Rensselaer Republican, Volume 12, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 November 1879 — Sudden Death of Senator Zachariah Chandler. [ARTICLE]

Sudden Death of Senator Zachariah Chandler.

United States Senator Zachariah Chandler was fotmdrifead hi h%s TxJd frt the Graml Pftcfilie Hotel iw Chicago, oa the morning of the Ist. He arrived in Chicago the previous morning from Wisconsin, Where he had been making campaign apolitical speeches, and adflreasea a large assemblage of people 9t McCormick Hall the night of nis death. The Chicago Tribone' of the morning of the M gives the following account of the discovery of the Senator's death find the statement of Mr. Spalding, an intimate friend of the deceased, ass to what had occurred in Mr. Chandler’s experience during the ®ero days preceding his sudden and en* tirely unexpected death: Mr. Joseph Smith, the hotel porter, who had been the first (o discoverthe fttc* of the Bon nr tor’s sudden death, stated that at seven o’clock in the morning Mr. Gardner requested him to go to Room No. ft and wake the gentleman sleeping thsnein. He had no idea who the person was, and wasviutte unprepared for the terrible surprise which was in store for him. Having gained the door of the -room, he knocked at ft, but received no response. He knocked again, but still there was no answer. Thinking that the man Inside was a remarkably heavy sleeper, he knocked a third time, very loudly v but only pqrfect silence prevailed in the room*. . Hs then "began to have misgivings, and, finding that the key had not b«en placed in the door by its occupant (Mr. Chandler had gone tp his bedroom by way of the parlor), he took the office key which he had with him, and cpe«ei the door. ; WSrento entered he found tne seh&tor half-sitting,half-tying upon the bed, his legs hanging ova* the side, the right foot on the ground, and the left foot raised a foot or so above.Jt. He shook slightly what he eonslderod to be the sleeping figure, but found it stiff and cold. He then felt the hands and face, and saw at once that the supposed sleeper was dead. Greatly startled by his discovery, he ran down stairs and told Mr. Gardner of what he had seen. Further investigation followed, and verifiedAhe foundatioa of his fears. Tbe following statement of Jesse Spalding, who was with b i in the whole tine, covers about all that occurred during the last forty-eight hour* of Mr. Chandler's life: > “ I went up on Thursday to Janesville,” said Mr. Spalding, “to hear him speak, and came down with mm Friday morning. He was as well as usual. He spoke in a tent at Janesville, Just out of town, on the. prairie—spoke fat tbe afternoon and evening—and there was a cold, chilly wind all the time. I sat on the stand in the evening unfit I Mt uncomfortably cold, ana (hen said to him, * I will gm down to the hotel and have a tjre built fit our root* and wait for you.’ He came after the speaking was over, between nine and ten o’clock, and sat by the fire in the parior talking with friends about an hour. He complained of being cold. We then went to our room, which had a fire in it, und sat there for a half to three-quarters of an hour. He sMd once or twice that he felt cold and chilly. I got some extra blankets for the bed. He sat by the fire until he felt warm, and then retired'. “ We were called ut a quarter of six the next morning, so as to enable us to get breakfast and take the seven o’clock train for Chicago. On tbe way down be co.iver, ed with friends and seemed as eboerful ns usual, but he was rather hoarse and coughed some, and compiiducd of a cold. General Logan was on the train. We itferivcd 'a Chicago at a Quarter of eleven in the morning, took a carriage and drove to the Grand Fnettle. 1 had telegraphed for a room before fearing Janesville, and No. 3 and the adjoining pr.rior were ready with a flroand were com fort able. He remained in his room receiving friends until four o’clock. He Whs perfectly well, except rather stopped up by cold. “At four o’clock he said to me he thought he would take a nap for «n hour, and 1 said I would notify the clerks in the office not to let callers disturb him. He laid down and slept until about five. He then cameout of the bedroom into the parlor, sat down in a chair near tbe window, and said ko was awakened by a pain In the chest, which he thought was the effect of indigestion, or perhaps, smoking too much. He asked me if I smoked. I said, ‘No, I do not. I used to.’ Said he, ‘Did smoking ever produce a pain or indigestion? Did you ever feel that it did?’ I told him that I stopped smoking several years ago because I felt tha* it hurt my throat. He said, ‘I think f smoke too much, and that the consequence of it is the cause of the pain In my chest.’ He asked me the questions evidently to see, if I smoked, whether I ever had such a feeling. He said nothing about his heart troubling him, or that he had ever had anv trouble pith It. I noticed that ho looked pale, and said, ’Senator, don’t you feel well?' He said,‘Ye*vl will tots minute. TVs pain In my cheat troubles me,’ The room was a little.wann, and 1 said, ‘I wtll open the door a minute,’ and I did so. A minute after that he said, ‘I feel Ju«t as well as I ever did.’ -‘Mr. W. F. Lawrence, of Boston, then came in and asked ua todtne with him at six o’clock. Mr. George Schneider .had called in the forenoons and we iarltfetfßim tq dine with Us, and we took dinner together at two o'clock. So the Senator excuseaxiimself to Mr. Lawrence. Instead of taking a late dinner, he went to tea at half-past alx or seven o'clock, and had a pitcher of ic£! tea and some dry toast. When hfe came back to bis room be seemed as well ns ufeuaL On the way over to McOormiok Hall in the carriage he referred to the pain in his chest: • - - ’ - t

, “■ATOrothesymMihulUmuul tu-the iietet in the carriage and went to his room. Mr. M4ltM!tSt, , )fc y rSJSK)k went up to the room and remained with tbe gaa .ss remwk©3?WSailSnyßanslrS nowiUt I took a severe cold while speaking In the tent at Janesville, but I fwl comifthairfetfio#.'' That was said in answer to a question aa to I with him Midmiren^Cent ralup L L)<*trolt. He asked, 1 Dqea. tha taw la leave at nine o’clock?* Isold ‘ Yes.' TWJjolMp from his chair and picked up a paper from the table, and aaw that that was the time, wfiftlJ’Tiurtt'd the train I want to go on.ivO\JTl » DIT “Ithen shook hands with him and said I wished him a safe Journey home, and hoped he would find his family wplL Hewaid, ‘I thank you and the Prfllto* of tligt. Young Men’s Club for the atfeMwn fw InmSlown me.’ He had stated Friday afternoon that the speech he was to make in Chicago would complete his engagements. A few minutes attar he had made the statement a bby bought fit ndispatch. He opened it and read it, and handed it to me. I read it and said. ‘ I see your friends and neighbor* in Detroit want you to make another speech.’ He said, ‘ Yesf and 1 wish you would answer that dispajttirf vtofimh them that I will speak there M«M|y aftelllg.’ I sent the message and signed hfe name to it. “After he had referred to the attention •bown him, he said: f Ope momropeech, that I Will make MonclA OfAIAAM *y friends and neighbors in MNilfett Ini my appointments for this campaign.’ I then left him. He had taken his shoes and (ffivat ipf, and turned [down the rover,SMAJliHibye, soon after Went to bed. HfVlllVftWlhft that he was alarmed at his condition, but said he felt that he had better go to bed and get a rood night’s "In inquefi&i&UlftlSjXMt mortem examination was not deemed neces- ! way. The Coroner’srveoiipt was to the effect that regult of a natural cause, whiehrrrom the evidence ,of physicians, was found to be cerebral pailrto the remains in Chicago, and a numberWj&nfcJtotf HtiMM M both main. MS’Wj&HiSjF the Michigan Getoral depot by ft he Light Infantry, L%ht (kiarff/Natioo all Guard,