An Unwelcome Visitor
The next day the unfortunate creature was shaking with the ague…During the cold fit, he did nothing but swear at the cold, and wished himself roasting; and during the fever he swore at the heat and wished that he was sitting, in no other garment than his shirt, on the north side of an iceberg…(1)
Susanna Moodie 1835, Roughing it in the Bush
Swamp Fever (Ague & Fever)
Susanna Moodie’s plucky account of an obnoxious house guest belies the seriousness of the scourge of Ague in Frontier Ontario. On the previous evening their unwanted guest had accompanied her husband fishing; Within hours he was consumed by another unwelcome guest—Swamp Fever—that would plague him for years. The symptoms of Swamp Fever (commonly referred to a Ague & Fever) were recurring bouts of sever fever, shaking chills and anemia that severely weakened the victim against other infirmities.
Ontario Frontier settlers mistakenly believed the Swamp Fever malaria was caused by ‘putrefaction’ from bad(mal) smelly air(aria) around swamps. Only 80 years later, in 1907, would a sporozoite micro-organism, transferred through the bite of mosquitos, be identified as the cause. By then the scourge had all but disappeared from Upper Canada along with the large tracks of marshy land and dense canopied forests that provided breeding grounds for mosquitos. Possibly the increase of livestock on cleared lands also provided better feeding than the local farmers.
From the 1780’s to the 1840’s Loyalist, British Military and European settlers faced an ever present spectre of Ague. The Fever was so common during that time that is was considered rare if a newcomer failed to acquire the disease within their first year in Upper Canada. In 1790, two out of three people in Niagara were reported to have the Ague. The settlement in York (1803) also reported a constant struggle with malaria.
But where and how did it come? One theory is that British soldiers, previously infected with malaria in the Caribbean, transferred it to the local mosquito population upon posting to Canada during the 1812 War. But the United Empire Loyalists of the previous generation also reported occurrences of the ‘shaking ague’. A similar malaria was reported in Massachusetts so possibly the disease may have been imported with them.
Col. John Simcoe, commissioned as the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada in 1791 and his wife Elizabeth Simcoe suffered with the Ague throughout his tenure. His critic and underling, William Jarvis, resenting being posted to the York settlement, cruelly wrote,“Col. Simcoe is at present very unwell Niagara and if he has a good shake with the ague, I think it will be justice for his meanness in dragging us from this comfortable place (Kingston) to a spot on the globe that appears to me as if it has been deserted in consequence of plague (York).”(2)
Regarding Rideau Township and those rugged Loyalist lumbermen who settled in this boggy hinterland of eastern Ontario, it is known from the Report of the building of the Rideau Canal, 1828 and 1835 were particularly bad years for the Swamp Fever. Malaria epidemics were so severe that construction of the Rideau Canal came to a standstill in 1828, with an infection rate of 60% and death rate of 4%. Coincidentally these winters also saw higher temperatures than normal that continued throughout the summer with high precipitation.(3)(4)(6) Settlers in others years were also not spared.
In the 1790’s Col. Stephen Burritt travelled by raft to the rapids that now bear his name. Having cleared some land and built a shanty, he was soon stricken with Ague, along with his wife. Laying helpless for 3 days, without fire or food, they would have died had not Native people, traveling by, saved their life.
To the south a few miles, Volney Waldo was similarly stricken with his wife and child in 1824. Prostrate for three days, a frontiersman in search of a light for his pipe found them, and nursed them back to life.
Rev. William Brown (1804), of Wolford, was plagued was persistent fever. While conducting a religious service he was stricken and prayed for deliverance. Coincidently the fever lifted, he preached one of his best sermons ever and was troubled no more with Ague that season.
Most sufferers were not so fortunate. Further to the south, the village of Gananoque endured an epidemic in 1826-27 that nearly decimated the village. Six of the MacDonald household died. Business in the village was suspended.(4)
Those providing medical care had little to offer but care.(5) Demobilized medical surgeons, whose skills were mostly acquired on the battlefield, were ill-equipped to meet the needs of the settlers. Although Quinine sulfate was found to be an effective treatment, few had access or could afford it. So was Peruvian bark, referred to as the ‘bark’, also expensive and rarely available. Infusions of sassafras did help with some symptoms.(6) Otherwise the settlers faced a constant struggle. Amulets and charms, drinking ‘bitters’, and bleedings to ward off the ‘invisible’ scourge.
Present day Marlborough Forest has 8000 hectares of public forest. Under the thick canopy of trees, horseflies and mosquitos are reported to be a terror. Many streams of Rideau Township feed back into broad swamps and scrubby thickets. Within the Forest, pioneer burial cairn memorials bear witness to the hard existence of those early European homesteaders before the land was somewhat subdued.
Settlers were rarely warned of the scourge they faced with this plague. Those who came to Canada had little choice but to come and endure the unknown. I take courage from these pioneers.
Today, we also face unknowns. We are fortunate that there are scientists striving to establish solutions for the challenge we now face. We have supply systems in place to ensure food and fuel continue. We have dedicated medical professionals to give equitable care when needed. And our elected governments continue to collaborate for a solution for the crisis we now face.
We also have bug spray.
Catherine Grove
References:
Susanna Moodie, Roughing it in the Bush, McClelland & Stewart, 1989Simcoe and the Birth of Upper Canada, Upper Canada History.caThe winter of 1827-28 Over Easter North America Climate Change (2007)History of Leeds and Grenville Ontario from 1749-1879Charles G.Roland, MD Health and Disease among the early Loyalists in Upper Canada, Can.Med.Assn. Vol128, Mar 1/83A.Murray Fallis, Malaria in the 18 and 19 Centuries in Ontario, University of Toronto Press
