Infant & Childhood Mortality

It is not a very pleasant subject, but visitors frequently ask about the large number of young children who died on Ocracoke Island, especially during the nineteenth century. Any perusal of the more than 80 island cemeteries will yield evidence of many such deaths.

Sacred to the Memory of
Warren O. Wahab
Sept. 10, 1833 – Sept. 14, 1842
These ashes poor
This little dust,
Our Father’s care shall keep;
Till the last angel rise and break
The long and dreary sleep.

 This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is a brief account of a number of graves of Ocracoke children, speculations about cause of death, availability of medical care, and accompanying photos. You can read it here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news072113.htm.