Wild Bill of Jax and His Leprosy

Posted on March 14, 2019 | Leave a comment

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“Will Bill of Jacksonville” had come back home, but outside a small circle of family and friends, he kept his diagnosis a secret. Not only did the disease frighten people, but in this Bible Belt town, it resonated as the plague of the Old Testament.

The Board of Health moved to quarantine his mother’s home on Rural Route 5 in the small western Duval County community of Hart Haven. “In closing,” he wrote, “let me give your readers, each and every one, a personal invitation. I assure you that when you leave, your outlook and perspective on life will be different.”

This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged Banished: Living with Leprosy, Bible Belt, Bill Clinton, Billy Burton, Carville: Remembering Leprosy in America, Discovery Channel, Hart Haven, I-10, I-95, Jacksonville, Jacksonville Board of Health, Jacksonville Florida, James Carville, jax psycho geo, jaxpsychogeo, Julia Elwood, leprosarium, Louisiana Leper Home, Marcia Gaudet, Mardi Gras, Mardi Gras at Carville, Marietta, Marilyn Kalfus, National Hansen’s Disease Center in Carville, Old Plank Road, Opal Burton, Opel Burton, Rural Route 5, St. Vincent's, Steve Rothman, Tim Gilmore, Wild Bill, Wild Bill of Jacksonville. Bookmark the permalink.

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