Statistics of Life, 1871 - Amenuensis Monday

     STATISTICS OF LIFE.---The yearly mortality of the globe is 33,333,333 persons.  This is at the rate of 91,554 per day, 3,730 per hour, 62 per minute.  Each pulsation of the heart marks the decease of some human creature.
     The average of human life is 33 years.
     One-fourth of the population die at or before the age of seven years.
     One-half at or before 17 years.
     Among 10,000 persons, one arrives at the age of 100 years, one in 500 attains the age of 90, and one in 100 lives to the age of 60.
     Married men live longer than single men.
     In 1,000 persons, 95 marry, and more marriages occur in June and December than any other months in the year.
     One eighth of the whole population is military.
     Professions exercise a great influence on longevity.

When I search a city directory I enjoy looking at some of the general information printed on the first few pages.  I thought this was interesting enough to save and share.  I have many ancestors who were alive and older than 33, sometimes by decades, in 1871.  I wonder if they were aware that they had out-lived their expected lifespan.  

I try to imagine being a mother living in a world in which one of four children was likely to die before the age of 7 and half of all children before the age of 17.  We live in such a different world these days.  I'm grateful for the miracles of modern medicine.

From Palmer's Steubenville Directory, for 1871.  Compiled and Published by J. Palmer, Steubenville, Ohio, p. 11.

--Nancy.

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