Brother & Sister – Hillside Cemetery, Edwards, Kansas

Grace and Harvey Brand were brother and sister who died one month apart in 1886. There are no other relatives buried in Edwards County.

Grace was born on the 3rd of February 1871 in Christian County, Illinois. Harvey was also born in Christian County on November 2, 1873. Their parents were Frank William and Hannah McCune Brand.

Frank W. was born in 1835 in England. He came to America prior to the US Civil War. In the war, Pvt. Brand served in Co. C IL Infantry.

Hannah McCune was born in Ohio in 1847. She and F.W. married in 1866. Seven children were born to this union with five surviving to adulthood.

F.W. died in 1878 and is buried in Christian County, Illinois. Hannah was a widow with five children ranging in age from four to 12. Three years later, she married William Ellinger (1843-1913) in Illinois.

William Ellinger brought Hannah and her five children to Edwards County in 1884. A girl and a boy were born to the couple while they resided in Edwards County.

Grace and Harvey both contracted typhoid fever. Grace passed away on June 17, 1886 at the age of 15. Harvey died a month later July 6th at the age of 12.

The family spent little time in Edwards county. The 1900 US Federal Census has the family living in Crawford County, Kansas. It is there that William died in 1913. On April 12, 1924, Hannah passed away. They are both buried in Union Cemetery, Crawford County, Kansas.

Note: Grace has the distinction of being the first burial in Hillside Cemetery.

Note: Typhoid fever has been traced back to 430-424 BC where an epidemic struck Athens, Greece. By the 1860’s, many scientific and medical developments were made including how it was transmitted. However, it was not enough to save about 80,000 soldiers who died of typhoid fever or dysentery in the US Civil War (1861-1865). In the late 19th century, scientists identified the bacteria which caused typhoid.

Throughout the 20th century, cases of typhoid fever declined as vaccinations and improvements in public sanitation and hygiene occurred. In 1909, a typhoid fever vaccine was created and given to soldiers in the army. The vaccine was released to the general public in 1914.