The Death of a Young Mother

Ida (Adermann) Durheim

Ida Adermann (b. July 7, 1888) married Fred William Durheim on June 30, 1912 when she was just a week shy of her 24th birthday. Three years later they were pregnant with their son, Harry, and on February 20, 1916 Harry was born. That fall, in September of 1916, Ida was stricken with a bacterial disease known as Erysipelas. It is caused by a more dangerous form of the bacteria Streptococcus and this was before the use of antibiotics for infectious diseases. Especially at that point in time, it was most common for the red rash to attack primarily the face and neck. This is what happened for Ida.

The young couple had moved to Decatur in Macon County, Illinois. According to the death certificate, she first went to the doctor for her rash on September 11, just a few weeks before her death. The doctor continued treating her through September 25 and it was thought she was improving from the infection. Then, four days later, on September 29, she passed away from “exhaustion and heart failure following severe attack of erysipelas of face and head.” She would have suffered greatly from the disease and left behind her husband and seven-month old son, Harry. After her death, Ferdinand and Mary took in their grandson, Harry, and raised him.