Where was Captain Bill?

Did Spanish Flu containment regulations keep Captain Bill from home?

Cleveland newspapers first published that the Spanish Flu had arrived to the United States on September 12, 1918; the first Ohio case was diagnosed at the end of the same month.  As Chuck Hallinan previously reported, Cleveland’s city's health commissioner, Dr. Rockwood, responded suggesting that Cleveland would be spared the full force of the epidemic.  Unfortunately, his hopeful but unfounded guidance came just as the number of cases exploded. His reluctance to order immediate quarantines or bans on public gatherings may have been justified – people generally do not respond to rules that radically change lifestyles with just the possibility of being harmed.  Rather than coercion, the good doctor chose to rely on voluntarism and cooperation to contain the influenza recommending that public and group leaders take suitable precautions.

However, the body count quickly mounted.  On Friday, October 11th, Dr. Rockwood declared the Spanish Flu an epidemic.  On that day, a number of nurses at St. Luke's hospital had fallen ill from the disease after marching in the Liberty Loan parade on Sunday Sept. 30.  He declared schools, dance halls, theaters, movies, churches, and "other public meeting places, (excepting the “Liberty Loan” meetings places – we had a war to fund) be closed starting Tuesday, October 15th.

Interestingly, the bans were similar to today’s Covid-19 bans, with at least one exception: a ban on the common practice of spitting.  “Police Chief Frank Smith stated that ‘[i]n the view of the present situation, every member of the police department must understand that it is just as important to arrest and prosecute people who spit on streets, sidewalks and street cars, as it is to apprehend burglars and thieves’” (Cleveland Plain Dealer, Oct. 6, 1918).  

Source: Free Library of Philadelphia

Source: Free Library of Philadelphia

Dr. Rockwood sympathetically (but lacking a statistical basis to do so) declared the epidemic over on Armistice Day (November 11, 1918).  The logic seems to have been: If the Great War is over then let’s call this germ war over too.  The likely rationale would be Dr. Rockwood’s realization that the public was going to enthusiastically celebrate the end of the war and ignore the bans in place anyways. The Germans may have surrendered but, as we know, the germs did not.

Armistice Day in Cleveland’s Public Square
Source: Cleveland Police Museum

With the crisis stage of the epidemic pronounced as over in Cleveland, record crowds attended restaurants and churches in celebration of Thanksgiving.  These celebrations likely caused in part the uptick in the number of flu cases reported in early December; Evangeline (via Mrs. Moore, her neighbor) was one of those cases. Except for a few school closing, Dr. Rockwood did not reinstate the prior quarantines and bans hoping that the disease would soon burn itself out.

So at the time Evangeline contracted the disease, around December 1^st, there were no regulatory impediments to prevent Captain Bill from attending to his ailing family. 

However, I speculate that if Captain Bill was in Cleveland (see below) then he may have had a moral reason.  The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that the number of orphans in Cleveland in 1918 had risen by about 4,000 as compared to the previous year and most of them due to the Spanish Flu.  While Captain Bill’s emotions certainly moved him to attend his wife, the discipline and prudence of a ship master may have driven him to belay that emotion for the sake of the children.

Was Captain Bill in Cleveland?

We have two virtually infallible sources on matters of memory that seem to contradict each other.  In an interview with my mother, Arthur Hallinan reported that Eileen Mooney recalled that after Evangeline’s death both “[m]om and Dad went to Bolivar, and the children remained in Lakewood.”  In a video interview with Aunt Dorothy that Chuck Hallinan shared with me recently, Tom Hallinan recorded his mother’s comments on Captain Bill’s whereabouts.  In reply to Tom’s question, Aunt Dorothy, three years old at the time of her mother’s death, initially confirms that her father was not home.  Tom then asks Aunt Dorothy, “Was Captain Bill out on the boat?”  Aunt Dorothy looks up to the ceiling and says, “I doubt that he was … must have been … that was the end of the season … so he may have been laying up the boat … should have been home ... so apparently he wasn’t home when my mother died.” 

After reviewing methods to defend biblical inerrancy, I came up with a possible reconciliation. It could be that Captain Bill was not in Cleveland on December 15^th (Aunt Dorothy’s recollection, “he wasn’t home when my mother died”) but did travel to Bolivar departing from some unknown location for Evangeline’s funeral Mass and internment (my Mom’s recollection, “mom and dad went to Bolivar”).   OK, that’s a stretch but there are a few more clues that lead me to think Captain Bill was not in Cleveland at the time but still on the water.

Was Captain Bill still on the water in December? 

Checking the Department of Agriculture Climatolgical Data for December 1918, shows that the month of December in the year 1918 was remarkably good for Great Lakes shippers:

• December - This month was one of the mildest and wettest Decembers on record in Michigan (Climatological Data – Michigan Section 1918. Page 161).
• December: Unusually warm and notwithstanding a general excess in precipitation, very pleasant weather characterized the month of December.  Only three Decembers out of the last sixty-five presented a higher mean temperature than this (Climatological Data – Ohio Section 1918.  Page 102).
• Reports from all sections show that the month was unusually mild with an average excess of warmth of about four and one-half degrees, which is in marked contrast to the severe December a year ago (Climatological Data – New York  Section.  December, 1918. Page 135).

The Climatological Data shows that the unusually clement weather continued into January, 1919.  The Soo canal, a choke point for the upper Great Lakes shippers, may have remained opened as late as Dec. 26 in 1918.

Chuck Hallinan relayed to me that his research showed that some freighters on the Great Lakes were deployed in Buffalo as floating grain silos for their winter layup.  The Marine Review confirms his research.
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The [1918] grain movement was retarded since elevators on the Atlantic seaboard were congested through inability to secure ocean tonnage.  Owing to these conditions many vessels carried storage grain cargoes early in November, thus losing an extra trip.  At the end of the season, 121 vessels were docked at Buffalo with 40,385,269 bushels of grain aboard.  At Georgian bay ports, Detroit, Toledo, Fairport, Erie, and Port Colborne there are 71 vessels holding 28,856,929 bushels of grain (Marine Review, Volume 49; Traffic on the Great Lakes in 1918, p. 94).

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The article reports that the freighters contracted knowing that taking the grain cargo in early November would make that trip the last one for that vessel for the season. 

Chuck Hallinan’s research on the SS Grand Island’s maneuvers in the 1918 season shows the vessel was in Buffalo on Nov. 29^th.  Chuck H. writes:

In the Grand Island's case, she was in Buffalo harbor on Nov. 29 but not yet finally moored, when a major storm arose, with 75 mph winds. The Grand Island was tied to another freighter, the Marquette, when the storm arrived. The winds were strong enough that the two boats dragged their anchors and were driven ashore. The landing spot was soft, and the Grand Island was safely pulled off with only minor apparent damage. (Freeing the Marquette was a little more complicated.) On Dec. 2, the Grand Island is listed as having (officially) arrived at Buffalo. Since she'd already been in Buffalo harbor since at least Nov. 29, this could mean that she had reached her permanent winter berth on Dec. 2. If so, Capt. Bill presumably would have been free of further responsibility about that time, i.e., Dec. 3 or thereabouts. Alternatively, given the very large number of boats in the harbor, it could simply mean that it took that long to get signed in, and that accomplishing the final mooring for the winter didn't occur until sometime later. In that event, Capt. Bill wouldn't have been free to go home until the end of the first week in December (or perhaps later).

Source: Unknown

As an exporter, Cleveland fortunately did not run out of coffins as other major cities did during the epidemic.  But hospital supplies were short. "Linen for emergency hospital beds was acquired from boats serving the Cleveland-Buffalo route" ("Fighting the Germans. Fighting the Germs", Bjoershol, 2013).  Perhaps, Captain Bill may been been assigned or volunteered to pilot one of those boats since his boat was moored for the season, the weather was unusually clement and Cleveland was his destination from Buffalo.





Why did the Morans take Evangeline to Bolivar?

The family traditions suggest that Captain Bill preferred that his wife had been buried at the Mooney grave sites in St. Patrick’s cemetery in Rocky River, Ohio.  Did the Morans know this in December 1918?  When I was 41 years old, as Captain Bill was in 1918, I had not published plans to my in-laws regarding the interment of my wife, mostly because I did not have any.

The timeline following Evangeline’s death as reported in the Bolivar Breeze indicates that things happened quickly.  The Morans needed to obtain a release from the Cuyahoga coroner to take custody, permits to transport a body across two state lines, contract for a dedicated traction car (electric interurban rail car), schedule the rail car probably through Buffalo and Olean into Bolivar. The rail car likely departed Cleveland on Tuesday mid-day (Evangeline arrived in Bolivar at 11 PM on Tuesday).  If Captain Bill was present and able to work his will then the Morans would not have been able to take the first step – the custody of Evangeline’s body.  I assume, therefore, that Captain Bill was not in Cleveland.  It seems likely that only in Captain Bill’s absence could the coroner honor anyone else’s request for custody.

Funeral banned, cemeteries overwhelmed

Responding to Dr. Rockwood’s order, in October 1918, Bishop Farrelly banned public funeral Masses. The good Bishop allowed that the important funeral Masses "would be said once the flu regulations were lifted" (Cleveland Press, Oct. 16, 1918).  

The number of bodies for burial inundated the city's cemeteries with Calvary Cemetery experiencing the greatest increase -- from a previous high of only 36 to over 80 bodies per day.  On October 25, 1918, Fr. O'Malley, in charge of Calvary (no known relation), ordered a steam shovel to dig trenches at 200 feet per day to accommodate the need to get the dead quickly into the ground.  Fr. O'Malley ordered a second trench dug on October 28th.  The papers do not report if these extreme measures successfully interred the backlog of bodies but do report that the second trench only accommodated 85 caskets, slightly more than the reported single day maximum the cemetery was then experiencing. The papers also report that even after digging the second trench, the city utility director called out again for more volunteer grave diggers to assist at Calvary.  To avoid mass graves for loved ones, friends and family members of the diseased dug the graves for their dearly departed.

According to the City of Cleveland, Ohio, Division of Health: Statistical Records, from September to the end of 1918, Spanish Flu infected 23,644 people representing about 3.5% of the city’s population. Of those cases, 1,600 developed pneumonia. By the end of February, 1919; 4,400 Clevelanders died from the flu outbreak representing a 16% death rate. The overall death rate in 1918 in Cleveland according to the CDC was 17.2 per thousand. For the two years prior, the average death rate per thousand was 14.5. Spanish Flu accounted for an excess death rate of 4.74 per thousand, the highest in Ohio, and worse than either New York City or Chicago.

Crunching the numbers gives about 800 deaths per month for the cemeteries to manage prior to the Spanish Flu. During the four month crisis period of the epidemic, the number of bodies to be buried more than doubled to 1,700 per month. These facts and estimates make it reasonable to assume that a sizeable accumulation of bodies at Calvary remained unburied in mid-November and likely that a good portion of that number still remained to be interred in mid-December.

Derelict Steam Shovel.  Source: Wikipedia

Could it have been in mid-December that Bishop Farrelly’s backlog of important funeral Masses to be prayed and the backlog of bodies to be buried caused the Morans to conclude that Evangeline’s remains would not receive in a timely way the Catholic liturgical services for the dead? Was there a reasonable concern that their beloved would be buried in a trench?

The Bolivar Breeze obituary reports that Evangeline contracted the flu and “within a few weeks” died of pneumonia on Sunday, December 15^th.  If a “few” is two then Evangeline contracted the flu, as noted above, around December 1^st.  The Spanish Flu’s lethality worked quickly on those not equipped to fight it. Families had to move quickly to care for their own; nurses were short in supply.  Evangeline’s sister, Philomena, had been in Cleveland for a week caring for her younger sister.  On Saturday, December 14^th, Philomena sent a telegraph to their mother, Mary Jane, reporting that Evangeline’s condition was critical. Evangeline’s mother and brother-in-law, Dennis McCarthy, left Bolivar for Cleveland upon receiving the telegram.  I am uncertain if they were present at Evangeline’s death but presume they were; they acted quickly making arrangements to transport Evangeline’s body via special “traction train” car (she died of infectious disease) to Bolivar, NY.  The car arrived Bolivar on Tuesday, December 17^th (Evangeline’s birthday).  

Passenger car of the Cleveland, Southwestern, 
& Columbus Interurban Railway, ca. 1920.
Source: Western Reserve Historical Society.

Western New York & Pennsylvania Traction Company: The Western New York & Pennsylvania Traction Company began operations in 1894 originally connecting Olean and Alleghany. At its peak the system also connected Bolivar, Shingle House, Salamanca, Little Valley and Bradford.

 On Wednesday, December 18^th, the Bolivar parish priest presided at Evangeline's funeral Mass at St. Mary’s and internment at the church’s cemetery with the Rite of Committal with Final Commendation.  Evangeline was laid to rest.

This brings us to examine the situation at St. Patrick’s cemetery and the Mooney plots. While St. Patrick's records show only 4 burials in 1918 (one being Captain Bill's step mother), the death dates indicate that 3 were not buried in the month of December.  The month of the fourth burial is not recorded.  However, that person, born in 1860, was 58 years old at death and, therefore, not a probable Spanish Flu victim.  Only two burials are recorded in all of 1919; one in July and the other month unknown.  The ages of both, 90 and 63 years, suggest also that their deaths were not flu related.  The city's severe shortage of grave diggers, especially at the main Catholic cemetery, may have required the pastor at St. Patrick’s to refuse any requests for burials at the parish cemetery in December 1918.  I think it probable that Evangeline could not be buried at St. Patrick’s cemetery according to Captain Bill’s wishes due to a lack of resources (grave diggers). 

In Cleveland, Evangeline likely could have neither a timely funeral Mass prayed nor be interred with the proper liturgy, i.e., the Rite of Committal with Final Commendation, at St. Patrick's or Calvary cemeteries.  The Morans, being practicing Catholics, in charity toward their beloved deceased, may have had a reasonable argument to justify transporting Evangeline to Bolivar for her final resting place. If the above is true then whether the Morans knew or did not know Captain Bill's wishes becomes a moot question.

We know that there was tension between the families.  In Tom Hallinan’s interview noted earlier, Aunt Dorothy discloses another bit of info helpful in understanding the source of the that tension.  Aunt Dorothy recalls that the start of the squabble was after Evangeline’s death and centered on the Morans taking Evangeline’s diamond rings to safe keep for the children without consulting Captain Bill.  If true then the families were at peace, in as much as in-laws can be at peace, in December 1918.  So, we cannot assign any antagonism behind the Morans decision to take Evangeline to Bolivar.

Summing up the facts:

Captain Bill’s boat, SS Grand Island, was in Buffalo on December 2, 1918.

The coroner gave the Morans custody of Evangeline’s body.

The Morans removed Evangeline’s rings from her person.

Summing up the assumptions:

The coroner would not give custody to next-of-kin unless the spouse was absent.

The Morans could not take possession of Evangeline’s rings unless Captain Bill was absent.

The Morans had sufficient religious reasons to support transporting Evangeline to Bolivar.

Conclusions:
Captain Bill was not in Cleveland on December 15, 1918 and most likely in Buffalo, NY.
Wherever Captain Bill was on December 15, 1918, I believe the subsequent record of his acts shows that he was always there for his family, if not duty-bound to be elsewhere, or in circumstances beyond his control.

On a personal note, I knew Captain Bill having lived with him for the first seven years of my life and the last seven of his.  I grew up in his house at 1863 Beersford Rd in East Cleveland.  Captain Bill bought the house in 1929 after marrying Maude Riley in 1928.  Wishing to maintain strong familial ties among his children and himself, he returned his children from Bolivar to Cleveland in June 1927. And that, in itself, is another story for this blog-site.

June 1927 - Bolivar, NY

Captain Bill was kind and gentle man but no pushover.  Grandfatherly in most respects but, in some, he was still master of his ship and, at times, quick to remind me of it.  Captain Bill was a giggler, he loved to laugh and his laugh as I remember was the same as our parents laugh. You know, the one that starts as a muffled "tee-hee, tee-hee" laugh of one who is not supposed to be laughing and quickly escalates to a roaring, deafening sound. The innate sense of humor that we -- the Hallinan, Mooney and O'Malley descendants -- possess is an inherited trait from Captain Bill Mooney.

Like most grandparents, Captain Bill delighted in giving treats to his grandchildren.  Cashews were one of his, and my, favorites.  Wanting to be free of Captain Bill's fickle disposition to rarely dole out those golden nuts, I followed him secretively after one such feast to discover the whereabouts of his cashew tabernacle.  Ah yes, there it was, the Planters can high on the shelf in his bedroom closet.  Later, I crept into his bedroom and being too short, employed a desk chair to reach up for the Planters can.  Reaching high, I filled my hand and, fearing being caught, quickly shoved a bunch of my own crayon nubs into my mouth. Reflexively, I spat to extract the waxy bits.  While trying to purge the Crayolas  (did the "chrome yellow" crayon use lead in the 1950's?) I heard, the familiar, "Tee-hee, tee-hee".  I was busted.  With me gagging and him guffawing, I learned to have more respect for the captain's quarters.

Thanks to all the descendants of Evangeline and William Mooney who shared with me their recollections or research on family history, especially Chuck Hallinan.  If anyone who reads this more-fiction-than-fact account has more facts, please feel free to correct the blog or email me and I will amend.

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I used four sources as background information for this blog. 

Barry, John. M. The Great Influenza. The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History.

New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2004.

Bjoershol, Haakon, "Fighting the Germans. Fighting the Germs: Cleveland's Response to the 1918-1919 Spanish Flu Epidemic"

(2013). ETD Archive. 850.

https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/etdarchive/850
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https://www.dioceseofcleveland.org/news/2020/03/22/coronavirus-pandemic-has-similarities-to-1918-flu-epidemic
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https://hallinanmooney.blogspot.com/2018/12/evangeline-charity-moran-mooney-part-3.html