Morris Platte: Baseball Star, Soldier in War, Victim of Influenza

 

On the left of this photograph of the Shamrocks baseball team is Morris "Baldy" Platte, star pitcher for the 1914 Sandusky city champions. He accomplished much in his tragically short life.

Born in Sandusky in 1891, the son of Adolph and Mary, Morris Platte married Elsie Ramm when they were both teenagers. The couple had their first child in 1911, before he had turned twenty years old, and they had three more children in quick succession. (Sadly, their second child died at birth.) He supported his family in jobs that included delivering ice for the City Ice Company in town. But life wasn't all work; he had a passion for baseball, and played for teams including the Sandusky Tool Company team (below) and the Shamrocks, where he helped lead the team from the mound to the city championship.

But after the United States entered the Great War, Morris Platte chose to serve his country and joined the Army. He went to Camp Sherman in Chillicothe for training in July 1918, and quickly advanced up the ranks to Sergeant. Later, he was transferred to Fort Benjamin Harrison for continued training. It was there that he faced the enemy that would defeat him.

During the First World War, nearly as many servicemen died from influenza as from war wounds. Approximately 45,000 died from the flu; 53,400 died in combat. Sadly, Morris Platte was one of the 45,000; he died on base in Indianapolis on October 9, 1918, about one month before the end of the war.

Enrico and Olimpia Ambrusini, Victims of the 1918 Influenza Epidemic

Enrico and Olimpia Ambrusini both died from influenza in October of 1918, when the disease spread across the United States and many other parts of the world. Their young son Tulio had died in 1916, in a tragic drowning incident. In 1918, four Ambrusini children were left as orphans: Theresa, Erma, Eda and Louis.

In 1907 Olimpia Filipinni and Enrico Ambrusini, both natives of Italy, were married at Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Sandusky, on the very same day that Olimpia’s sister Filomena Filipinni married Lazzaro Uguccoini. Olimpia and Filomena were the daughters of Enrico Filippini and his wife Maria.

By the time of the 1910 United States Census, three related families were all living on Market Street. Enrico Flippini and his family were at 426 Market Street. Filomena Uguccioni and her husband Lazzaro Uguccioni, and their daughter Rosa lived at 430 Market Street. Enrico (here listed as Federico) and his wife Olimpia resided at 432 Market Street. (These house numbers changed in 1915, when the city of Sandusky re-numbered the city streets.)

Sadly, Enrico Ambrusini died at the emergency hospital on Adams Street on October 19, 1918. Olimpia Ambrusini died on October 20, 1918, leaving behind four young children.

An article on the front page of the Sandusky Register of October 21, 1918 told of the rapidly rising numbers of cases of influenza in Sandusky at that time:

Theresa Ambrusini was adopted by the Battisti family in Sandusky. She lived a long life and died in Louisville, Kentucky at the age of 91. Her married name was Theresa Moremen. Erma Ambrusini marred Zeno Adante. She lived most of her life in Michigan, but passed away in California in 1997, at the age of 87. Louis Ambrusini, later known as Louis Ambrosine, lived in the Dearborn, Michigan area. He repaired and sold juke boxes, and he retired in Florida. A reasonable search did not find information about Eda/Ida Ambrusini.

The 1918 influenza epidemic brought tragedy to many. The Ambrusini family hoped to find a better life in the United States. They were active in the local Catholic Church, and had close relationships with members of their large extended family. Enrico and Olimpia Ambrusini were buried at St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio.

Note: The spellings of both first and last names of members of the Filippini and Ambrusini families vary widely, depending on the record.

Sandusky and the Great Influenza of 1918

As we are living through a world-wide pandemic today, so were the people living in 1918. What is often called the Great Influenza struck the nation, and the world, briefly in the Spring of 1918, and returned with a vengeance in the early Fall. In all, between 50 million and 100 million people died worldwide as a result of the flu, with both the old and the young as its victims. In fact, except for children under five years old, the death rates were highest for people between age 25 and 50. 

The people of Sandusky, and all over the United States, faced multiple challenges at that time: first, a world war that began in 1914, with Americans joining in 1917, and then, as that war was waning, a new war against a killer virus. Sanduskians fought both wars.

Many of the nation's earliest victims were soldiers sent to training camps for the war. (It is believed by some experts that Ground Zero for the 1918 outbreak was in Kansas, probably spreading to a military base there.) The high concentration of soldiers on bases and in transport to battle zones allowed the virus to travel at great speed. And soldiers returning home often unknowingly brought the influenza with them.

Sandusky and Erie County faced a large outbreak, responding in many ways that our similar to our response today. Many events were cancelled and businesses were ordered to close; some that could stay open were under strict rules regarding personal contact. A temporary emergency hospital was opened in the newly constructed Elks Lodge on Adams Street.

The exact number of Erie County residents who died from the flu in 1918-19 is uncertain, but it was at least in the hundreds. The influenza hospital operated for about two months, serving 95 patients with 19 deaths (a mortality rate of 20%). By the Summer of 1919, about 32,000 Ohioans died from influenza, about 25,000 more than would have been expected. Nationally, about 675,000 Americans died from the Great Influenza. 

Of course, we hope the current pandemic will not compare to 1918, but we will need to be vigilant. To keep abreast with the Coronavirus in Ohio, follow https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/.