An American Plague: Chapters 7-9

by Jim Murphy
Drawing on medical research, news articles, and firsthand accounts, Jim Murphy traces the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 in this gripping historical account.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1-2, Chapters 3-4, Chapters 5-6, Chapters 7-9, Chapters 10-11

Here is a link to our lists for another work by Jim Murphy: The Great Fire
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. iniquity
    morally objectionable behavior
    Remember that your judge will probably one day say to you, “I was a stranger and ye took me not in, depart from me ye workers of iniquity."
  2. executor
    a person appointed to carry out the terms of the will
    Because relatives were sometimes impossible to locate, the committee began to administer the estates of the deceased who had no legal heirs or executors available.
  3. enterprising
    marked by initiative and readiness to undertake new projects
    Out of a committee of supremely enterprising and resourceful members, one managed to outshine the rest in the range of activities he assumed.
  4. ingenuity
    the property of showing inventiveness and skill
    Israel’s patience, strength, and ingenuity were tested every day of the plague.
  5. autopsy
    an examination and dissection of a dead body
    Two of them made a number of visits but spent more time performing autopsies on dead bodies than ministering to the sick.
  6. indomitable
    impossible to subdue
    Helm was a humble man who brought to Bush Hill three enduring qualities—an established work ethic, an endless supply of kindness, and an indomitable spiritual courage.
  7. pernicious
    exceedingly harmful
    Girard had condemned the extreme bleeding and purging as a “pernicious treatment” that “sent many of our citizens to another world.”
  8. succumb
    be fatally overwhelmed
    His Lutheran colleague the Reverend John Schmidt had the fever, and his parish gravedigger and the gravedigger’s mother had already succumbed.
  9. blighted
    affected by something that prevents growth or prosperity
    Outsiders already looked upon Philadelphia as a blighted area.
  10. obituary
    a notice of someone's death
    It avoided publishing most obituaries, never mentioned the rise in crime, and was vague about the spread of the disease.
  11. fledgling
    young and inexperienced
    This was the most important way he kept himself informed about the hundreds of things happening in the fledgling nation.
  12. quorum
    a gathering of the minimal number of members of a group
    Without a proper quorum of members, the king could then decide law as he pleased.
  13. resumption
    beginning again
    Plans were even announced for the resumption of the stagecoach in early November. The city seemed to be awakening after a long, inescapable nightmare.
  14. privy
    a room or building equipped with one or more toilets
    The committee issued a public warning, telling recent arrivals to clean their homes thoroughly, burn gunpowder to purify the air, dump lime down their privies, and whitewash every room.
  15. emaciated
    very thin, especially from disease or hunger or cold
    Benjamin Rush emerged from the epidemic emaciated, feeble, and haunted.
Created on Tue Oct 31 12:51:48 EDT 2017 (updated Fri Aug 01 16:06:10 EDT 2025)

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