A Pandemic is a plague, pestilence, scourge, outbreak, or epidemic that becomes a global disease usually affecting millions of people, with one million deaths or greater, and a major impact on the economic and political well-being of the many countries and their peoples.
Pandemics interrupt and sometimes change dramatically the genealogy of the families to which you are trying to attach yourself. And few genealogy how-to-do-it books provide instruction/guidance on how to deal with these rather common occurrences. Until DNA studies and records became the genealogy “in” thing and raised questions of descent and proof.
So we have family histories that begin with the first-named person to arrive in this country (or even before). And follow down the pedigree lines to the present day—usually without a break. Filling in the various generations with a continuous line of descent. And with a convenient section at the end for all of those of the name who do not seem to fit the lines of descent.
Sometime ago, I was hired to trace the family descent from New Jersey back to Old Virginia the lineage of three cousins, who had been raised together as cousins often were. In the process of the research I discovered a second lineage that came through Pennsylvania and Delaware into Virginia. When I went to deliver my report, one cousin stated, “We don’t care. We no longer need to know, because we are not related.” When I asked how he knew that. He replied, “We had our DNA study done. We are not related!” They took my written report, but declined to hear my interpretation of their genealogy—they simply went home to their despair.
Actually, there is still much to learn about pandemics and about DNA. The last word is not in on either! Here is a bibliography to launch your study:
Barry, John M. The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History. This book was updated with a new Afterword on the 100th Anniversary of 1918. New York: Penguin Random House, 2018. Previously issued in over five editions. The Flu of 1918 was also called the Spanish Flu. Updated in 2018 from experience with the H1N1 response, to include instructions on how to live through a pandemic—wash your hands, cough into your elbow, isolate and quarantine people newly infected. More controversial: shut-down society, closing bars and restaurants, and closing schools. Barry considers the negative effects of closing society and schools down.
Black, Kathryn. In the Shadow of Polio: A Personal and Social History. New York: Addison-Wesley. 1996. This is an account of the impact of Polio on a young girl and her adult reflections on this dreaded virus.
Park, Alice. “The Forgotten Plague: Tuberculosis the Ancient Killer and Emerging, Deadly Strains,” Time Magazine (13 October 2018):54-61. A photo-essay, with selected captions.
“Outbreak: 10 of the Worst Pandemics in History.” https://www.mphonline.org/worst-pandemics-in-history/ Staff of MPHOnline provides authoritative articles for Masters of Public Health.
Southard, Diahan. Your DNA Guide—the Book. Step-by-step Plans to Connect You with your Family Using DNA. http://www.yourDNAguide.com (2020). This book helps you reconstruct your family tree and enables adoptees to identify biological relatives.