The Cholera Epidemic in Guyandotte

Currently, we are living through a global pandemic. This is not the first time in history that humans have experienced a widespread disease that has killed many and it likely will not be the last. 

While sharing stories on the Guyandotte ghost tours, we talked about a pandemic disease that wiped out millions of people worldwide. A series of seven cholera pandemics have occurred throughout the world over the past two-hundred years. Even in modern times, small outbreaks of cholera persist in parts of the world.

So, what is cholera exactly? It is a very infectious disease that causes watery diarrhea and dehydration. Cholera is caused by eating or drinking food or water contaminated with the bacteria from human feces. It was primarily spread through contaminated water in the 1800s due to the lack of sanitation and sewage treatment and was also spread by undercooked seafood that had been in contaminated water. The onset of symptoms would come on quickly and harsh for some, while others only had mild or even no symptoms at all. Death could come quickly for someone infected, often in a matter of hours. 

Cholera was first known in the United States in 1832, likely arriving with immigrants from Europe. Cholera reached the larger cities along the Ohio River by way of travel along the river. Guyandotte was a busy river port on the Ohio River, so it was inevitable that cholera would eventually find its way there and to other nearby river cities. 

In the late 1840s, a cholera outbreak hit the Ohio River area between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, killing several hundred people. The outbreak brought on panic. One of those who would succumb to cholera was Logan, West Virginia resident Anthony Lawson. 60 year old Lawson was traveling the Ohio River as a merchant, on his way home to Logan. He got off the boat at Guyandotte, sick with cholera. He died soon after arriving at Guyandotte. He was buried in the Guyandotte cemetery. 

In 1849, another non-resident of Guyandotte, Harriet "Hannah" Stoddert, 61 year old widow of Senator George W. Campbell of Nashville, Tennessee was traveling to Virginia with her children when she fell ill with cholera and died just a few hours later. She is buried at Nashville City Cemetery next to her husband. 

I discovered a published memoir from a gentleman from St. Louis. In 1850, fearing for his health, he would go to Virginia to join his wife, she had left ahead of him. He made his way to Cincinnati by steamboat, then the next day boarded another boat bound for Pittsburgh, but the Virginia passengers would land at Guyandotte. Many of the passengers were fleeing their home cities due to the cholera epidemic. The gentleman told of how he stayed at a hotel in Guyandotte overnight, and several of the other passengers that were on board with him had fallen ill. His anxiety about cholera kept him up that night, he only fell asleep after he departed Guyandotte by stagecoach to continue his journey on to Virginia.

A newspaper article from the Baltimore Sun in 1854 provided a short listing of cholera epidemic deaths that spanned from Virginia (West Virginia) to Tennessee, citing that two fatal cases of cholera had occurred in Guyandotte. 

Rev. Robert Fox was a traveling preacher from Catlettsburg, Kentucky. He had traveled to Gallipolis in late June of 1873 to preach funerals for cholera victims. Upon his return, he stopped in Guyandotte to preach at the Guyandotte Methodist Episcopal Church, when he fell ill with the sickness. He died shortly thereafter at the home of Andrew J. Keenan. 

The cholera pandemic was frightening for people living in those times. In the early 1800s, people did not know how it was transmitted or even what caused the disease. It wasn't until the mid-1800s that the bacteria that caused cholera was discovered, but it took another 30 years before information on how to fight it was ever published. Cholera was wiping out entire families and hundreds were dying daily in some of the larger cities, and clearly, smaller towns like Guyandotte were not spared. 

The cholera pandemic finally went away, with no new outbreaks in the since 1911. With better sewage and water treatment, quarantines and hygiene practices, cholera was pretty much eliminated in the United States. There have been other widespread epidemics such as Smallpox, Yellow Fever, Typhoid Fever, Scarlet Fever and the Spanish Flu and today's Covid-19. Reading through the articles about the cholera pandemics of the last hundred years, the similarities to today are a little eerie. As they say, history always repeats itself. 

Photo of a grave in the Guyandotte Cemetery. All photos on this site are property of Melissa Stanley unless otherwise noted.

Spring Hill Cemetery - Huntington, WV

Spring Hill cemetery was established 1873, just two years after the city of Huntington, West Virginia was incorporated. Today, the cemetery has over 80,000 burials. The cemetery started with around 30 acres but has expanded over the years to 110 acres currently. The oldest known grave dates to 1838, however, the first official burial wasn't until 1873. The name of the cemetery is believed to come from an old spring house that once stood near where the first bodies were buried.

One of the most locally well-known memorials that stands at Spring Hill is for the victims of the Marshall University plane crash of 1970. The crash killed all 75 people on board, including 37 members of the Marshall University football team, as well as coaching staff, boosters and crew members. Six of the victims that died in the crash were unable to be identified and are buried at the memorial site.

Many of Huntington's earliest families and citizens are buried here. In fact, in the early years of the cemetery, many bodies were reinterred here from other smaller cemeteries and family cemeteries. Large obelisks and private family mausoleums bear the names of many of these early settlers and leaders of Huntington and Cabell County.

There are over 300 Civil War soldiers buried at Spring Hill, many of whom were killed in battle. At least two that are buried here were killed during the Confederate raid on Guyandotte in November of 1861. Two Civil War Generals are buried in the cemetery, Confederate General Albert Gallatin Jenkins and Union General John Hunt Oley.

According to an article published in Huntington Quarterly, a newspaper article from 1918 reported that there had been more buried that year than during other similar periods. Records indicate that over 1,000 burials that year. The article also states that high number of interments was likely due to the worldwide Spanish flu epidemic that hit Huntington in 1918.


The history of this cemetery is captivating, but even if you don't know much about the history or the stories of those whom are buried here, the cemetery is still a beautiful place to talk a stroll. The artwork of old intricately carved stones and stained-glass windows that bring color and light into the darkened mausoleums are mesmerizing. In the spring, the flowering trees and bushes are bright with colorful blooms. While a cemetery can bring sadness and memories of loss, I find wandering through this cemetery to be peaceful as well as it being a place of wonder and tranquility.

Spring Hill is known to have a few rumors of mysterious paranormal occurrences too. While there aren't many specific stories of hauntings within the cemetery that I could find, one thought comes from the possibility of restless spirits wandering over from the State Hospital that is located directly across the street from the cemetery. The state hospital is the second oldest in West Virginia, created in 1897. A fire at the hospital in 1952 killed 17 people.

Many people simply associate cemeteries with being haunted, that the spirits of those buried here roam free, or even come to visit their own graves. I am not sure if you will find any ghosts if you wander through Spring Hill, but I highly recommend a visit whether you are looking for ghosts, history or just a nice place to go for a walk.



Photos on this site are property of Melissa Stanley, unless otherwise noted. Historic information sources: Find a grave, Huntington Quarterly & The WV Encyclopedia.