In 1849 Dingle suffered badly from a disease called cholera. Daily several citizens died causing the population of the little town to decrease. Only, the disease was a cover up so that the citizens would not find out that the cause of death was vampires. The Mayer thought it would be best to keep quiet about the vampires so that people would not leave his town. He protected the vampires because they had a very large financial influence on the town. The death of the citizens only escalated and people became suspicious. After Conal, the town's gaurdian, killed Lorcan, the Delaney family leader, he was able to force the rest of the family out of town.