The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1897-10-28
j. w. KNOX SUICIDES.
Takes His Life by Shooting himself
Through the Right Temple.

James W Knox committed suicide
at the Grant Honse this morning. The
deed was not discovered until 7:30 this
morning when the porter of the hotel
went to call him and entered the room
occupied by Mr.. Knox and found him
sitting in rocking chair, his head
pierced by bullet. His act is attrib-
uted to the dependency caused by
business Teverses. He was in compar-
atively good health when last seen by
friends in this city.
All the facts surrounding the case as
nearly as can be found out are that
Mr.. Knox had been in Chicago Friday
in attendance upon the races. He re-
turned here on the 11:40 p. N. train
Friday night and after having wan
dered about the city for over an hour,
he finally went to the Grant House and
requested room, offering to pay for it
in advance. He was taken to one very
shortly after this request. He did not
close the door TO the room, but left it
slightly ajar Sitting down to a small
table he wrote letter to a friend in
Indianapolis, Ind, and left a short
note on card requesting the finder of
his remains to notify c. w. Allen or
Mrs. j. w. Knox at once. He then
must have drawn his revolver while
seated IN the high backed rocking
chair and fired the bullet into the
right temple. The revolver he used
was large, A long calibre Colt, hav-
ing barrel eight inches long The
shot must have brought death lnstan-
taneously, since there was not the
slightest evidence seen anywhere that
the body moved after the shot. The
body remained in sitting posture, the
head dropped over to one side, the
blood all falling into one pool. The
bullet did not leave the skull after it
entered
The porter who had showed Mr..
Knox to the room went to bed and was
nearly asleep when the shot was fired,
so that it must have been at between 2
and O'Clock. He stated that he heard
the shot, but in his doing thought it
must have been OUT on the street, and
so paid no further attention to it.
1t was not until he went to the room at
1880 this morning that the body was
found He went to wake Mr.. Knox
and raped on the door. The door
still being ajar he noticed that the feet,
which we're where he could see them,
we're fully dressed, so he pushed the
door open to speak to him. Then he
noticed what had taken place. He
fastened to notify Mr.. Graves, the
hotel proprietor, and then the authori-
ties. Justice Slater was soon on the
scene. He summoned Jury CON-
posed of the following gentle
men: j. Krichbaum, Christ Book
enheuser, Fred Dickhaut, Andrew
Dahlstrom, John Engelhardt and
Ed. L. Abel. The jury viewed the re-
mains and held the inquest at once.
This lasted about an hour and brought
out the faces as above stated. The
verdict returned was death by gun
shot wound inflicted by the hand of the
deceased"
James Wallace Knox was born near
Pittsburg, Pa, 81 years ago. He be-
came very wealthy glass manufac
turer in that city and as a side issue
became one of the famous turfmen Of
the country, having once been the
owner OF the celebrated Nutwood, and
a breeder of fine horses. He served
through the war with a Pennsylvania
regiment and became a prisoner and
was one of those who were so unfor-
tunate as to get into Libbey prison.,
where he was held for six months.
About thirty years ago he married
Miss Kbella French, daughter of A. G..
French, of Pleasant Prairie, and sister
of Mrs. G., W. Allen. He leaves Mrs.
Knox and one son, Arthur, aged 28
years. Reverses had followed him
more or less for some years and finally
he lost all his property. The suicide
was a premeditated one and was
threatened several times. The cause
is given as dependency over his bust
ness reverses. Recently he has been
making Chicago his headquarters,
though be has been about Kenosha
great deal OF his time for the past two
or three years. The funeral will be
held here Monday at 10 ii. III. from c.
W. Aliens residence on Park place.