When Dr. Ducharme built his house, in the early 1870s, there were not very many vaccines or remedies to effectively treat or heal patients. Also, hygiene practices were poor and favoured the proliferation of infectious disease. At the time, the most common causes of death were scarlet fever, typhoid, measles and a host of pulmonary diseases. Those most affected were young children, as the local cemeteries so eloquently attest. In 1870, the number of child deaths in the Haute-Yamaska region (population 12,000) equalled the total for the entire Montérégie area, which numbered 1.5 million residents.
To continue the tour: walk north to rue St-Joseph to get to the next house.