Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1885-12-02
Death of vice-President Hendricks.

HENDRICKS, last w eunesuay, WIS SUIT
rowful surprise to the people of this
country. BY his death the Democrats
have lost one of their most trusty and
respected leaders-one for whom they
entertained the sincerest feelings OF
respect. At the time of his death he
was &C years of age. His death, like
his life, is one to be envied. He was
holding an honorable position; he was
beloved by his many acquaintance ;
he was respected by his countrymen ;
he was in comfortable circumstances,
and his record is life spent in hon
orable labor. The following from the
Detroit Free Press will give an ac-
count of his death and the cause
thereof:
INDIANAPOLIS, IND. November 25.-Hon
Thorn. A. Hendricks, Vice-President of the
United States died very suddenly AT MS resi-
dence i'm this city at las O'Clock this evening
He returned from Chicago on last Saturday and
since then had been complaining somewhat OF
pain in his head and breast, but nothing serl-
Hendricks attended n reception given at the
residence of Hon. John j. Cooper, Treasurer OF
the State returning home in their carriage
about midnight. Mr.. Hendricks had taken of
the heavy clothing which he usually wore ana
put on a dress suit of lighter material and be-
fore he got home he complained OF chillness
and n certain degree OF exhaustion. but attrlD-
uted it to malarial influences; lie sat by the fire
an hour or more before retiring, but declinedt to
send for physician, although urged to do so.
He sleptrestessly until about this morning,
when lie arose. dressed himself and ate quiet
fact no. 4
ter and intended to attend 10 considerable
DELAYED business during the day. He and Mrs.
Hendricks walked out for nearly half an hour
and he had apparently reganed physical ylgor
and cheerfulness An hour later however, he
began to be troubled with pains IN the region
family physician, DR.. w. &. Thompson, n life
long and confidential friend of the Nice-P resi-
dent. AS the pains in the stomach continued
to increase he was given an emctic and after
ward an injection. and relief came In the natur-
nj way He arose from his bed, III which he
had lain only few minutes, and read the morn |
ing papers, talking cheerfully with his wlie and
an old house servant. just before noon he had
q relapse however, and the physician was again |
summoned and administered the usual rene |
dies, besides bleeding the patient, ana Mr. Hen |
bricks again expressed himself as Delng great
ly relieved. He remained in his room all the |
afternoon. occasionally rising from his bed, TO |
which he was compelled TO return by the recur- |
renee of the abdominal pains. To all callers |
who came, and they were numerous, he sent
word he was indisposcd but would be glad TO
see them tomorrow About $50 O'Clock, Mrs.
%
went down into the parlor to see caller who
had come to consult with her regarding the az
fairs of a reformatOry institution. of which she
was one ofthe managers, and she remained with
him about twenty minutes. Tom coored ser.
want, and Harry Morgan, Mr.. Hendricks
with him The servant went out and Mr. Nor
gan STAYED Mr.. Hendricks tossed uneasily in
his bed. and complained OF great pain put SUD,
nephew: II am free at last; send for Eliza"
meaning his wife, and these were his last words,
for the young man, not realizing the urgency OF
the message did not deliver IL at once. just
before o'clock Mrs Hendricks came into the
room and found that her husband W., was dead.
peacefully and quietly. lie lay In the bed out
Side the covering, only partially disroDed, with
his eyes half closed as If he were in gentle
sleep On his face there were no traces of pain |
or suffering but pallor had come over 1t that
o1 5Gp sd ed in his ne private wat cSs
ber q large comfortable room in which he did |
the most of his work Near the bedside was
ease containing legal and political works and |
on his desk were his papers, memoranda and
large number of letters, which had been allow |
ed to accumulate without answering in the last
two or three days.
DR.. Thompson says that in his opinion Mr. |
Hendricks died of paralysis OF the brain, and |
ton to establish what the disease was. For
several years he had not been robust man.
and was subject to frequent bad spells as he
cd sometimes for weeks at a time. About two
years ago he was confined to his room for sew
foot, which at the time it was feared would re-
suit in blood poisoning, and II was then thought
that the end of his life was near at hand, but he
apparently recovered entirely from this and was
IN his usual health While in Washington dur
ing the last session of Congress he was over
worked and almost worn out by the press OF
political matters, and upon his return home he
signiied his intention OF laying aside all public
business this summer and deyotlng the time
TO recreation. He spent three weeks at Atlanta
City, fishing, bathing and yachting, and then
came West and went to the Northern lake re-
Ohio on a fishing expedition; He returned
from there two weeks ago, and, at the time,
said that he never felt better in his life. Last
week, by special invitation, he attended the fall
stock show in Chicago, and was the recipient
of considerable attention there in the way of
banquets and receptions, returning home Sat
urday somewhat indisposed At the reception
he attended last night, however, he appeared
TO be unusually cheerful, and remained much
later than was the custom on such occasions.
The following short account of his life
is condensed from that in recent issue of
the New York Sun:
Thomas Andrew Hendricks was born on
a farm near GAINESVILLE, Ohio, on Sept. 9TH,
1919. When only months old his father
moved to Madison, Indiana, and three (
years later moved to Shelbyvile. Thomas
attended the village school at Shelbyville
until he was old enough to enter South I
Hanover college at Madison. He graduated !.
from that institution in 1S4l, when % years
of age, and began to study law. He attend {
ed the law school in Chambersburg, Pa In ,
1S43 he was admitted to the bar at Shelby
vile, where he opened an office. Success |
came slowly, but after two years he had I
practice sufficiently large to permit him to :
marry. He married, on Sept. 25th, 1916, {
Eliza G. Morgan, by whom he had one son, I
who died in 1851, when 8 years old
In 1S4S Mr.. Hendricks, though not % {
years old, was elected to the Indiana Lcgis- {
lature. He did not seek reelection at the
end of his term in 1850, but was elected to 6
State Constitutional Convention called for
that year
In 1851 he was elected to Congress from I
the Central district of Indiana. lie was I
reelected in 1852. During his second term !,
the question of repeating the Missouri
compromise act came up. Congressman
Hendricks supported the repeal. Person
ally he had opposed it, but when the re- l
peal was adopted as party measure he I
threw his influence for it. His vote on that :,
question had much influence in causing his l
defeat when he ran for Congress in 1854, al I
though the Know Nothing vote assisted in
that defeat. Mr.. Hendricks returned to i
his law work in Shelbyville, and in Au- e
gust, 1854 was appointed by President 7
Polk, Commissioner Of the General Land
Office. The appointment came to him with r
out his solicitation, and at first he wished .
TO decline 1t. After consultation with his
father, however, Mr. Hendricks accepted c
the Office and went TO Washington. lie &
acted as Commissioner during the latter !,
half of Pierces administration and the /
earlier half of Buchannan's, during which o
time he signed upward Of 100000 land
warrants and settled more than 10000 con-
tested land cases. lie resigned the Office d
In 1859, when he returned to practice a.
his profession in Shclbyville.
He did not remain quiet very long "