Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1872-10-17
Last Hours of WIN. II. Seward.

Last Hours Of VIM. ii. Seward.
William H. Seward, having taken
cold and been somewhat unwell for
day or two, was, on the evening of
Saturday, the 9Th, seized with a severe
chill, and his physician WAS summoned
to him. He had been during the sum.
mer in good health. suffering only
from the inconvenience of muscular
apathy of the arms, and has been en-
gagged n preparing for the press an &C.
count Of his recent journey around the
world. The chill was of the ordinary
tertian .ague, accompanied by har-
RAISING catarrhal cough. 1t was fol-
lowed by fever and delirium, which
lasted till late in the night. On Sun
day he was up in the after
noon, took dinner, and passed
comfortable night. On Monday,
with the exception of the cough and
catarrh, he was comfortable, and die
tated as usual to his assistants in the
completion of his book. He PLAYED
whist Monday evening, but at 10 P: NJ.
a slight cough occurred, followed by
deliriun and fever, with aggravated
catarrh and disturbance of the chest,
which lasted nearly all night, his ply
stefan seeing him on this account after
midnight. Tuesday morning. after
some sleep, he was again better, and
drove out in the afternoon, but the
fever, delirium and restlessness return
ed, with cough, Tuesday night. On
Wednesday he drove out for two hours,
and dictated to his amannensis as usu-
al, though barrassed all day with cough
and catarrhal effusion in the chest.
Wednesday evening his cough ebated
for while and there seemed a promise
of a good nights rest. The fever, rest
lessness and cough returned at bed time.
He was nearly sleepless until five o'clock
in the morning. AT four o'clock in the
morning, to relieve tedium of lying
sleepless, he had his son William read
the New York Times to him of Wednes-
day morning. He slept alter five pretty
we'll til II A. NJ Thursday, though his
fever kept up without any real remis-
sion. At half past one he was seized
with great difficulty of breathing, caused
by sudden catarrhal effusing into the
lungs, commencing with the right lung
and soon involving the left also, which
occasioned his death in about two
hours. He entertained no fears that he
should not recover from the attack OF
catarrhal ague till Wednesday night
and Thursday forenoon. While, at his
age, ana with the condition of muscu-
lar palsy from which he has suffered so
long, the fact that the fever was in
creasing on him, together with the
catarrhal disturbance, led his physi
clans to apprehend fatal result in the
course ola week or more, yet no
immediate alarm was felt, and his dis
solution was sudden and unexpected.
His intellectual faculties were clear
and vigorous to the last, save when dis
turbed by a paroxysm OF fever. just
after an efusion from the lungs Thurs.
day, and thinking it would ease his
breathing, he was, at his own desire,
placed on lounge, and bolstered up,
and moved from his adjoining bed
room into his study, where in the midst
of his books and his literary and other
papers, and surrounded by his relatives
and few friends and all his Deepen.
dents, he breathed his last. For the
last hour of his life, as the powers of
nature were giving away, his condition
became easy, and he spent the time in
affectionate leave-taking of his rela-
tives and dependents, and finally sank
quietly to his last rest rs if going to
sleep.