The year was 1918 and the Rileys, Marguette (1876-1962) and Patrick L. (1875-1955) and their seven kids were renting part of a three decker at #146 Pond Street in Pawtucket. It would be several years before they moved to the more familiar #19 Pond Street address.

The house at #146, which sits at the corner of Pond and Arch, is two blocks from present day McCoy Stadium. Back then, McCoy Stadium didn’t exist. It was just a swampy pond next to a grassy area. Some area residents grazed a cow or two on that grass. In fact, every morning, our Irish immigrant ancestor, Patrick Riley (1835-1906) led his cow from the backyard of his house at #181 South Bend Street over to that green patch. But, that’s another whole story which will be told in some other post.

Here is a present day photo of the house on 146 Pond Street :

Here’s how the story goes.

Summer was just about over, but there had not yet been a hint of the coming autumn chill. But for some, that autumn was never to arrive. The “Spanish flu” had taken hold and lots of people were falling ill, very ill.

My father, Patrick J. Riley (1900-1985) said he hadn’t felt well all day at work. At the time, he was an inventory clerk at US Finishing (see May 19th entry for photo). My father said when he got home from work that day, he went right up to his bed on the third floor. For the next five days, he battled the Spanish flu. It wasn’t until five or six days later that my father regained consciousness, when he heard people talking in the street right below his window. Mustering all his strength, he got up to see about the commotion. My father stuck his head out the window (before screens) and feebly waved to the guys down below. At the time, he didn’t realize why his friends were all grouped together. They were just about to knock on the door and pay their respects to his mother, because the word had gone out that “PJ” had died from the “Spanish Flu,” When the guys realized it was “PJ” who was waving from the window on the 3rd floor, they became excited and began to sing “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow“.

My father told me that he didn’t realize all that happened until another three or four days had passed, when he began to recover form his near death experience.

When he went back to work at US Finishing, he didn’t get paid for a month. No sick leave back then, and they docked his next pay period to cover the cost of the person who replaced him while he was laid up.

I did a bit of research and read that between 2,000 – 2,500 Rhode Islanders died from that pandemic. Massachusetts was really hit hard with up to 45,000 deaths, many of those located in communities in and around the Fort Devens area.

Below is a link to the CDC timeline for 1918-1929 flu pandemic:

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-commemoration/pandemic-timeline-1918.htm

Influenza, by Dr. Jerry Brown is an interesting read concerning the history and spread of that “Spanish Flu.” I read it about two years ago and thought it was a good read even then.