{"id":9781,"date":"2020-03-13T17:06:10","date_gmt":"2020-03-13T21:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/SamsonRecord01.jpg"},"modified":"2020-03-13T17:07:46","modified_gmt":"2020-03-13T21:07:46","slug":"samsonrecord01","status":"inherit","type":"attachment","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2020\/03\/19\/records-reveal-1918-influenzas-devastating-impact-on-a-tiny-pittsburgh-community\/samsonrecord01\/","title":{"rendered":"Samson record"},"author":4,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"description":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

During the height of the 1918 flu pandemic, a single Pittsburgh funeral home received the bodies of more than 30 members of one small community. All the dead were men. Nearly all succumbed to pneumonia or a combination of influenza and pneumonia.<\/p>\n

The men were Chinese residents and their deaths must have devastated the city\u2019s tiny Chinatown, centered around one block of Second Avenue between Grant and Ross streets. As many as 500 residents crowded into the district. Many were men living as boarders crowded into the second and third floors of buildings with first-floor tea shops, restaurants or general stores. <\/p>\n

Of course, Pittsburgh experienced an appalling death rate during the pandemic. Estimates vary, but most studies estimate between 4,500-6,600 residents succumbed to the virus. That\u2019s about one percent of the city\u2019s population of 588,000. Pittsburgh\u2019s newspapers published stories tracking the alarming rate of infection and death and peppered their pages with stories of families wrecked by the virus. <\/p>\n

But the catastrophe striking Chinatown, just a few blocks from several newspaper offices, escaped notice. The district was part of the city, yet separate. Few outsiders understood Chinese language and customs. Residents wore traditional silks and sandals and, according to one report, smoked tobacco in small pipes.<\/p>\n

A Post reporter who walked through Chinatown in 1920 wrote, \u201cHere one finds a row of shops bearing Chinese signs and catering, apparently, almost exclusively to Chinese trade.\u201d The reporter described vases decorated with colorful images of dragons but was most keenly interested in the men he saw \u201cstanding in the doorways or dimly seen in dark rooms within.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 1918 deaths of Chinatown\u2019s men, their ages ranging from 18 to 69, are revealed in an aging record book from the H. Samson Funeral Home, then located in a narrow building at 433 Sixth Avenue. The book contains elegantly hand-written tabulations noting all who ended up in the Samson embalming room. Information includes names, occupation, place of residence and a few other details, including the cost of caskets, flowers and vehicles required for funeral services. The Samson records are held at the Heinz History Center.<\/p>\n

Yee Chin, 38, is the first Chinese man whose death is listed for the month of October. A merchant living at 519 Second Avenue, he succumbed Oct. 3 after a nine-day struggle with pneumonia. Twelve days later, on Oct. 15, Lee Gates died of pneumonia at 213 Grant Street. He was 69. His funeral expenses, including a casket, name plate, headstone and cemetery fees, totaled $113.54.<\/p>\n

A week later, the flu struck the Chinese district with deadly violence. Beginning Oct. 21 and running through Nov. 19, two dozen Chinese men died of influenza or pneumonia. Nine of those men died at addresses on the 500 block of Second Avenue, the center of Chinatown. Two others, including Gates, died less than a block away, at 213 Grant Street. Not all died in their homes. Four Chinese men residing on Second Avenue died after admission to hospitals. All ended up in Samson\u2019s basement, where they were embalmed at a cost of $10 each. <\/p>\n

Those carrying for the sick must have been terrified as they saw the virus destroy their fellow boarders. Flu symptoms often began with dull headaches, aching eyes, a fever. Many victims developed pneumonia, their skin turning a brownish-purple hue as lungs filled with bloody fluid. Later, their feet turned black. They coughed up blood and, in their dying moments, gasped for air.<\/p>\n

Yee Won at 516 Second Avenue became ill in early October. Two physicians arrived to treat him and his health improved, according to an Allegheny County coroner\u2019s report filed in the University of Pittsburgh archives. The doctors told him to stay inside. Yee Won, whose age is listed as \u201cabout 40\u201d (ages were approximate), shrugged off this advice and went about his life. His condition soon worsened. On Nov. 5 he entered Allegheny General Hospital and died at 8:39 p.m. that day.<\/p>\n

Yee Tal Jung, 50, was ill but wouldn\u2019t take his medication, a coroner\u2019s report says. A doctor named Lutz ordered him to Allegheny General Hospital on Nov. 2. He died of influenza and pneumonia the next day at 3:45 p.m.<\/p>\n

A handful of Chinese men from outside the city show up in the Samson records. Yee Ling of 28 Braddock Ave. in Braddock was ill for a week. His neighbors urged him to go to a hospital for treatment. He tried but was turned away — the hospitals were full, according to the coroner\u2019s notes. So he remained at home, where he died at 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 30. That same day, Ying Ling Wah (alias Charlie G. Yow) of New Castle died at 507 Second Ave. He\u2019d come to Pittsburgh to seek treatment for his illness. Death returned to the address a day later, when Yee Kwong, 31, succumbed to the virus. <\/p>\n

Only one death in Chinatown caught the attention of the city\u2019s newspapers. Both the Press and Gazette Times published small stories on the Nov. 12 demise of Ong Hee Geps, described as the richest Chinese immigrant in the city. He owned a tea shop and a general store on Second Avenue.<\/p>\n

The last Chinese death recorded in 1918 in the Samson records is that of Eng Yuen Toy, who lived at 517 Second Avenue. Influenza and pneumonia killed him at South Side Hospital on Dec. 2.<\/p>\n

Two deaths recorded during the two month period seemed to have nothing to do with the pandemic. A relative found 50-year-old Yee Shon collapsed in the bathroom of his home at 910 Grant Street on oct. 21. Cause of death: heart attack. Inflammation of the small intestine killed Yee Ling Bue, a Youngstown resident, on Oct. 31. His place of death is not listed.<\/p>\n

As months passed and the pandemic subsided, life returned to normal in Chinatown. It was a brief reprieve for the community. In 1921, city workers showed up with surveying equipment and notifications that many of the area\u2019s Chinese residents must move to make way for construction of the Boulevard of the Allies. In September of that year, steam shovels and trucks arrived to demolish many of the buildings that had seen so much death just a few years earlier. Debris left behind days later included tea sacks and scattered papers bearing Chinese characters.<\/p>\n"},"caption":{"rendered":"

Yee Yep in the H. Samson records at the Heinz History Center. (Steve Mellon\/Post-Gazette<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesSamson record<\/span><\/a><\/p>"},"alt_text":"","media_type":"image","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","media_details":{"width":2560,"height":1611,"file":"2020\/03\/SamsonRecord01-scaled.jpg","sizes":{"medium":{"file":"SamsonRecord01-300x189.jpg","width":300,"height":189,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/SamsonRecord01-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C189&ssl=1"},"large":{"file":"SamsonRecord01-1024x644.jpg","width":1024,"height":644,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/SamsonRecord01-scaled.jpg?fit=800%2C503&ssl=1"},"thumbnail":{"file":"SamsonRecord01-630x255.jpg","width":630,"height":255,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/SamsonRecord01-scaled.jpg?resize=630%2C255&ssl=1"},"medium_large":{"file":"SamsonRecord01-768x483.jpg","width":768,"height":483,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/SamsonRecord01-scaled.jpg?fit=768%2C483&ssl=1"},"1536x1536":{"file":"SamsonRecord01-1536x967.jpg","width":1536,"height":967,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/SamsonRecord01-scaled.jpg?fit=1536%2C967&ssl=1"},"2048x2048":{"file":"SamsonRecord01-2048x1289.jpg","width":2048,"height":1289,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/SamsonRecord01-scaled.jpg?fit=2048%2C1289&ssl=1"},"blog":{"file":"SamsonRecord01-556x350.jpg","width":556,"height":350,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/SamsonRecord01-scaled.jpg?fit=556%2C350&ssl=1"},"full":{"file":"SamsonRecord01-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1611&ssl=1","width":2560,"height":1611,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/SamsonRecord01-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1611&ssl=1"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"1.8","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 7","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1583354012","copyright":"","focal_length":"3.99","iso":"40","shutter_speed":"0.0083333333333333","title":"","orientation":"1","keywords":[]},"original_image":"SamsonRecord01.jpg"},"post":9780,"source_url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/SamsonRecord01-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9781"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/attachment"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9781"}]}}