Contributed by Diane Ciba
The oldest person in Watertown who died from the Spanish Flu (Influenza) was Mrs. Frances Percy, age 75, who died on October 22, 1918.
Frances Annette Coan was born on May 20, 1843 in New Haven to Richard Davis and Flora Hitchcock (Granniss) Coan. She was baptized at Christ Episcopal Church in Guilford on October 22, 1843. By the time of the 1860 Census, 19 year old Frances is living with her parents in New Haven and 6 siblings: twins – Charley Richard (b.1839) and Anna R. (b. 1839), Bennet Fowler (b. 1841), Augusta Jane (b. 1845), William Arthur (b. 1847), and Ellen Jeannette (b. 1849). Her father was a well-known lumber merchant in New Haven.
In 1866, Frances married Henry Charles Percy. They had one child, Richard Truman, who was born in 1869 in Virginia. At the time of 1870 Census, Frances, Henry, and little Richard, were living in Norfolk, Virginia where Henry was employed by a Bank.
In 1898 and in poor health with stomach problems for over a year, Frances’ husband, Henry, became very ill and went to the Hahnemann Homeopathic Hospital in New York City on the advice of his physician. He died a few months later, on December 28, and his body was brought to the home of his father, Truman Percy, in Watertown, and was buried in Evergreen Cemetery a few days later. [See his obituary.]
Frances may have stayed with her son, Richard, who was an organist at the Marble Collegian Church in New York while her husband was in treatment. At the time of the 1910 Census, she was living with Richard and his wife, Josephine, on 8th Avenue in Manhattan.
According to CT state records, Frances died in Hamden on October 22, 1918. She was buried two days later on October 24 in the family plot in Evergreen Cemetery here in Watertown where her husband was buried in 1898.
Daughter-in-law, Josephine Adele Jennings, died a few years later, on July 22, 1923 [see Obituary]. She is also buried in the family plot in Watertown.
No record can be found or the death of son, Richard Truman. The last record was a Newspaper article in the Spokane Review which states he was living in the home of his sister-in-law, Mrs. A. E. Ludwig, in New York, boarded a train to Chicago, stepped off in Buffalo, and was never seen or heard from again.