Lawrence County, Mississippi

Lawrence County Obituaries & Biographies

Eli Leonard Griffith Sr. died in the great flu epidemic of 1918 which killed thousands across the country and many more thousands around the world. It was a type of bird flu and killed mostly young adults.

He died on the day before his birthday and was buried in the cemetery at Antioch Baptist Church near Monticello, MS. on his birthday. He was 33 years old and left his wife Alice and six young children.

It is said that US troops going to Europe got the virus and it mutated while they were there for World War I. When they returned home, they brought this deadly strain of flu back to the US. As they dispersed to different parts of the country, they carried it with them, causing a nationwide flu epidemic.

The epidemic was nearly over when Eli caught it and died. It was perhaps the worst epidemic ever to hit the US.