Smallpox Scare in Downtown Seattle
A man arriving from San Francisco by steamship causes a panic after seeking help for symptoms at a local physician's office.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Sunday forenoon a rumor flew over the city that a case of smallpox had broken out in our midst. A reporter investigated the report and found the following facts: Sunday morning a man entered the office of Dr. Marion on Third street and, stating he was sick, asked for advice. Dr. Marion examined the man and told him he was afflicted with smallpox. Dr. Marion at once summoned City Marshal Justice, Health Officer Dr. Sloan, and Dr. Blalock, who, after examining the man, were satisfied he had the smallpox. The man gave the name of T. W. Hale, said he was from Missouri, and lodged at the Stine House. No such name appearing on the register, Chief Clerk Colby inspected the man and pronounced him B. P. Thompson, saying he came to the hotel Saturday morning from the train. On being charged with changing his name, the man admitted his true name is B. P. Thompson, age 28, from Riceville, Tennessee, and that he arrived from San Francisco on the last trip of the Oregon. The city pest-house was immediately placed in order and the patient moved there. The bedding and carpet in the Stine House occupied by the man were destroyed and the premises disinfected.
“Sunday forenoon a rumor flew over the city that a case of smallpox had broken out in our midst.”
This 1883 scare reflects the intense anxiety in growing port cities regarding contagious disease, a theme that remains resonant in modern Seattle following the COVID-19 pandemic. The rapid response of public health officials, including the destruction of contaminated property, highlights the aggressive, often intrusive, nature of civic disease control in the frontier era.
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