Jacob+Fletcher

Childhood: Jacob Fletcher grew up outside of Nashville as a member of the upper class. His parents were Alexander Fletcher and Deborah Cadmire. His father's family had lived in the United States for quite some time. Jacob's grandfather had been a large plantation owner in the south. He accumulated his wealth by growing and exporting cotton during the early 1800s. Education was very important in his family, and Alexander went to the north to earn an education at [|Yale University], which was rare at the time. After graduating in 1844, he returned to the plantation. Being an only child, Alexander inherited the plantation and all his family's wealth when his father and mother passed away. Alexander remained on the plantation and continued to export and grow cotton. He sold the plantation and freed his slaves after the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. He had acquired lots of wealth, but moved to Augusta, GA and started a mill. It was here in Augusta that he met his wife. His wife Deborah had come from a wealthy family as well and grew up in Georgia. Her father was a banker and had recieved a large inheritance when his family died, and because of this, Deborah grew up in the elite class. Deborah and Alexander did not want to raise a family in Augusta, and moved to Nashville in 1870 to settle down and start a family. Jacob, one of three children, was born in 1875. He had an older brother, William, and a younger sister, Catherine. They lived a priveleged life and were protected from many of the issues the commonfolk faced. Education was very important in their family, and each of the children recieved the best education possible.

Growing Up in Nashville: Jacob grew up in a large house in Hillsboro. As a young boy Jacob Jacob was homeschooled by tutors until the year 1888, when he attended the Winthrop Model School. The school was located on 2006 West End Ave., Nashville. Jacob had to walk about three miles each way to school for the first year. Luckily another boy in his neighborhood, John, went to Winthrop Model School as well, and they made their journey together each morning and afternoon. Occasionally, the two would ride in a streetcar. In 1889, the electric streetcar emerged in Nashville and the boys would walk part way and then ride the other part.

When Jacob was five years old, he went to the opening of the Nashville Centennial Exposition. The four-story building contained artifacts from historic Nashville figures. The exposition lasted from April 23, 1880 and May 30, 1880, and it marked the 100th anniversary of the city's founding. During the exposition, Jacob watched parades, listened to music, looked at art, and saw theatrical performances. It was at the exposition that Jacob saw fireworks for the first time. One day after the festivities had ended and Jacob had returned home with his family, his father told him about the founding of Nashville. Jacob was too young to understand most of the story, but he was proud to live in a city that had been around for so long.

Jacob's parents felt it was important for Jacob to be immersed in the popular American pasttimes. As a result, Jacob attended both the first professional baseball game and the firs college football game. The baseball game took place in Athletic Park on March 30, 1885. The game was between the the Nashville Americans and Indianapolis. Unfortunately, the Indianapolis won 8-4. The college football game was played on Thanksgiving Day, March 27, 1890. Peabody had challenged Vanderbilt to a game of football two weeks before the game was meant to take place. There had been a team at Vanderbilt which occassionally practiced in 1886, but it had dissolved. Nonetheless, Vanderbilt accepted the challenge and Elliot H. Jones assembled and coached a team for the game. The game was also played at Athletic Park and Vanderbilt won 40-0.

College: Before going off to college, Jacob's parents decided to send him to the Chicago World's Fair to experience both life outside of Nashville and living on his own. He was one of the 27 million visitors to the fair between the months of May and October. Jacob was amazed by the fair. He stayed for two weeks of July and covered as much of the 633 acres of fair grounds as possible. Like most people, he arrived at the fair by train.His favorite parts were the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building, the Midway, and the Electricity Building. And of course, he rode Ferris' Wheel. Although he thoroughly enjoyed the exhibits and beautiful architecture, Jacob was appalled at the poor sanitation and pollution of the city. One of the most disgusting things he found was the [|water pollution]. He was especially alarmed after reading an advertisement that said "Chicago water isn't fit to drink," and then promoted "pure, health-giving Waukesha water." At the fair, booths sold bottled water from Waukesha in attempt to offer cleaner water and reduce the risk of disease. After leaving the fair, Jacob travelled to the land around Chicago. He inspected the rivers and lakes which supplied water for Chicago and found that they were often contaminated with sewage, animal carcasses, tanneries, glue factories, and other pollution. Back in Chicago, the air was filled with smoke, odors, and chemicals. The industrial buildings gave off smoke and some gave off chemicals. Other industries such as the slaughterhouses gave of odors. He did not understand how people could live that way. After his visit to the Chicago World's Fair ended, he moved to New Haven, Connecticut. He followed in his father's footsteps and attended Yale University in the fall of 1893. He was most interested in studying medicine and science.

Studies: After he graduated from Yale in 1897, he traveled to some of the most industrial cities including Chicago, St. Louis, and New York, along with many more. He was primarily concerned with the slums and poorest areas of these cities. Jacob studied both water pollution and air pollution that was created by the industrial revolution and the effects of both on human health. Jacob also found out that industrial factories were contributing to the pollution in the city. [|Smoke polluted] many of these cities. Other things such as railroads and tugboats also emitted smoke. Physical problems of the smoke were lung diseases and vision problems. Not to mention, the smoke added a dirty coat of black to everything in the city. After learning so much from the Chicago World's Fair, Jacob hoped he would learn just as much at the St. Louis World's Fair. Here he found that similar to Chicago, the fair officials were worried about the water pollution. At the time, the water supply for St. Louis was the Mississippi River. A filtering system was installed to help purify the water, but waterborn illnesses were still a problem. Clean water was imported from De Soto, Missouri for the fair. This proved to Jacob that the water of the Mississippi must have been heavily polluted, and the people of St. Louis did not have drinkable water before the fair, and would not have drinkable water after the fair.

Doctor: Although Jacob was interested in studying these things, he found it difficult to earn a living. He decided to become a doctor and treat people who were affected by these things, so he was still making a contribution. By 1908, medicine was far more scientific and not based on religion. New scientific discoveries from scientists such as Robert Koch and Louis Pasteur allowed doctors to learn more about the causes and treatment of the diseases. Because of recent studies which showed that each year many people died because of improper treatment, Jacob was required to earn a medical degree before he could begin practicing.





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[] [] (water pollution article)

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