Background
Mary Mallon was born in Northern Ireland. Her father was John Mallon and her mother was Catherine Igo Mallon. Although it cannot be confirmed, it is believed that her family lived in poverty. The name Mallon is a traditional Irish name.
cook typhoid carrier historical figure
Mary Mallon was born in Northern Ireland. Her father was John Mallon and her mother was Catherine Igo Mallon. Although it cannot be confirmed, it is believed that her family lived in poverty. The name Mallon is a traditional Irish name.
Little is known about the years that Mary spent in her home country before she emigrated from the Northern Ireland to the United States in 1883. She probably decided to move because her family lived in poverty and there were little or no options for her to work. It is also believed that she might have had typhoid fever as an infant, although she later claimed that she never suffered from the disease.
Mary had an aunt and uncle in the United States and went to live with them when she was 15 years old. Considering that she was under-educated, she found occasional jobs of being a domestic servant. She discovered that she knew her way around the kitchen and started practicing her cooking skills, which will later also become her career.
After using the fact that she was well-built to get jobs as a domestic servant, Mary decided to become a cook. She landed her first job in Mamaroneck, New York, in 1900. Within few weeks, most of the residents developed typhoid fever, which was not uncommon in New York at the time. The outbreak of typhoid fever followed her on her next job, and the same thing happened to a total of seven families Mary worked for until 1906.
During the summer of 1906, she was hired by Charles Henry Warren, a reputable New York banker, to cook for him and his family in Oyster Bay, where they rented a house. This part of New York wasn’t known for typhoid fever outbreaks but nonetheless half of the family members were struck down by it. This alarmed Warren and he hired George Sober, a sanitary engineer, to investigate.
Although Sober first believed that the water was to blame for the outbreak, he found out that the family changed cooks a couple of weeks before it happened. He managed to track Mary down by following the news about an active outbreak in a house near the Park Avenue. He explained to her that she might be the factor causing the outbreaks but she refused to give him her stool and urine samples, angrily claiming that she never suffered from typhoid fever.
Sober continued his research and talked with the other families, determining that Mary was the one connecting them all. He tried to talk Mary into giving her samples again, he even brought another doctor but Mary refused. After Sober published his results in a medical journal in 1907, the New York City Health Department sent their own physician along with police officers, forcing Mary to provide her samples and admit that her hygiene wasn’t on a high level.
Her results were positive for the presence of bacteria Salmonella Typhi, leading her to become the first discovered asymptomatic carrier of the typhoid fever. She was quarantined on a small North Brother Island, where a clinic was located. Mary didn’t accept the fact that she needs to be isolated, so she found a way to get her samples tested at a private clinic. It is believed that William Randolph Hearst, a newspaper magnate, offered her money to conduct these tests and even bribed the private clinic to come back with negative results, all in the pursuit of an interesting story.
With the negative results, Mary sued the Health Department in 1909 but was rejected by the Supreme Court. However, the pressure of the public that she was being held in prison unfairly became stronger, and health commissioner Ernst Lederle released her in 1910. Mary agreed that she will not work again as a cook and that she will conduct proper measures in maintaining hygiene to avoid infecting others.
Mary did lead a life in accordance with these instructions and found herself a laundress job. However, she was making much less money and failed to find a regular job. Facing the prospect of a total poverty, desperate Mary decided to return to cooking. She took the name Mary Brown and started working in various kitchens, making sure to change her jobs often to escape the authorities.
While she was working at the Sloane Hospital for Women in 1915, a major outbreak started. Two people died and more than twenty were infected in a place which should keep cleanliness at a high level. The investigation led to the cook, and Mary was arrested soon, despite her efforts to escape again. Once again, she was put on North Brother Island but this time, her chances of releasing were extremely slim as even the public hated her.
Mary spent the remainder of her life isolated, finding her consolation in faith. She occasionally worked in the island’s laboratory, as a technician. In 1932 she suffered a stroke and was paralyzed for six years before she passed away in 1938.
During the time she spent in isolation, Mary found comfort in religion and church.
Being an under-educated woman who worked as a cook or a servant, Mary never had any political aspirations or affiliations.
For the sake of truth, it must be told that the people within the health system could have treated her much better as that could have led to a better outcome for everyone. Instead, they barely tried to explain Mary why she was being kept as a pet in the laboratory and attracted her anger. In there we can find the reasons why Mary rejected to have an operation that might have changed her life. She didn’t believe in the health system and instead thought she was being tormented. After all, her wishes weren’t that big, she only wanted to be a good cook.
By the time Mary died, more than 300 asymptomatic carriers were found across New York. However, she was the only one kept isolated. During the 23 years she spent at the clinic (the second time), she found comfort in religion and church, which accepted her and got her loyalty. After she died, an autopsy determined that she did have a live typhoid bacteria located in her gallbladder.
Mary was a plain, modest woman wtih moderate dreams - to become a good cook and earn just enough money. As the years gone by, she developed hatred towards the authorities, who she believed treated her unfairly.
Physical Characteristics: Mary is described as being well-built and tall.
Quotes from others about the person
"By the time I was sent to get her samples, she was convinced that the law was only persecuting her when she had done nothing wrong." - Sara Josephine Baker, physician
There is no known data about Mary’s love affairs. It is believed that she never married and never had children.