On August 16, 1793, Matilda cook woke up moaning about another hot August day. Not far away Benjamin Rittenhouse kept a daily record of the temperature, wind direction and sky conditions at 6 am and 3 pm. Benjamin Rush thought weather was so important in trying to solve the mystery of the spread of yellow fever that he included the weather records for all of 1793 in his memoir of the epidemic. At 6 am on August 16 it was 70 degrees: at 3 pm, the temperature rose to 83 degrees. The wind which had been out of the southwest, and west for almost two weeks had shifted to the north northeast. On the 13th the temperature had hit 89 degrees at 3 pm, on the 15th it had been 75 degrees and cloudy. Of course, 70 degrees is pretty warm waking-up weather, but Matilda might have been encouraged by the northerly wind to think…Now this is nitpicking! But maybe not, with the causes of disease more mysterious in those days, many people thought wind direction had a great deal to do with health and moods.

But, the waterfront is abuzz with reports of disease. “Fever” spreads from the docks and creeps toward Mattie’s home, threatening everything she holds dear.

As the cemeteries fill with fever victims, fear turns to panic, and thousands flee the city. Then tragedy strikes the coffeehouse, and Mattie is trapped in a living nightmare. Suddenly, her struggle to build a life must give way to something even more important – the fight to stay alive.

Laure Halse Anderson
Scholastic Inc. November 2001

Go to http://www.yahooligans.com
At the search icon type in US History and Philadelphia
Click on Historic Philadelphia
Take the virtual tour and answer the following questions:

1. The President's House in Philadelphia served as the national capitol from _______ to ______. (Scroll to the President's House in Philadelphia)
2. Name three historic events that took place in Philadelphia (Ole City Hall, Congress Hall, Betsy Ross House - These are several of many)

   a.
   b.
   c.

3. Where was the First Continental Congress Held? (Carpenter's Hall)
4. Name the Clergyman to the Congenital Congress. (Bishop White House)
5. Who drew the 1682 blueprint for Philadelphia? (Tomb of the Unknown Soldier)
6. What happened to John Todd? (Todd House)

Think about how exciting this time was for Matilda Cook.

Go back to Historic Philadelphia and click on the clickable map of Historic Philadelphia. This will allow you to see how the historic sites are laid out.

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