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What my grandfather and his family did in 1918 to escape the pandemic that was killing hundreds in Florence, Alabama.
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[quote:Anonymous Coward 71883211:MV80NjQ0NjkyXzg0NjAzNDUzXzUzMjc0NEE=] After my grandfather and the family moved to Port Arthur, TX in the early 1920s, he was a construction foreman that helped construct the first refineries in Port Arthur, TX to refine the oil coming from the Spindletop oil fields. He died when he fell from a tall wooden scaffold erected to weld the refining tower, when the scaffolding collapsed. Leaving his wife with five kids to raise alone. No insurance of any kind or "Social Security" back then. The company that he was working for just paid for his funeral. All of the kids then went to work as teenagers to support the family. [/quote]
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In 1918 the "Spanish" Flu was ravaging Alabama very badly. They were worried about the children dying from the pandemic. So, he decided to take his whole family including his wife and four kids from Florence, Alabama to Wichita Falls, Texas in a covered wagon pulled by a pair mules.
My mother, before she died still remembered riding in the wagon, since she was the smallest child, while the older kids walked.
My grandfather was a machinist by trade and later moved on to Port Arthur, TX during the oil boom of the 1920s.
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