CAPG's Blog 

"We established, on one side of the grounds, a quarantine department. There we detained, for a number of days, every one with permit seeking admission to the camp....This precaution against introducing the plague into the camp, was very desirable, and it worked most admirably. The dangers of a panic, which might disperse the camp, were thus obviated. Every one felt the more secure, and the elements of harmony and peace were strengthened.

Of course, we did not entirely depend upon human precaution to protect us. The most of those admitted to our camp were Catholics; hence, one of the first building erected on the grounds was a little church. It was on wheels, and located at one end of our main, on Father Mathew Avenue, beneath the shades of a forest tree. It was dedicated in honor of the Sacred Heart of our Divine Lord, and we all looked upon it as the Ark of our safety. There, during the place, I celebrated Mass almost every morning, and recited the rosary and gave benediction of the most blessed sacrament every night, when, after the day's labor in the plague-stricken city, I returned to rest at the camp, and be consoled by the prayerful greetings of our poor, faithful people, who daily feared that I would be stricken down. These esteemed greetings afforded me many a relieving joy amidst the most gloomy days of the awful plague....

The plague raged every-where through the country districts around us. Its victims form even the very confines of the camp, were being daily carried to their graves. Out of our population of about 400, we had only ten deaths from fever. in each case the fever was contracted in the city. It did not spread in the camp. In fact we had not one certain case, of a fatal or unfavorable result, contracted in our camp: Providence must have assisted us.

William Walsh, Rector of St. Bridget's Church, Memphis, Tenn. December 5, 1878

Source: A History of the Yellow Fever, the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1878 in Memphis by John Mc Lead Keating