And the two-legged variety of animal was no better. Garbage was thrown into the streets and alley ways. Members of households would throw slops and other waste matter out onto the back yard. Outhouses were improperly dug and their contents often leached into the water supply. In 1849 the local newspaper commented that Watertown was filthy.
Stagnant water is found in parts of it, and in others the carcasses of animals.
There was no Board of Health. The only doctors here at that time were Doctors J. R. Goodenough, Cokely, Breckenridge, Hamilton and James Cody. They were general practioners who tried their best to combat the common ailments of the time. Most people had a certain mistrust of doctors, however, and preferred to try to dose themselves with patent medicines bought from druggists like Dr. Edward Johnson, or Joseph Schubert or William C. Fountain. Death occurred more often than cures, even if the patient went to a doctor.