On Oct. 3, 1918, Belleville's Board of Health director assured residents that the city's one case of influenza was nothing to worry about.
"Belleville has had the same kind of grippe before and has never been alarmed," Dr. B.E. Portuondo said.
Before the month was out, schools, theaters and churches were closed and St. Peter's Cathedral was operating as an emergency hospital.
By the end of the year, at least 2,159 of Belleville's roughly 24,000 residents had fallen ill with the Spanish Flu -- at least 147 had died. The Health Board at the time suspected that many cases of illness and death from the disease went unreported.
That fall, as war in Europe was drawing to a close, Belleville began receiving word that the boys it had sent to fight were dying of the flu in stateside Army camps.
Less than a week after Dr. Portuondo's announcement, Belleville physicians gathered to discuss six cases of Spanish Flu that had popped up in the city and how best to stop the spread of the disease.
On Oct. 9, the city's Health Board ordered schools and theaters closed, civic meetings and Sunday schools discontinued and ordered churches to hold only brief services.
Belleville residents began opening their evening newspapers to a daily tally of new flu cases and the death notices of its victims.
Baker Stove Works manufacturer Albert Baker fell ill and died Oct. 16, despite the care of two physicians and a pulmotor from Jackson Street Fire Department to help him breathe.
Mrs. Henry Straubinger traveled to Camp Custer, Mich., to visit her brother Irwin Spitznass, who had come down with the flu. He died a half hour after she arrived. She fell ill on her way home and died Oct. 17, a few days after her return.
St. Clair County deputy sheriff William Coulter died Oct. 26 at his Belleville home, less than a week after getting sick.
Advertisements began alluding to the threat: "To avoid Influenza, Buy Your Warm Clothing and Footwear at Stein's Bargain Store." Or, "Safeguard Your Home From Dust Germs" with Keystone Combination Vacuum Sweeper: "No Dust -- No Influenza."
Each time a dip in new cases occurred, physicians predicted that the disease had crested, but the numbers kept mounting. On Nov. 2., newspapers reported 17 new cases and five deaths; on Nov. 4, 33 new cases and seven deaths; on Nov. 5, 73 new cases and eight deaths.
Residents were told to cover their noses and mouths in public or when tending a sick family member, change wet socks or clothing promptly, open windows to ventilate their homes and refrain from burning leaves at night "as it is said it has a tendency to increase cases."
Churches discontinued even brief services. Saloons were ordered to remove chairs and tables to keep people from congregating and stores were ordered to suspend sales so as not to attract crowds.
The disease peaked in Belleville in mid-December with 115 new cases reported on Dec. 11, then began ebbing. On Dec. 28, when no new cases had been reported in the previous three days, the worst was over and life began returning to normal.
The Spanish Flu pandemic killed an estimated 25 to 40 million people worldwide.
