Temporary Hospitals
Like all hospitals of that time, the Pennsylvania Hospital did not admit patients with infectious diseases. The city's Guardians of the Poor moved victims into Ricketts' Circus, an open-air arena on 12th Street, then far from the infected areas of the city. Seven yellow fever victims were placed there, two died. People in the neighborhood complained.
The Guardians took over Bush Hill, a 150-acre estate farther outside the city, whose owner William Hamilton was in England for an extended stay. Vice President John Adams had recently rented the main house, so yellow fever patients were placed in the outbuildings. Nurses were hired to treat patients, under orders by young physicians from the city, who were to visit on a daily basis.
The end of August was not traditionally a busy time in the city. Many families who could afford to or who had relatives in the countryside lived elsewhere during that hot month. Beginning in September, shipments generally increased with the arrival of fall goods from Britain. In 1793, the Federal Congress was not scheduled to resume session until November, but the Pennsylvania Assembly met in the first week of September. Founded by the Quaker William Penn, the city was the center of Quaker life in the United States. The Yearly Meeting of the Society of Friends was scheduled to be held in the third week of September.
Read more about this topic: Yellow Fever Epidemic Of 1793, Epidemic Declared
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