From the Journals of William Burl Kincaid, Jr.: 1918 Flu and More (William Owen Karrick Story, Part 2)

More from my great uncle’s memoirs this week - in this excerpt, he writes about the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. More than half a million Americans died during the outbreak, and worldwide it is estimated that between twenty and forty million people died. Children of the time period would skip rope to this little rhyme: I had a little bird/Its name was Enza/I opened the window/And in-flu-enza. In my father-in-law’s notes, he refers to the 1918 flu as “La Grippe.”

From the William Owen Karrick Story:

During the cold winter of 1918 our town and many others were afflicted with the flu bug. All of our family, with the exception of my oldest sister Ethel and me were bedfast. I remember the cold and the snow. I would ride our old buggy horse to town and get the mail or maybe something from the drug store. Didn’t see very many people out and around during these trips. Several families passed away in Salt Lick that winter.

I had many chores to do, such as feeding the horses and cows, milking, and getting in the firewood. I had an uncle who would come to my rescue about once each week and a relative, Miss Allie North, would come in occasionally and prepare a big kettle of vegetable soup. I was seven years old at the time.

During this year I missed a lot of school. However, I did get in the second grade the next year. In the second grade our teacher was Miss Genny Norville. She was from the old south, and I learned that she had at one time early in her life lived on a plantation. She never would allow us to sing the song “Marching Through Georgia” during our Monday morning gathering. She was very strict and would not stop urging us until we had accomplished the goal which she had set for us.

In the third grade, we had the same Miss Genny Norville. She had us learning our multiplication table from one through twelve. We had to make a map of the United States and put in the states and capitals. She kept a switch near her desk and when we got too noisy, she would pick up the switch and come down the seat aisle saying, “I am going to hit east and west to stop the noise.” It worked.

In the fourth grade my teacher was Miss Sewall. One day a circus parade was going by the school and Miss Sewall had gone out of the room. All of us in the room went to the window to watch the parade go by. Miss Sewall returned to the room and when I looked around I was the only one still at the window. She asked for all who had left their seats to hold up their hands. I held up my hands. She came back with a ruler and whipped me in one of my hands. Was I hurt? I told her that I wasn’t the only one leaving my seat. Later she had me stay in at recess and apologized for her action.

Later that year, she promoted me and my best friend Demory Parsons to the fifth grade. My sister Ethel was the fifth grade teacher. During this time, I received several switchings from my sister. Someone would do something and I would get the blame. When we got home, Ethel would say that she punished me to keep the rest from thinking she wouldn't because I was her brother.

The next year in the sixth grade my teacher was Miss Christine Alexander. Now, she was always nice to me. I must have behaved well in her class. She brought a Santa Clause suit and had me be Santa at Christmas. I was much pleased that she had that much confidence in me. Later in life she told me that I was one of her prized pupils. She surely was my most loved teacher.

From the first grade to this time in school our playground activities consisted of town ball, playing tag, seesaw, and the game of marbles when weather permitted.

In the seventh grade my teacher was Miss Snedegar. Along with other studies she was most interested in us mastering our math. My brother Hugh was in the eighth grade and he was good in math. Sometimes our teacher would tell Hugh that his problem solving was wrong and Hugh would go to the blackboard and show her that he was right.

In the eighth grade my teacher was also Miss Snedegar.

By this time we were playing baseball and basketball. I was only four feet eight inches tall at this time. My nickname was “Wee Willie.” In the baseball outfield they could hardly see me. Would you believe me if I told you that I had grown to five feet eight inches by the time that I finished high school?