Shep's Place Family Tree

After Port Augusta, the Shepherds moved to Blinman, where they lived in a pine and pug cottage with a stone chimney. To us it would hardly seem large enough to accommodate a family of eight with six children under the age of ten. Life went on with play, school, Sunday school and visits with relatives and friends who lived nearby.

This then was the Shepherd family in October 1889 when Carey became ill.

She had diptheria, which she probably caught from the coughs or sneezes of someone. She would have had a sore throat and fever. The lymph nodes on the side of her neck would have been swollen. That is bad enough; however, the really serious problem is that a membrane can obstruct the entrance to the airway, so the patient can't breathe. In other cases toxins poison the heart or kidneys.

Carey's condition was obviously life threatening because her parents took her on the train to Port August for medical treatment. One can imagine their fear. Carey died in Port Augusta and is buried there.

Some of the symptoms of diptheria are fever, rapid pulse, enlarged lymph glands in the neck and a membrane on the throat and tonsils, which can cause croup and prevent breathing. Carey must have had croup and breathing difficulty because her parents rushed her by horse to Parachilna to catch a train to Port August for medical assistance. I am sure that they were desperate for help. Sadly, Carey died in Port August on October 19. She is buried there in a small cemetery in Port Augusta East.

On Carey's funeral card it says,
To the Memory of Florence Carey Shepherd, Beloved Daughter of H. and F.C. Shepherd of Blinman. Died October 19, 1889. Aged 9 1/2 years.
"The dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, so she returned unto Him unto the Ark...And He put forth His hand and took her in."