Two-Time Typhoid Epidemic Source. Born in County Tyrone, Ireland, she emigrated to New York as a teenager. In the summer of 1906, she was employed as a cook by a wealthy NY Banker, Charles Henry Warren, in Oyster Bay, NY. Within 3 weeks, six of the 11 people living in the house came down with Typhoid, a fairly common disease then among the poor, but very unusual among the rich. George Soper, a sanitary engineer hired to find the source of the outbreak, was the first person to determine that typhoid could be carried by a healthy appearing person who had survived the disease earlier. Tracing her work history, Soper determined that she had worked for 8 families in the past 10 years, and seven of the families had had typhoid outbreaks, with one death. The NYC Health Dept isolated her in 1907 to the grounds of Riverside Hospital, on condition that she never cooked again. The press dubbed her "Typhoid Mary," a name she hated and she insisted that she was healthy. In 1910, she disappeared and was later found in 1915 under an assumed name, working as a cook for the Sloane Maternity Hospital in Manhattan. During her 3 months there, she spread typhoid to 25 doctors, nurses and staff, and 2 died. She was sent to North Brother Island, where she spent the rest of her life, living in isolation. In 1938, when she died, a newspaper noted that there were 237 others living under city health department observation for typhoid.

Two-Time Typhoid Epidemic Source. Born in County Tyrone, Ireland, she emigrated to New York as a teenager. In the summer of 1906, she was employed as a cook by a wealthy NY Banker, Charles Henry Warren, in Oyster Bay, NY. Within 3 weeks, six of the 11 people living in the house came down with Typhoid, a fairly common disease then among the poor, but very unusual among the rich. George Soper, a sanitary engineer hired to find the source of the outbreak, was the first person to determine that typhoid could be carried by a healthy appearing person who had survived the disease earlier. Tracing her work history, Soper determined that she had worked for 8 families in the past 10 years, and seven of the families had had typhoid outbreaks, with one death. The NYC Health Dept isolated her in 1907 to the grounds of Riverside Hospital, on condition that she never cooked again. The press dubbed her "Typhoid Mary," a name she hated and she insisted that she was healthy. In 1910, she disappeared and was later found in 1915 under an assumed name, working as a cook for the Sloane Maternity Hospital in Manhattan. During her 3 months there, she spread typhoid to 25 doctors, nurses and staff, and 2 died. She was sent to North Brother Island, where she spent the rest of her life, living in isolation. In 1938, when she died, a newspaper noted that there were 237 others living under city health department observation for typhoid.

Bio by: Kit and Morgan Benson