit of information not covered in the article on Death Registers is the cause of death. It's an often overlooked morsel. Unlike names and dates, it tells you something about your ancestor (even if it is only how he/she died).
Looking down a death register page is a little daunting. Plantation life was not easy. Disease and tragedy marked every day. Some illnesses that are no more than an inconvenience by today's standards, were deadly in 1900. Issues such as hygiene, access to medical care, harsh working conditions, and not enough food made life so much more difficult.
Each plantation is said to had it's own doctor. However, being on the company payroll, some were more concerned with limiting lost work days than healing. A laborer staying in bed all day was a loss for the plantation.
Laborers had to earn their wages. If a laborer didn't work, his or her family went unfed. The pressure was even stronger if one spouse was disabled or incapacitated in some way and unable to work. Many worked when they shouldn't to stave off starvation. Their lives were shortened by the constant pushing by their work ethic, sense of duty, and the plantation system.
Diseases like tuberculosis, Hansen's disease, and flu epidemics ravaged communities. Their presence was a merciless reminder of life at the turn of the century. Disease could spread through a family and were common throughout plantation communities.
Accidents cut many a laborer's life short. Plantation work was strife with opportunities for accidents. Laborers worked with dangerous equipment in dangerous situations 10-12 hours a day. They were subjected to risks every day. On the job injuries were common for many laborers in many fields at the turn of the century. There were no laws to protect workers from these dangers. The laborers, in affect, were dependent on the plantation system and could not easily refuse the work no matter how dangerous.
This list of causes of death comes from an 1898 death register for Kauai . This information is from a random group of 39 deaths. Note that for this small group the leading cause of death was fever.
Asthma 2
Child Birth 1
Croup 1
Diarrhea 1
Dropsy 4
Drowned 2
Dysentery 1
Fever 8
Heart Disease 4
Hemorrhage 1
Impacted Bowels 1
Inanition 2
Injured Spine 1
Leprosy 1
Old Age 4
Paralysis 1
Pneumonia 2
Sore Throat 1
© 2002 Melody Lassalle
deathcause
upd 8/15/02