Editing Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 (section)

== Flight and Response ==

By early September, those who could afford to leave Philadelphia had fled—an estimated 20,000 people, roughly 40% of the population. President Washington departed for Mount Vernon on September 10; Congress had already adjourned for its usual summer recess and would not return until December. Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton (who contracted but survived the disease), and other federal officials scattered to their homes. Mayor Matthew Clarkson remained to coordinate the response, establishing a committee of citizens to organize relief efforts when the normal machinery of government proved inadequate to the crisis.<ref name="newman">{{cite book |last=Newman |first=Simon P. |title=Embodied History: The Lives of the Poor in Early Philadelphia |year=2003 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |location=Philadelphia}}</ref>

The Committee to Attend to and Alleviate the Sufferings of the Afflicted with the Malignant Fever, appointed by the Mayor on September 14, took charge of the city's response. Led by merchant Stephen Girard and cooper Israel Israel, the committee established Bush Hill as a hospital for fever victims, organized the collection and burial of the dead, and distributed food and supplies to the poor. Girard himself supervised Bush Hill, transforming it from a place of death into a functioning hospital where some patients actually recovered. His personal courage and administrative ability made him a hero of the epidemic, and his later philanthropy—including the founding of Girard College—would cement his reputation as Philadelphia's greatest benefactor.<ref name="powell"/>