Mortality and the official death register

An official register of deaths listed more than 5,000 people as dying from among Philadelphia's 50,000 citizens between August 1 and November 9, 1793. The register was based on grave counts, so the total was probably higher. The vast majority died of yellow fever, making the epidemic one of the most severe in United States history. On August 18, a man on the third day of fever had no pulse, was cold, clammy, and yellow, yet could sit up in bed, illustrating the disease's course.