The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-02-16
wILLrAM P. ST. JOHN DEAD.
Free Silver Advocate Sucoumbs to Apo plexy-Overwork and Disappointment Hasten Death

plexy-Overwork and Disappointment
 Hasten Death.
 New York, Feb. 15-William F. St. John, who was forced to resign the presidency of the Mercantile National bank because of his advocacy of free silver and who was treasurer of the popocratic national committee in the recent presidential campaign, died last night at the residence of his stepmoth- CT, Mrs. Newton St. John, l21 West Thirty street.
 The immediate cause of his death was appopleXy, and it was induced by the fatigue and worries of the campaign. He had two cerebral hemorrhages yes- terday. The first occurred at o'clock and the second at o'clock.
 Both were on the left side of the brain, and the first was followed by a paralysis of the right side. Dr. Edwin F. Ward was with MT. St. John when the first hemorrhage occurred, and he did everything in his power to relieve his suffering. MT St. John lost con- sciousness, however, soon after. He died five minutes after the second one without having spoken a word.
 MT. St. John and his brother -in-law and sister, MT. and Mrs. l.. D. AlXean- der, were at his bedside when he died MT. St. John and his stepmother were very much attached to each other, and he always lived at her house. Mr. St. John was much older looking man than he really was, and Mrs. St. John was mistaken for his wife several times during the campaign. Mr. St. John never married.
 MT St John had been a sufferer for eight years with a kidney trouble. The complaint was hereditary in his fafni- ly, but it assumed serious form in him rather early in life. His close attention to business accentuated the trouble. He was in poor health when he resigned the presidency of the Mercantile Ma tional bank and assumed the duties of treasurer of the popocratic national committed He gave the work of this place the close attention which charac- terized his conduct in business matters, and firmly believed that Bryan would be elected.
 The overwhelming overthrow of the popocratic cause in the election de- pressed him greatly and rendered more acute the trouble, which had already been made worse by the labors of the campaign. After the election he told MT. Schenck who succeeded him as the executive head of the Mercantile Ma tional bank, that he feared he had | worked himself to death. He was so weak that he could scarcely walk, and his eyesight was almost gone. Dr. Ward and Dr. Knapp, who at tended to his complaints both told him that what he needed was rest. He de- cided to go south. He spent some time in the North Carolina mountains and then went to visit friends in Georgia. | The balmy weather and solitude of the | south seemed to do him good. He re- | covered much of his lost strength, and the eye trouble was almost cured | He was still far from well when he came back north two months ago. He was able to get about for few weeks, but five weeks ago by the advice of Dr. 1 Ward and Dr. Knapp he went to bed again While the rest seemed to do him good he did not appear to have a great deal of vitality and his physi- clans were in a measure prepared for what occurred yesterday.
 Besides his stepmother and his sis | ter. Mrs L. D. Alexander, Mir. St. John | left two married sisters and three brothers. Alexander Pope, Harold and Newton St. John, all of whom live in | the south.
 William Pope St. John was born in Mobile, Ala, on February 19, 1S49 His father was Newton St. John, a promi- nent south Alabama banker and cotton planter. The elder St. John was for : years the senior member of the bank ing firm of St. John, Powers & Co.,, which is still in existence. His mother was Maria Pope.
 His maternal grandfather, General William Bibb, was the first governor of | Alabama. Her paternal grandfather was Colonel Charles Pope of Delaware who commanded a regiment in the American revolution and served with distinction. The St. John family came of old New England stock, One of his ancestors was among the twenty-five l founders of the town of Ridgefield | Conn.
 | MT St. John took a common school course in Mobile, after which he was sent to Germany and England to com plete his education He returned tC | America when he was still young men and entered business here.
 In 1867 he was with the firm of J. B | Alexander x Bros, bankers. He was subsequently with Aymal- & Co.. Favry X Chouncey, Phelps, Dodge & Co.,, and Havemeyer S Elder. He was with the last named firm in the capacity of chiet | buyer of sugar He resigned in 1881 tC become cashier in the Mercantile Ma. tional bank.
 MT. St John inherited his fathers ca. | pacity for banking affairs, and his ad- l ministration as cashier was marked | with skillful management and intelli. | gent conservatism. He became presi. dent of the bank in January, 1885, He | enjoyed the confidence of the directors of the bank and of the entire business community until several years ago when the agitation of the silver heresy 1 was first commenced, and he declared 1 publicly his belief ill the free silver ] idea.
 l The differences Of opinion which cul- minated in his resignation of the presi- ] dency of the bank arose then.
 AWARD IN STAMFORD.