Death notice: Warren Jefferson, 1848. Sussex, Delaware

Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives Mary Hosea Rimlinger. MARYLHR@aol.com


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May 9,  1848 - The Delaware Gazette

Distressing Suicide
It is with deep regret that we announce the death by his own hand of Warren Jefferson, Esq., a
prominent and highly respected citizen of Sussex County, which occurred on Thursday last.  Mr.
Jefferson was a member of the last State Senate and in 1840 was the candidate of the Democratic
Party of this State for Governor.

He shot himself through the heart with a horse pistol, in the rear of his own house, where he was
immediately afterwards found dead.  He suffered for some time past under deep depression of
spirits, consequent upon various family afflictions.  His family have been hereditarily subject to
partial temporary............ ( the remainder of the article is damaged and missing)  


May 26, 1848  The Delaware Gazette
We cheerfully comply with the request of the sorrowing relatives of our deceased friend  in
publishing the following communication.  We sincerely regret that we were led into error by
misinformation, in our previous remarks, none sympathize more heartily with the bereaved than do
ourselves.

For the Delaware Gazette
 Messrs. Editors:  -  In reading over the Gazette of the 9th inst., we find a notice of the
melancholy death of Warren Jefferson, late of Sussex County, and in it we find some error, which
you will oblige his suffering and heartbroken family by correcting. 

You say "he suffered for sometime past under deep depression of spirits, consequent upon various
family afflictions.  His family have been hereditarily subject to partial temporary derangement of
mind.  A son of his destroyed himself some years since."

Now sirs, you have been wrongly informed, in some particulars, and I have no doubt you will without
hesitation, allow us to enable you to correct the errors of which we speak. Warren Jefferson was
one of our near neighbors and best acquaintance in the neighborhood, with him we have been very
familiar for about thirty-three years, and had been much with him within the last five years, and
was with him in the morning of the day on which the deplorable occurrence took place, and we will
frankly state to you that we never heard of any "hereditary temporary derangement of mind" either of
himself or family, before we read it in your pages of the 9th of May.  We wish this corrected.
Neither his immediate family nor the branches of his family of which there are very many, and they
are very numerous.  We would not have noticed this error, but for the sake of the feelings of the
more remote branches of the family, as we, ourself would let it pass and not murmur; but we feel
for others, and feel it duty bound to correct.  But we will inform you some facts relating to the
sufferings and disease of the deceased.

The deceased was not so far advanced in life as your informant supposed him to have been, he was
but sixty-three years (less ten days) of age at the time of his death, though quite infirm.  He was
afflicted with heart disease and "vertigo" to an alarming degree, and had been thus afflicted with
some intermission at times) for more than ten years.  Sometimes he could neither sleep or eat
sufficiently, or scarcely so, to support life, and it had been so with him for some eight or ten
days previous to his death.  We have frequently heard him say, when the disease has been most
severe, that he would rather die and get ease than live in so much suffering and pain.  But we
never for one moment, until we were compelled to the sorrowful reality, believed that he meant more
by those expressions than suffering persons are, and are apt to mean when they make similar ones,
nor do we yet think he had contemplated this act; we think from the state of his feelings, as
expressed to us when we left him in the morning of the "fatal and gloomy" day, that there must have
been a great change and finding himself nearly alone, he thought of the means to put an end to his
sufferings and in a moment, without waiting to look at the consequences, proceeded to use them.  He
had had much suffering and sorrow in his own family certainly, that is correct in the mind of your
informant; but not to run him beside himself and derange his mind, that was not the case.  It was
his severe physical suffering that prompted him to choose death rather than life, and thus he has
left us to mourn his premature departure. Lord have mercy on him and us.  Many of his immediate
family have died in a few years, he has sorrowed and wept over them, but this did not alienate his
mind.  The evening previous to his death and the morning of the same, he professed to feel better
than he had done for sometime, took some refreshments, and we left him (by eight o'clock in the
morning) sitting in the porch, and he had been walking in the Orchard and field the same morning,
said he felt much better.  His head had ceased to pain him so much.  We were to be absent but for a
short time and return, but before we returned a messenger arrived with the sorrowful information of
what had happened.

The son mentioned as destroying himself some years since was an afflicted son; had nearly run out
his life's sand by Pulmonary Consumption, and was advised by medical gentlemen to proceed to
Baltimore and take ship for a sea voyage for his health, advised that that would either cure him,
or he would not survive the voyage.  He proceeded to Baltimore to join a sea Captain of his
acquaintance and who he was convinced would take good care of him in his weak and helpless
situation, but when he arrived he found that the ship had sailed a few days previous, and he was
consequently to take his chance with rough strangers at sea, or die on shore.  He then, in view of
his chances, seemed to think it preferable to end his suffering speedily, and at that city, fifteen
years ago, he did so.  He was not said or thought to be, to our knowledge, any other than a man of
sound mind and not (other than by disease at the last moment and disappointment,) to act otherwise
in any matter or transaction.

Yours, respectfully,
A Sorrowing Relative