Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1892-04-01
The Aged Poet Passes Away Peace
fully as d Child
asleep.
His Humble Bedside is Surrounded by
Little Group of
Friends.
lnterment Will Take Place in his
Recently Completed Tomb
i'll Camden.

PHILADELPHIA, Pa, March 26.-Calm-
~ and peacefully, like child ss,esp,
Walt. Whitman passed away this even.
ing. He had been weaker than usual for
some days past. Had a sinking spell
last night but recovered somewhat. Again
at 4:30 this afternoon he began to sink.
, DR.. Alex McAllister reached the dying
mans bedside shortly afterward. The
doctor found the aged poet in a dying
condition. He asked the patient If he
suffered any pain and heard the whispered
answer, mo.
Twenty minutes before his death Mr.
Whitman said to his attendant Wary,
shift. They were his last words. His
breathing became fainter and fainter,
and atexactly 6:43 p. m. he passed away.
At the time of the good, gray poet s
death, his bedside In the humble little
frame cottage was surrounded 5y little
group, Thomas B. Harmed, close friend;
Horace L. TrabbeI his secretary
DR.. McAllister, his housekeep-
er, and faithful male attendant.
The news of the death was seat to Lord
Tennyson and other friends in England,
and Dr.. Buck, of Ontario, his biographer
n this country.
Tomorrow plaster cast of the dead
features will be made. Whitman left a
carefully drawn will, but its contents will
not be made public until after the funeral
| ceremony.
The remains of the deceased will be
placed III recently completed tomb IL
4arlelgh cemetery in Camden, spot Sc
iected by Mr.. Whitman when he was en-
J0ying his usual health, and where he
visited many times during the construc-
tl0n Of the tomb. No arrangements are
perfected for the funeral
Walt Whitman was born In the village
OF West Hills. l.. t., on May 81, 1919 of
English and Dutch stock. His father was
= worthy man, was for d time a farmer,
but became afterwards a householder.
His mother was woman of noble Qualti
ties, and seems to lave exerted the greater
Influence over her son. Within a led an
open air life. and laid the foundation of
his superbly vigorous health and love of
nature, both Of which play such an i'm
portant part in his work.
After some years of residence In Brook
lyn, during which he attended public
school and wrote few successful sketches
for the journals, he went to New York and
became d reporter and printer, testing
| life at It's best and worst Ia 1S49 he
| Travelled for two years Ovel lany Of the
states. Returning to Brooklyn he started
a newspaper, but relinquished it and took
| up his fathers trade and worked at car
| pentrY.
| In 1855 his book of one hundred pages,
! called Leaves OF Grass, with o portrait of
the then unknown author in the dress OF d
workingman, was published and remain
ell unnoticed, until letter appeared from
one of Americas deepest thinkers, Ralph
| Waldo Emerson, greeting d poet embark
ed on his long career. This caused some
excitement and the first edition was sold.
Early in 1857 the second enlarged edition
appeared, and the press of New York and
the country generally swooped down on
the book for its biblical pIainness of
| speech.
| When the war broke out Whitman
went to the field of action, and here we
catch a glimpse of the mans nature IN his
voluntary care of the sick and wounded
| During the war and after it, it is com
| puted, he personally mipistered TO more
| than one hundred thousand men, and
there was no name more familiar to the
men in and around Washington than that
of Walt Whitman. The charity and good
| fellowship be so constantly sang were no
| idle boast.
| After the war he resided for some years
IN Washington, and held place under
the government, making many friends and
admirers; to cite but one, President Lin
coin, on whose death he wrote that most
perfect of drges, When LiIacs Last in the
| Dooryard Bloomed.
In appearance Whitman somewhat re-
| sembled Longfellow, only that his face
suggests more power. A man far above
the ordinary height and wi b a
| lowing white beard, he suggests
the patriarch, man who mas
weathered life's storms and CLEANED
infinite wisdom from his experiences.
His life has not been very exciting; some
people rather thought him shiftless, as he
was by no means wealthy, and has beside
consorted with powerful uneducated per-
sons, " to use his own words. For several
years he wrote articles for the newspapers,
all easily diStinguishabIe by his peculiar
| idiom.
His work has been: translated into
many Of the Continental languages. and
he has been hailed across the sea, partic-
ularly in England, as the long-looked-f3r
American poet, who, unlike his predecess-
ors in the poetic art, sings not of oid-world
themes, but of the new world ITSELF IN u
word, a national poet. And though tie
tongue in which ne addresses US is yet
new and often harsh, stdl we are begin
ming to recogn z7 it as a remarkable
poetic power