My grandmother:   Jay’s daddy had TB, and he just gave it to them.  To my aunt and Jay.  But he lived years and years and years after both of them died.

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Tuberculosis, once also called phthisis, is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria. Tuberculosis typically attacks the lungs, but can also affect other parts of the body. It is spread through the air when people with an active TB infection cough, sneeze, or otherwise transmit respiratory fluids through the air. The classic symptoms of active infection are a chronic cough with blood-tinged sputum, fever, night sweats, and weight loss (the latter giving rise to the old term “consumption.“)  Tuberculosis has been present in humans since antiquity.  Tuberculosis caused the most widespread public concern in the 19th and early 20th centuries as an endemic disease of the urban poor and was the leading cause of death in many cities in the early 1900s. By mid-century, the development of the antibiotic streptomycin made effective treatment and cure of TB a reality.

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In memory of members of my extended family who succumbed to this disease:

Annie Locust Artis, age 28. Wayne County NC, 19 April 1915.

Minnie Clyde Sauls, age 25. Snow Hill NC, 12 May 1915.

Frances Artis Newsome, age 21. Wayne County NC, 9 May 1916.

Appie Artis, age 37. Wilson County NC, 28 May 1916.

Cain Artis, age 66. Wilson County NC, 23 March 1917.

Nettie Barnes, age 22. Wilson NC, 9 May 1917.

Toltie Forbes, age 21. Greene County NC, 18 June 1917.

Jesse Swinson Jr., age 28. Goldsboro NC, 1 July 1917.

William Barnes, age 28. Wilson NC, 6 August 1917.

Harriet Artis Brown, age 44. Wayne County NC, 6 November 1918.

Pelia N. Artis, age 11. Wayne County NC, 24 July 1919.

Charlie Barnes, age ____. Asheville NC, 28 July 1919.

Walter Clinton Artis, age 23. Wayne County NC, 15 November 1921.

Jarod C. Miller, age 21. Rowan County NC, 4 December 1921.

Elethea McNeely Weaver, age 33. Statesville NC, 10 October 1922.

Johnnie Swinson, age 32. Goldsboro NC, 25 December 1922.

Estell Artis, age 15. Wayne County NC, 20 February 1924.

John Henderson, age 63. Goldsboro NC, 8 August 1924.

Warland Barnes, age 19. Wilson NC, 4 Dec 1926.

William Coley, age 61. Near Wilson NC, 26 January 1928.

Jerrell R. Barnes, age 19. Wilson NC, 14 May 1928.

Napoleon Artis, age 21. Wayne County NC, 9 September 1928.

Sadie Holt Farrar, age 35. Greensboro NC, 13 October 1929.

T. Alonzo Hart, age 63. Quewhiffle NC, 17 December 1929.

Alberta Artis, age 23. Near Eureka NC, 9 June 1931.

Blonnie Barnes Zachary, age 24. Wilson NC, 10 January 1932.

James A. Aldridge, age 42. Near Wilson NC, 3 July 1932.

Ora Artis, age 62. Wayne County NC, 8 August 1933.

Irving McNeely Weaver, age 22.  Bayonne NJ, November 1933.

Malinda Applewhite Artis, age 40. Wilson County NC, 5 March 1936.

Joe Artis, age 62. Wayne County NC, 29 November 1939.

Viola Barnes, age 48. Wilson NC, 3 July 1943.

Liberty P. Artis, age 11. Stantonsburg NC, 10 July 1945.

Alphonso Artis, age 38. Goldsboro NC, 2 May 1946.

Paul Aldridge, age 34. Dudley NC, 8 June 1947.

Annie Marie Artis Sampson, age 27. Fremont NC, 12 June 1949.

Minnie Belle Artis, age 20. Stantonsburg NC, 4 April 1950.