The "milk-sick" came to the Lincoln family

[Ed Steers]

(08-25-2014 02:01 PM)LincolnMan Wrote:  

(08-10-2012 09:00 AM)Ed Steers Wrote:  

(08-09-2012 02:52 PM)LincolnMan Wrote:  Truly a horrible time for the Lincoln family. I've often wondered why others in the family didn't get the sickness? If it was contracted from drinking the milk, then why Nancy-but not Thomas, Abraham, and Sarah? You say they didn't drink the milk? But even that seems odd. Why did Nancy drink the milk in the household but not the others? Do others ponder these things?

Dear Bill,

An interesting point. The causitive agent found in milk is a chemical compound known as "tremetol." It is a neurotoxin that almost certainly is fatal. Your are "spot on" with your question. Certainly Sarah and Abe would be drinking milk (far more than Nancy), and could not avoid the neurotoxin. I have come to the conclusion that Nancy Hank's symptoms as well as those of the Sparrows fit quite nicely with "Brucellosis" a disease caused by a bacterium common in cattle/cows and transmitted through the meat and milk. The disease occurrs over a period of two to three weeks and is accompanied by fever, malaise, and chronic headache. This is not the pattern of tremetol poisoning. David Donald in his excellent biography, "Lincoln" on page 26 writes that Nancy died from "brucellosis." When I questioned Donald he said he was wrong, and corrected the error in the Touchstone paperback edition of his book. I told him he should have stuck to his original statement. As a biochemist/molecular biologist I have made something of a study of this case, and consulted several top chemists and toxicologists at the NIH where I worked. They agree that tremetol is most surely not the cause of Nancy's death. Brucellosis is the more likely cause. This would explain why Thomas and the two children did not contract the disease. It does not strike everyone in a household. Most infectiousdiseases do not - thank goodness. Some have greater immunity/resistance than others, especially if introduced to the bacterium in small doses early on where antibodes can be built up over time. To the best of my knowledge, Bill is the first besides myself to raise the question of Nancy's death by "milk sickness." Ed Steers

Ed:
I just started listening to Carl Sandburg's Prairie Years on audiobook. I took note that the author mentioned that some of the cows died, as well. If that is true, does your thinking on the cause of death for Nancy Lincoln and others still hold true? Can the animals that are carriers also die of it?

Dear Bill,

First, let's be sure we know what the cows died from. The assumption they died from "milk sickness" is no more than a guess. Cows died from all sorts of disease - same as humans. Can a cow that carries an infectious disease like brucellosis contract the disease and die? Yes. Humans can carry infectious diseases and if the bacterium gets into the wrong place or the person contracts a second disease or becomes weakened they can succumb to the bacterium they are carrying. Once again, I do not believe a neurotoxin like tremetol can kill certain members of the family while bypassing others - especially children; and the children are the principal milk drinkers in the family. Brucellosis was/is relatively common among dairy herds in the 19th century -at least moreso than today. Ed