From NKAA, Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (main entry)
Brain Disease, Slavery & Freedom, Kentucky
(start date: 1860 - end date: 1880)During the transition period from enslavement to freedom, there was an attempt to include African Americans in the Kentucky death data that was collected by the U.S. Census Bureau. In the 1860, 1870, and 1880 Federal Census Mortality Schedules, there were more than 30 African Americans in Kentucky who were said to have died of brain disease. Many of them were children less than 10 years old. There is not an explanation of what type of brain disease each individual might have had.
Brain disease in the late 1800s could include symptoms related to mental illness, dementia, motion disorders, paralysis, memory loss, epilepsy, brain tumors, convulsions, intellectual disabilities, delusions and hallucinations, behavioral changes, etc. Brain disease was also used as a catchall term when the cause of death was not known.
Sources: Natural History of the Negro Race by J. H. Guenebault; The Physical Diagnosis of Brain Disease by Reuben A. Vance; The Journal of Mental Science; Federal Census Mortality Schedules in Ancestry.com; Kentucky Death Record Images at Family Search; The Encyclopedia of the Brain and Brain Disorders, 3rd edition, Carol Turkington and Joseph R. Harris; Kenneth Kiple and Virginia Kiple. "The African connection: slavery, disease and racism."
*Contact the following organizations for additional information about Kentucky vital statistics and records of deaths due to brain injuries and illnesess: Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky Public Libraries, Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics, Kentucky County Clerks' Offices.
AFRICAN AMERICANS IN KENTUCKY SAID TO HAVE DIED FROM BRAIN DISEASE, 1860-1880 (*enslaved)
*Aaron, 1 month old, died October of 1859 in Montgomery County
*Ben, 2 years old, ill 15 days, died November 1859 in Jessamine County
*Berry, Henry, 23 years old, ill 15 days, died May of 1860 in Harrison County
Brown, Henry, 54 years old, ill 2 months, died September of 1859 in Louisville (free)
Burress, Sallie, 21 years old, died February 1870 in Christian County
Cunningham, Fannie, 10 years old, died May of 1880 in Bourbon County
Dunn, Andrew, 16 years old, died June of 1879 in Mercer County
Dupee, T. R., 4 months old, died January 1880 in Anderson County
Edwards, Hilliot, 6 months old, died November 1879 in Hart County
*Edwards, Hiram, 15 years old, ill 5 weeks, died July of 1859 in Harrison County
*Elisa, 7 years old, ill 15 days, died January of 1860 in Taylor County
*Embry, Louisa, 28 years old, ill 2 years, died June of 1859 in Green County
Garnett, James, 1 year old, died April of 1869 in Trigg County
Grooms, Miner, 27 years old, died August 1879 in Louisville
*Harriet, 2 years old, ill suddenly, died June 1859 in Mason County
Herrington, Thomas, 55 years old, died May of 1880 in Bourbon County
Hollocks, Pleasant, 45 years old, died March 1880 in Lexington
*Horace, 7 years old, ill 2 hours, died September of 1859 in Louisville
Ladd, James, 1 year old, died May of 1870 in New Castle (Henry County)
Moore, Bessie, 5 months old, died July of 1879 in Mason County
Owston, Kate, 5 years old, died June of 1869 in Nelson County
Pheffis, Infant, 21 days old, died February of 1880 in Christian County
*Phebe, 68 years old, ill 2 days, died February of 1860 in Breckinridge County
Quisenberry, B., 60 years old, died June 1880 in Muhlenberg County
Roach, John, 8 months old, died April of 1869 in Trigg County
Scott, Edward, 1 year old, died May of 1879 in Market House (Woodford County)
*Sims, Jack, 10 years old, ill 12 days, died January of 1860 in Washington County
Taylor, Lewis, 20 years old, died December of 1869 in Westport (Oldham County)
*Victoria, 9 months old, ill 14 days, died February of 1860 in Trigg County
Wadlington, Nero, 68 years old, died April of 1870 in Trigg County
Washington, Henry, 5 months old, died June of 1869 in Millersburg (Bourbon County)
Williams, Adline, 10 years old, died March of 1870 in Christian County
Wilson, Clara, 65 years old, died February of 1870 in Carrsville (Livingston County)
*Not Named, 1 month old, ill 1 week, died April of 1860 in Woodford County