On this day in 1878, the Bluff City mourned the loss of its first Yellow Fever victim that year: a restaurant owner named Kate Bionda.
Born around 1845 in Ireland, Bionda found her way to Memphis, where she and her husband Bartholomew raised their two children Willie and Josephine.
While the fate of the rest of the Bionda family lacks readily available documentation, what remains clear is that Kate was first exposed to the Yellow Fever that would claim her life when an infected steamboat worker named William Warren somehow escaped quarantine and visited her restaurant.
In total, out of 20,000 who remained in the city that year, more than 5,000 people were estimated to have died during the 1878 epidemic alone.
Those interested in visiting Kate Bionda’s grave to still pay their respects can find her buried at Calvary Cemetery at 1663 Elvis Presley Blvd.
