The Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793

Between August and November 1793, yellow fever killed approximately 5,000 Philadelphians, about 10% of the city's population, in one of the deadliest public health crises in American history. Burial records for Arch Street listed the “American Plague,” another name for yellow fever, as a cause of death, identified whether the deceased was a Quaker or belonged to another faith, and show that the burial grounds were opened to everyone during the epidemic, with people of diverse races, religions, and nationalities buried there. Elizabeth Drinker, a noted Quaker born in 1735, recorded conditions at Arch Street's burial grounds in her diary, writing on September 12th, 1793, that “two or three bodys were thrown into friends [Arch Street] burying ground over the wall,” and on September 27th that she saw “10 graves open'd,” with 13 more opened the next day. Drinker survived the epidemic, died in 1807, and was buried there.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · United States