Elizabeth packs up her belongings in preparation for her move out
of Graeme Park, precipitated by the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793.
Country homes like Graeme Park where especially important during outbreaks of disease and fever in the city because they provided those with the means a more healthy environment. In fact, during especially severe outbreaks, such as that in 1793, armed guards were often stationed along the roads and would not let travelers through unless they could prove they had a place to go because the small towns and inns did not want sick travelers out wandering the roads and spreading the disease.
One of Elizabeth's oldest and dearest friends, Dr. Benjamin Rush, used drastic and controversial bleeding and purging techniques in an attempt to cure the fever. Rush began noticing the symptoms of the fever, which included nasuea, black vomit, fever, skin eruptions, incontinence, jaundice, and death, in early August of 1793. His methods included letting huge amounts of blood from the body in an attempt to rid it of the disease, as well as administering calomel (mercury) and jalap (poisonous root of a plant) as a purgative. His methods were criticized by many other physicians of the time, but after he "cured" himself of the fever with his methods, Philadelphians were lining up to take his cure.
Some of "Dr. Rush's" medicines.
