Abbie Palmer and Jasper Woodward
from the series Tales from Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery…
By SUE HUNTER WEIR
Abbie Palmer and Jasper Woodward lost their two-year-old daughter Martha on May 28, 1878. She died from measles. Her parents were not the only ones to mourn a child lost to that disease: there are 121 others buried in the Cemetery. Six of them were over ten years old; the other 115 were younger, and the vast majority of those were younger than two years old.
Mortality Rates Change While Grief is Constant
The infant and child mortality rates in the United States in the 19th century were at, or close to, 40% which, in the 20th century, led some people to believe that bereaved parents did not suffer as much, or in the same way, as parents who have lost a child do today. But Martha’s aunt (Abbie’s sister) paints a different picture in a heartbreaking entry in her diary in which she described the family’s preparations for burying Martha next to her sister Nellie. Nellie had died two years earlier, at the age of nine, from scarlet fever:
“For the past few days I have been with Abbie and in this short time she has had a little daughter given her and taken away by the one who knowest what is best for all and placed in the vault til spring shall come, then it will be buried by the side of dear little Nellie where Abbie goes as often as she can and carries her choicest flowers to place on her little grave. It was my lot to prepare the little one for its coffin bed, and it seemed too pretty to be laid away in the cold grave as it lay there dressed in one of the beautiful dresses its mother had taken so much pride in making, and sweet flowers scattered around its little form. But, as pretty and dear as the baby was, the coffin lid was placed over it and little Annie was carried away, and its mother felt as if little Nellie would no longer be alone in the Cemetery”.
It wasn’t until 1968, the year that measles vaccines became widely available, that parents could do more than stand by watching their children suffer and hope for the best. The vaccine is 97% effective but 95% of children need to be vaccinated to prevent the disease from spreading.
Measles Eradicated by 2000
In 2000, the Center for Disease Control claimed that measles had been eradicated in the United States—there had not been an outbreak in over 12 months. More recently, the World Health Organization reported that between 2002 and 2023, more than 60 million lives had been saved worldwide. Imagine that. Sixty million lives saved. Most of them are children.
PHOTO: Courtesy the family.
Measles Returns 2 1/2 Decades Later
Sadly, measles is making a comeback. In 2025, the highest number of cases of measles in recent U.S. history was reported. In 2026, the number is likely to be much higher. By mid-February there had been 733 reported cases. The vast majority have occurred in children who have not been vaccinated. Two cases have been reported in an ICE detention center in Texas where conditions—crowded conditions, lack of sanitation and health care—make it ripe for a larger outbreak.
Martha’s parents and the parents of the other children who died did not have the option of vaccinating their children. We do.
Devoted Mother
Martha is buried next to her sister, Nellie, and her mother, Abbie Palmer Woodward. Despite the loss of her two daughters, Abbie was described in her obituary as a woman of “sunny disposition and helpful character.” She was “a devoted mother whose efforts on behalf of her three [surviving] sons were constant.” Abbie Palmer Woodward died on June 30, 1898. Abbie, Nellie and Martha are buried in Lot 90, Block K.
