Sylvia Edwards

A few days ago I received an email (via Ancestry.com) from a man I didn't know asking for information on Sylvia Edwards who at the time of her death in 1933 lived on Rialto Ave in Venice, Calif.  I recognized the address as the home where Auntie Louie and Uncle Ted lived.  Auntie Louie was my grandma Ritchie's sister (Louisa Jane MacGlashan and Uncle Ted was Edward Edwards) and they lived just through the block from grandma and grandpa. 

This man wanted specifically to know how Sylvia died and why at such a young age (she was 12) so I looked at my family history info and found that she died of erysepelas.  Obviously I didn't know what erysepelas was but thanks to google I found out.  "Erysipelas is a superficial infection of the skin, which typically involves the lymphatic system. Erysipelas is also known as St. Anthony's Fire, an accurate description of the intensity of this rash. Erysipelas was a feared disease in pre-antibiotic days, especially in infants."  So I called my mom to ask her if she knew anything about Sylvia's death.  I figured she would because mom and Sylvia were only 2 years apart in age and they lived very close to each other and grandma and auntie Louie were very close (they died within just a few days of each other).  Mom said that Sylvia had a new bathing suit and went swimming at Mud Lake in Venice and the suit chaffed her and she got the infection from bacteria in the lake.  I also found out that the home they lived in was built by grandpa Ritchie. 

The disease is easily treated by antibiotics now but penicillin had not yet been developed.  Had Sylvia lived now treatment would have been a simple matter.

Mud Lake was in a swampy area in what is now Marina Del Rey.  As a teenager Dick Faulkner used to take us (by us, I mean the kids in my age group) water skiing there.  The lake and swamp were drained in the 1960's to create the Marina.