Caroline Hoebing (1874-1882)
Generation 9

The daughter of Maria Angela Nieland and John H. Hoebing (Maria Angela Nieland, John Henry, John Henry, Joannes Daniel, Joannes Bernardus, Johann Daniel Nieland, Berndt Nilandt, Earliest Nieland))

Caroline was born on 18 March 1874 in Sac County, Iowa. Caroline and three siblings were stricken in the diphtheria epidemic. Diphtheria at the time was a respiratory illness that produced an infiltrate of the mucous membranes of the upper throat (pharynx) and the formation of a grayish pseudomenbrane. This membrane could become an obstruction to breathing. The illness is caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae. Today patients are treated with antibiotics such as penicillin or erythromycin. The respiratory form of the illness is now rare in the United States because of immunization programs and antibiotic treatment to eliminate the carrier state during outbreaks.

Caroline died on 29 July 1882 at Sac Count, Iowa, at age 8. She is buried at St. Bernard Catholic Cemetery in Breda, Carroll County, Iowa.

Excerpt from Stammbaum Der Familie Nieland — The Nieland Family Tree, 1740-1965 by David Nieland

"One of the greatest family tragedies occurred in July of 1882. A diphtheria epidemic took Angela and John's four oldest children in just a week, July 25, 27, 29 and 31. Angela's brother Henry Nieland (1852-1949) later told of the epidemic. He lived across the road and went at once to help the best he could. Because of the danger of spreading the disease to his own family, he washed and changed clothes in the Hoebing barn. He helped with the sick and helped dig the graves for his niece and nephews."

Updated 20 September 2005
Rev 5a

Rev 2 updated July 5, 2004