The Cleveland leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1865-1865, 1865-08-30
Death OF GOV. BROUGH.
Unconscious to the Last
. LUCID INTERVAL THE NIGHT
PREVIOUS.
Interesting Conversation with
His Family.
of His Disease and
Sickness.

Of His Disease and
Sickness.
Hon. John Brough, Governor of Ohio,
died at his residence, No. $40 Prospect
street, in this city. precisely at one O'Clock
yesterday afternoon. The flag dropping al
.half-mast from the staff on the Park, told
the sad tidings to our citizens soon after il
transpired, but the intelligence, because ID
was looked for, did not occasion surprise.
1t has been known that the Governors con-
dition for several days has been critical,
and that during the past day or two his
case has been pronounced hopeless by the
eminent surgeons in attendance upon him
SO that the dsplorable event has been sOr-
srowfully anticipated and awaited with a
general feeling Of anxiety, suspense and
dread.
The public has been made aware of the
nature, continuance, and oscillsting char
acter of the disease which, for more than
two months. has been preying upon the
Governor, through q letter containing a
diagnosis of his case, which was sent by
Surgeon General R. n. Barr TO Secretary
Stanton, and which was and still con-
tinues to be widely copied by the press.
Dr. Barr was induced by the frequency and
sarnestness of the secretary's dispatches of
INQUIRY concerning the health of the dis
tinguished patient, to draw up the state
ment referred to, and the wide publicity
the document has attained, shows the depth
of the popular sense of the worth of this eff
fcient and faithful public servant.
The occasion calls for and ~justiies q re-
capitulation. On the 10th of JUNE the Gov
srnor came to this city to recuperats. He
then had been suffering q week or more from
Ia foot and hand made sore in the manner
detailed by Surgeon Barr to h Secretary
lof War. We reproduce the diagnosis of the
Sturgeon, written July 26Gh:
q To be brief, in the first place he had been
amuch broken down by overlabor and anxi-
ETY. since the death Of President Lincoln
3About five or six weeks since he slightly
5iDjured his foot by stepping on q small peb-
bic one eY~ening-sn injury which he sup
posed to be simply q bruise or sprain of the
loot, and to rest that foot walked about fol
a week after, leaning heavily on a cane,
which produced the same condition in his
left hand.
Violent Inflammation ofthe periosteum
81 and entire cellular structure of both hand
md foot followed, with phagsdenic slough
ing and gangrene of the soft structure
81 which was followed with much Initiative
ever and deterum death of some of the
bones of the toes, and also frequent hemor.
rages from sloughing of small arteries anO
snormous Assesses in different parts of the
limbs and body. He wa at his home il
Cleveland at the time of she most yioleni
onset of the attack. Not experimenting 81
serious q matter, / had, three days beforr
he telegrsphed me to see him, advised hin
10 90 home AID rest, and nurse his sores
Immediately on seeing him the first time
IN consultation with his family physician
[ advised free, deep,snd numerous incisionI
n his hand and foot. These gave him grea
-elief, but, owing to the condition of hi
system and the virulency of the attack
much sloughing and frequsnt hemorrhsgel
followed and, as I suppose, by absorption
morbid material through the lymphatics
lr from great prostration or poverty o.
blood, followed these terrible assesses.
Surgeon Bsrr's treatment was approved
by Surgeon General Barnes at Washington
but such was the Secretsry's interest in thu
Governor, he requested Surgeon Barnes t.
detail Surgeon o. A. Judson, S~uperinten
dent of Carver Hospital, Washington, tn,
argest hospital in the country, and a maj
Of rare professional attainments and grea
experience in the class of diseases undel
WHICH INC UOVOruVT Uo1 ~InUVTIugy W PrO-
coed to this city for the purpose of consul
tation. Surgeon Judson accordingly arrived
here about the first of August, and has de
voted himself with great ability and 6del
lty to the case in hand. General Barr vel
coined most cordially the assistance o
Surgeon Judson, and these two, in cODjunc
ton with the family physicians of tn,
Governor and the most eminent medica
gentlemen of this city, have been almos
literally sleepless in their attentions
They have fought the malady inch by inch
and h~avsseversl times thought thenselVe
the v%ictorS, only to be disappointed by see
ing the subtle disease take a Protean turn
and plunge the patientinto a fearful relapse
The original disease was spontaneous eel
lulitis locally developed in the hand snC
foot from slight injury, followed by gan.
creme In the wounds caused by incisionI
lin the foot, %carbuncles and numerous alb,
~scesses. The gangrene did not set in in thu
cuts of the hand. 1t had entirely healeC
before death. The slOughing process
would be arrested for a few days, when tn,
process of g%ranulatiOn and suppuratiol
would seem fairly TO mmenc But soor
he would be seized by terrible congestiv,
4chiIls, in several of which he was though
Ito be dying. Then dark spots indicating
Sgangrene would re-appear, calling fol
fresh incisions, and causing the surgeonl
ioften to despair The Governor has beer
almost literally cut to pieces. Eight regu-
lar surgical operations have been perform.
led on him, beside the opening of threG
4~carbuncles and no less than twenty-five
assesses, which discharged, each one
from two table spoonsfulI to q pint of mat
tier. But the g~sngrenous ulcers bafied the
skill of the surgeons, although the entire
portion of the foot from the out.
sside Of the ankle joint to the center
of the sole had been laid bare, the knife
freely used, and the whole literally cauter-
sized with nitric acid. The Governor has
sbeen a great sufferer, but has borne these
terrible operations with great heroism. For
the most part h erefused to take chloroform,
telling the surgeon: "When you get ready
to cut, tell me, and then cut" Watching the
operation without a groan.
The appetite of the Governor long since
failed in great part, and he has been kept
upon stimulants. He was of course greatly
reduced in flesh, his extremities being
dresdfully attsnusted, his hands looking
like birds claws. For some time he has
been irrational from the effects of the dis
ease, but with occasional lucid intervals in
which his intellect shone out with all its
accumtomed clesrness, and in which he
gave his attention to the moro pressing
thoughts pertaining to theduties of his Office
he held many conversations with Surgeon
Barr in reference to the possible fatal issue
of the disease, and talked with great calm