Jasper County Democrat, Volume 2, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 July 1899 — INGERSOLL IS DEAD. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

INGERSOLL IS DEAD.

HEARTDISEASESUDDENLYENDS HIS LIFE. End Conies Withont Warning to the Noted Agnostic at His Summer Home at Dobbs Ferry, N. Y.— Incidents of His Remarkable Career. Col. Robert G. Ingersoll, orator, author, lecturer, humanitarian, agnostic and lawyer, died Friday at his country home, Walston, Dobbs Ferry, N. Y., of heart trouble —angina jievforis. For three years Col. Ingersoll had known he had heart trouble, but it never drove him to his bed or forced him to give up bis busy work life. He consulted several specialists, and medicines were prescribed for him which gave him relief during an attack of pain, and he began to feel that the malady was not serious. But a few weeks ago his trouble grew a little more serious. The attacks of pain became more and more frequent and more lasting. Fains chased across his chest and there was a feeling of oppression. No one thought it serious even then; he least of all. For a few days Mr. Ingersoll had not been feeling well. Thursday night he seemed to be in better health and spirits when he retired than he had been for several days. Friday morning he rose at the usual hour and joined the family at breakfast. He then said he had spent a bad night, but felt better. He had been suffering from abdominal pains and tightness about the chest. Col. Ingersoll spent the .morning swinging in a hammock ami sitting on the veranda with the members of the family. He said be was better and had no pain. At 12:30 he started to go upstairs. On reaching the head of the stairs Col. Ingersoll tut tied into his wife’s room. Mrs. Ingersoll was there. Together they discussed what they would have for luncheon and the colonel said he had better not eat mueTh~owirig to the trouble with his

stomach. He seemed in good spirits then. After talking for a few minutes he crossed the room, sat down in a rocking chair and leaned his head upon his hand. Mrs. Ingersoll asked him how he was feeling and he replied: "Oh. better." These were his last words. A second after they were uttered he was dead. There was not even a sigh or a groan as death came. Doctors were hastily called, but their verdict was that death had come instantly. Ingersoll’s Career. Robert G. Ingersoll Was born in Dresden, N. Y’.. Aug. 12. 1833. His father was a Congregationalist clergyman of such liberal views that he was persecuted for them, and in his early life Robert G. Ingersoll imbibed an intense hatred of Calvinism, which grew with his growth, and finally made him an aggressive opponent of all generally received forms of religion. By the removal of his family to the West Mr. Ingersoll's boyhood was spent partly in Wisconsin and partly in Illinois. He studied law and in partnership with his brother began its practice in Shawneetown. In 1857 he went to live at Peoria, 111., and there laid the foundation of a lucrative practice. In 1862 he became captain of the Eleventh Illinois cavalry, and after the war was over he began to be heard as an orator. In 1863 he became colonel of the Eleventh Illinois cavalry. In 1866 be was appointed Attorney General for Illinois. He was an intimate friend of President Lincoln and President Garfield, and a profound admirer of Roscoe Conkling. In 1876 Mr. Ingersoll proposed the name of James G. Blaine in the national Republican convention in a speech so eloquent that his own fame, hitherto somewhat restricted, extended to all parts of the country. In 1877 he refused the post.of minister to Germa,hy. As a lawyer Mr. Ingersoll had been connected with the most famous modern cases. He defended the “star route” case and was associated with others of national importance.

Col. Ingersoll was perhaps the ablest exponent of free thought the world has known. Although he was the inveterate enemy of the Christian religion, such men ns Henry Ward Beecher and Bishop Potter were among his personal friends. At one time Col. Ingersoll was on the Supreme bench of Illinois. During the Inst two years he had made New York his home.

COL. ROBERT G. INGERSOLL.