Patrolman John Henry Blackwell

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Died on December 6, 1918, aged 43.

His life

Patrolman John Blackwell died as a result of complications from influenza while performing his assigned duties during the Influenza Pandemic.

Patrolman Blackwell was on duty when he became ill and was taken to his home at 135 East Fifth Street, where he died due to complications of influenza a week later.

The Newport City Police Department had been tasked with enforcing local health laws to help prevent the spread of influenza, as well as performing their regular police duties.

Patrolman Blackwell was survived by his wife.

Survived by

Patrolman Blackwell was survived by his wife.

The 1918 Influenza Pandemic

January 1, 1918

The influenza of 1918 came in waves, the worst of them in the autumn of that year, and it killed the young and strong as readily as the old. Before it was over it had killed more people than the First World War.

Police officers worked it without vaccines, without antibiotics and often without masks: enforcing quarantines, carrying the sick, standing posts in cities where the dead outpaced the undertakers. They caught it doing the job, and there was no treatment to give them.

They are the first named here.

Everyone taken by The 1918 Influenza Pandemic →

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Everyone taken by The 1918 Influenza Pandemic →