Year: 1876

Grafton ana singular elaDOratlOn commit
ted the most remarkable suicide on rec
ord, Before he began the work of self
destruction, or even before he reached th
city, he wrote Il long and detailed nara
tive OF what he purposed doing, and alte
his death the letter was forwarded to the
Chicago Times. whittier it was addressed
FREDERICK ADDISON JEFFREY's LETTER


In an envelope directed to the Chicago
Times is Il statement OF his deliberate at
tempt to Kill himself. 1t is an open let
ter and the deceased probably intended i
to be forwarded to his brother at Syra
cuse through the courtesy Of the Times
as frequent illusions are made to hi
brother Ed, - and it contains particular.
regarding the disposition of his private
effects. Such portions of it as are of in
tcrest to the public are herewith publish
ed, and the letter will be placed in tn,
hands of the Coroner for its proper trans
mission to his relatives.


The letter is dated July /, and states
that he is at the time OF writing on the
steamer Lady Lee, in the Mississippi, al
the foot OF Spruce street, st. Louis. lie
says he commences the letter there as he
fears that when he gets to Chicago he will
have too little time to say all he wishes
to say, as he will have to answer some
letters he expects to get when reaching
there. 1t then proceeds as follows:


IL will probably arrive in Chicago on
Monday evening i'll time Tor supper and
my last nights sleep. | shall stop at the
Palmer House, which | think is the best
hotel there, like Chicago better than
any city have yet been in, though none
Of them are exactly what would like for
q home. 90 back there because that is
the best l can die in a palace, or next
thing to it, a first class hotel. Who could
blame me for not doing so, then? You
may wonder why am determined to 90,
but | shall not tell you my full reasons for
it; for if | were to express my candid
opinion of this life, and enter into a
lengthy argument such as | have had
within myself, | would not be alone in
suicide; but | shall not do this; let each
one think for himself


8! am not despondent; tar from it.
am happy and shall die So. You may have
read Of people being gifted with foresight,
who could read the future and tell of COM
ing events. used to think them all hum
! ugs, but have now personal reasons for
changing my ideas. What ] have seen
and what know of the next few years
shall not tell fully and plainly AS said.
am happy, TOO happy to continue in this
state Of lite, where all one can get will be
as quickly snatched away from him. |
wish that might tell you all and why |
choose this to y life Of joy on earth. for
such might have had Ills not through
loss Of hope that this end comes, for had
hope and was happy, am hnppy, in fact,
as said before No one has ever passed
four months OF such genuine happiness as
the last tour have been to me. Neither
has one thought of, learned, or seen such
sights as | have been allowed to think,
learn and see. | never felt better in all
my life. No one would guess to see me
handle the dirk which brought here that
| was going 10 send it through my heart
in less than il week


'Neither could one suspect when in the
handsome store getting Il rope. that tn at
cord would help eNtinguish the
vent to the joke Of my life and caused the
to double up with laughter,
and present it to me, as he said, free
gratis, without pay Then there are the
poisons that bothered me the most. How
did get them finally it matters not,


lone OF these days you will see speed
that will travel as fast as thought or sight
Twoud be fine, wouldn't it, to rise in the
+l.
evening in San Francisco? and nice to
rise in the morning in the former place
and pass entirely around the globe, re-
turning in time to ill the same bed the
very next night? You may wonder again
why /, knowing these strange, vet not at
all strange things, should want to die
The very knowledge of them has cost me
my life, or rather my existence, for actU-
ally | DO not expect to De what is known
us dead lou may wish to know why
do SO much Wei, for more reasons than
one. lin the first place, to show that death
has no terrors for me, and in another way
to disligure myself beyond recognition.
so that if any are foolish enough to weep
over me, it may be asked for whom are
they weeping without their being able to





eide | shall wear my old black pants, an
old shirt and 4 thin striped coat. These
shall be saturated with alcohol, in order
that they may burn with rapidity. Thi,
is how | shall do the deed There will be
many who will surmise this way and that


"ln the first place, sha II 90 to the
Palmer House and get u room with bath
in it, or attached; shall eat my supper,
call for my mail and retire to my room
This will be on Monday night. | shall
answer the letters which | receive and
write to Dr. r. Y. Pierce of Buffalo, Civ
ing him my body and telling him how to
dispose of it. | shall also write letter to
my friends in general, which | will see is
sent to the Chicago Times, with one for
the editor Of that paper of papers This
will consume the greater part of the night
undoubtedly. | will then take II "snooze. >
and after breakfast shall begin my pre-
parations for the deed. Shall test the hot
water and get things ready for the eve
ning's entertainment This is to be my
debut in tragedy. When night comes on
| shall draw Il piece Of Wire across the
bathtub lengthwise, its use to be soon eX-
planned. The wire will be properly ad-
justed the pistol loaded, and. with the
razor, conveniently hung on strings where
| can readily reach them, The poisons
will then be carefully fixed and mixed
The rope, understand, is to come where it
will suspend my body, when attached, ex-
actly over the middle of the tank. Direct
ly over this rope. and on the wire before
mentioned, | shall attach cotton or some
thing else which will burn well when
alcohol is poured on it. The moose will
have been made in the cord, and above
my head on the rope shall be placed like
torch which, when ignited, will burn the
cord and let me down. | will then pack
everything but the clothes which am to
wear, and then being all ready, III fill the
tank with rs hot water as can get Then
mount the tub with foot on each side of
it; carefully pour the liquor over my
pants legs and coat and shirt; will allow
Il rope OF some soft material to fall from
the torch above down my back will then
light the prepared torch on the wire,
which | then will be standing over; will
raise myself upon tip-toe and fix the rope
about my neck. 1t shall be well soaped
so that when my feet leave the sides o
the tank and my full weight comes upon
II II will I,, ~ -, prattxv tirht npa tb in q