In summer 1873, Gallatin was devastated by an epidemic of cholera, which was worldwide. It started in the United States with cases in New Orleans in February and spread along the Mississippi River valley and its tributaries, contaminating water supplies. In the single month of June, 68 people died in the small town of Gallatin, including many children. The epidemic swept through the South, with the disease brought by immigrants arriving in New Orleans, and spread by passengers traveling in the region by steamboat and rail. The poor sanitation of the period resulted in contamination of water sources. Sumner County had an estimated 120 deaths that year from cholera, with four-fifths of them suffered by African Americans. A congressional report on the disease published in 1874 said that it had been documented in 264 towns and 18 states.