Death of William H. Vanderbilt and Cortland Local News

William H. Vanderbilt

The Cortland News, Friday, December 11, 1885.

Death of Wm. H. Vanderbilt.

With All His Money He Goes the Way of Flesh and Blood.

   NEW YORK, Dec. 8, 1885.—William H. Vanderbilt, the Money King, died suddenly at his residence in this city about three o'clock this afternoon. He had been in his usual health, and the announcement of his death was not credited at first although later news confirmed the report.

   At 11 o'clock he sent to the Grand Central depot for his old time friend, Chauncey M. Depew, with the message that he wished to see him. Mr. Depew was engaged in a conference at the depot and sent word that he would not be able to come for an hour or two, and Mr. Vanderbilt delayed the appointment till 1 o'clock, and to occupy the interval went down to the studio of J. Q. A. Ward, the sculptor in West 22nd street, to sit for a bronze bust of himself, which the trustees of the College of Physicians and Surgeons wished to place in the vestibule of the college, for the erection of which he gave half a million of dollars.

   He returned and took lunch at 12:30 with his wife, his son George, and Mr. Twombly, and at the table was noticeably bright and cheerful. At one o'clock Robert Garrett, the President of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, called upon Mr. Depew at the Grand Central depot, and finding him still engaged there went up to Mr. Vanderbilt's house to inform the millionaire and take Mr. Depew’s place. Mr. Vanderbilt greeted him cordially and engaged in a long and animated conversation with him about railroad matters. This conference lasted more than an hour and Mr. Vanderbilt sent word to his son-in-law, Mr. Twombley, that he would be compelled to forego the intended drive.

   The two railroad magnates were discussing the terminal facilities of the Baltimore and Ohio, the new inlet into the city that [seamed] by the way of Staten Island, and Mr. Vanderbilt expressed a lively interest in the results that were to follow from the new enterprise. It was while the talk turned upon the scenes of his childhood and early work contrasted with the tremendous achievements of his ripe old age, that Mr. Garrett sitting on a sofa and facing the millionaire, who leaned forward in his arm chair as was his habit when thoroughly interested, that the President of the Baltimore and Ohio was suddenly made aware of a slight indistinctness in Mr. Vanderbilt's speech that grew into an inarticulate sound. As he leaned over to catch the words Mr. Vanderbilt pitched forward without warning and fell heavily to the floor on his face.

   Mr. Garrett sprang to his feet with an exclamation of alarm, and seizing a pillow from the sofa laid it under his friend's head, then summoned Mrs. Vanderbilt, and George, the youngest son. Messengers were sent in haste for physicians.

   One in the neighborhood responded first, and was followed almost immediately by the family doctor, Dr. James W. McLean. Such simple restoratives as were at hand had been hurriedly applied but human aid was in vain. Mr. Vanderbilt never spoke or moved after he fell under the sudden stroke, and died within a few minutes without a struggle. To all intents and purposes he was dead when he fell forward on the floor.

   It was 2:30 o'clock when Dr. McLean lead the stricken widow from the room, where her husband had sat planning and working in the full pride of health and strength a few minutes before. Dr. McLean pronounced his death the result of a sudden stroke of paralysis due to the bursting of a large blood vessel at the base of the brain, of the kind that are absolutely fatal at the moment, and stated that his death was painless as it was sudden. The doctor knew his patient most intimately, and promptly certified to the cause of death to avoid the unnecessary formality of a coroner's inquest and an autopsy.

 

TOWN CORRESPONDENCE.

South Cortland, December 9, 1885.

   We regret to learn that Frank Gillett is still at Middletown asylum with slight hopes of recovery.

   Riley Niles has a lame back caused by carrying a seventy-five pound pumpkin, which he raised on his farm, into the cellar.

   There is a rumor that a new society will be started here to be known as the "busy bees," the object of which is to look after the poor in our vicinity and see that they are not suffering for the necessaries of life.

   John Gillen, while working in the Gracie swamp woods last Friday, had the misfortune to break one of his legs. The injury is a painful one and will result in laying Mr. Gillen up for a long time. Dr. F. Hyde was called and set the broken limb. Since the above was written we learn that Mr. Gillen is dead.

   Never sign a paper for a stranger. There are swindlers abroad in this county trying to obtain farmers' signatures under false pretenses to innocent looking documents, which in many instances are twisted into promissory notes.

 

Chicago, N. Y., Dec. 9, 1885.

   There are two or three young and some older married ladies in this place who seem to have nothing to do but run around and pick up some scandal and distribute it around among their neighbors, with variations, too, as they never tell anything twice alike, either. They might better go to taking in washing, if they can't find anything else to do, and help their husbands pay their honest debts.

   Our postmaster, Mr. Franklin, came very near getting his leg broken last week and we notice he is yet very lame.

   John Gillen, John Franklin and Michael Sheridan all received more or less serious injuries during the past week while felling trees.

   The remains of Mr. Asa Main, formerly of this place, were interred in the South Cortland Rural Cemetery one day last week.

 

LOOKS LIKE HOMICIDE!

The Haughton — Robie Elopement Likely to Bring to Life the Cause of the Sudden Death of Mrs. Janet Robie.

   For some time past the inhabitants of the quiet little village of McGrawville have been agog over the elopement of Frank Haughton and Miss Grace Robie and the stories have been embarrassing to Mrs. Haughton and her family who are highly respected people of McGrawville. In order to give our readers a correct idea of the situation at present, it is necessary to give a short history of both families.

   The Robie family tor several years have lived on a farm in the town of Solon, about three miles south-east of McGrawville and consisted of Mr. Robie, who is blind, Mrs. Robie, who was a cripple having no use of her limbs whatever, and several children, the two elder being Grace and Mabel. Mrs. Robie used to add much to the support of the family by peddling throughout the county and was widely known.

   Grace Robie was given a good education at the Cortland Normal School, and taught school several terms in Texas Valley after she left Cortland. Of late it was evident that Grace had gone to the bad.

   On the twenty-fifth of December last Mrs. Robie died very suddenly and rumors were whispered that it was not a natural death either. Dr. M. R. Smith, of Solon, said her death was due to long troubles, and in her conversation about the matter Grace always maintained that her mother was better off dead than living.

   Frank Haughton lived on the farm adjoining the one occupied by the Robies and was highly esteemed by his neighbors, and seemed to think a good deal of his wife and children until about the time of Mrs. Robie's death. Now, however, a change came over him. He assisted Grace in the business of the farm, selected a burial place for her mother, and finally fell a victim to her wiles. Mrs. Haughton taxed him for his unfaithfulness and he acknowledged it, but promised that he would have nothing more to do with Grace. He did not keep his promise however, as he and Grace held secret meetings and exchanged letters almost daily.

   Mr. Haughton finally decided to sell his farm, and came to Cortland to get auction bills printed, and while he was gone one of his little girls found a package containing 27 letters from Grace to "My Dear Frank" under one of the barns. She took them to her mother who found them to be very indecent. In one of them Grace says, "I wish I had died when mother did, but I wouldn't have gone to Heaven with her." In another letter Grace says about the same as it she was a murderer.

   The auction came off on the 21st of last month and the following Monday Mrs. Haughton came to Cortland. When she returned she found that her husband had departed, the Robie family had moved to Cortland, Mabel had married and the father was working for his board. Grace packed what goods she owned and had them shipped to "Frank Haughton, Great Bend, Pa.," and a dispatch from the chief of police at that place says Haughton and a woman are keeping house there.

   The letters are so criminating that the authorities thought it best to look into the matter and an investigation is being held before Justice Bouton to-day.

 

USED HIS SIX-SHOOTER.

W. S. Barnum, of Syracuse, Kills His Man at Trinidad, Co.

   On Thanksgiving day at Trinidad, Col., W. S. Barnum, of Syracuse, shot and killed "Sam" Kennedy, while they were both attending a dance. Barnum is well known in some portions of this county, he having been a Lieutenant in Co. K of the 157th regiment which was mainly made up in Marathon. Those who know him will remember him as a bluff, out spoken man, with a heart as big as an ox, but one who allows no man to abuse him.

   The following is a portion of a statement he made after the shooting of Kennedy:

   "My son Fred wrote me before I came out here this fall that this man Kennedy had said that he would wind me up when I came to this country again, and I never saw the man until I met him at the dance Thanksgiving night.

   “Every fall that I have been here there has been a dance given by some of the cowboys in the mountains but I never attended one till last Thursday, when I thought I would go and see how they were managed. I was told when I got to the dance that Kennedy was going to kill several men before morning. As I had never met him I had him pointed out to me. He was a very large man, standing more than six feet high. I noticed that he was watching me, and I frequently saw him near me, and from his looks I made up my mind that he meant mischief. After supper as I was standing talking to Mr. and Mrs. Ellis, he came up with one Tom Thorp and commenced to abuse Ellis. Then he mentioned my son Fred's name in connection with Ellis. Just then Fred came alone and he commenced to abuse him. Then he said to me:

   “’I believe your name is Barnum?'

   "I told him that it was, and asked him what I could do for him. He said that if I would step out doors he would show me. I told him that I had no business with him, and if he had any with me I knew nothing about it. Then he began to abuse Fred again and spoke of my son William, who is in Syracuse, and said if he had him he would fix him. A good deal of talk followed, that is not necessary now to repeat, and finally I said to him, 'You big dirty loafer, what do you want?' and I stepped up close to him. He at once struck at me with his right hand but did not hit me, at the same time reaching for his six- shooter with his left hand. As soon as he pulled his revolver out I broke his arm down with my right hand and knocked the revolver to the floor.

   "I had only a few moments before put on my overcoat as there was no fire in the hall and I was cold. It was lucky that I had it on, for, my revolver was in the right hand pocket of the coat, and without it I believe that it would be me and not Kennedy who would be the corpse. I fired three shots, all I had in the revolver, at him. He fought hard, and after I had fired he tried to clinch with me, but this did not last long.

   “The whole trouble, it appears, began between my son Fred and Kennedy on the Fourth of July last at a picnic. Afterwards, he swore that he would get even with Fred for preventing him from killing Holmes, and he gave out that he would whip any of the Barnum family. That night I killed him, Mr. Acres, at whose place the dance was, and his son tried to get him to give up his revolver before he tackled me, and let the killing business go until morning, so as not to break up the dance. But he said no, and that he was determined to kill his men before morning. He evidently was thirsting for the blood of several of us, but he began at the wrong man.

   “No one regrets this affair more than I do, but it was unavoidable under the circumstances. I have plenty of friends here who will take care of my case, and my friends in Syracuse need not worry about me. I'll come out all right.”

   Since the above was in type the wires bring the news that Mr. Barnum had a preliminary hearing before Judge Roosa, at Trinidad, on Saturday last, which resulted in his acquittal.

 

Reference:

William H. Vanderbilt: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Vanderbilt