In case you ever wondered why a large number of your ancestors disappeared during a certain period in history, this might help. Epidemics have always had a great influence on people. Many cases of people disappearing from records can be traced to dying during an epidemic or moving away from the affected area. Some of the major epidemics in the US are listed below.
(The original compiler of this list is not known)
1657—Boston—Measles
1687—Boston—Measles
1690—New York—Yellow Fever
1713—Boston—Measles
1729—Boston—Measles
1732-23—worldwide—Influenza
1738—South Carolina—Smallpox
1739-40—Boston—Measles
1747—Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina
1759—North America—Measles (where whites lived)
1761—North America,West Indies—Influenza
1772—North America—Measles
1775—North America (esp. New England)—Epidemic-(unknown)
1775-56—worldwide—Influenza-(one of the worst flu epidemics)
1820-23—Nationwide(started on Schuylkill River, Pennsylvania & spread)—"fever"
1831-32—Nationwide—Asiatic Cholera-(brought by English immigrants)
1832—New York & other major cities—Cholera
1837—Philadelphia—Typhus
1841—Nationwide—Yellow fever-(esp. severe in South)
1847—New Orleans—Yellow fever
1847-48—Worldwide—Influenza
1848-49—North America—Cholera
1850—Nationwide—Yellow fever
1850-51—North America—Influenza
1852—Nationwide—Yellow fever (New Orleans-8,000 died in summer)
1855—Nationwide—Yellow fever
1857-59—Worldwide—Influenza (one of greatest epidemics)
1860-61—Pennsylvania—Smallpox
1865-73—Philadelphia, New Orleans, NY, Boston,Washington, DC,Baltimore, & Memphis—Series of recurring epidemics: smallpox, cholera, typhus, typhoid, scarlet and yellow fevers
1873-35—North America & Europe—Influenza
1878—New Orleans—Yellow fever-(last great epidemic of that disease)
1885—Plymouth, Pennsylvania—Typhoid
1886—Jacksonville, Florida—Yellow fever
1918 Worldwide Influenza (high-point year) More people were hospitalized in World War I from influenza than from wounds. US Army training camps became death camps, with 80% death rate in some camps.
Finally, these specific cases of cholera were mentioned:
1833 Columbus, OH
1834 New York City
1849 New York
1851 Coles Co. IL
1851 The Great Plains
1851 Missouri