Ray County, Missouri - Miscellaneous - Napoleon Briggs Attempts Suicide Richmond Missourian 25 NOV 1932 Aged Man Makes Suicide Attempt Napoleon Briggs, 86, Recovering From Slashed Throat and Effects of a Dose of Strychnine. Napoleon Briggs, 86 years old, whose name has been prominent in the newspapers recently as the plaintiff in a divorce suit and also as the prosecuting witness in criminal charges filed against his grandsons, John Albert and Albert Berry, attempted to commit suicide Tuesday, it became known here today. The aged man lives with his daughter, Mrs. Henry Berry, of northeast of Taitsville. Tuesday morning he came out of his room with a bloody beck, announcing to his daughter that he had got tired of living and decided to take his life. Dr. G.W. Gaines was called from Knoxville. He found that the old man had made two gashes in his neck with a razor, but the wounds were shallow. An emergency dressing was administered and the physcian left. At 1 o’clock he was called back. When he arrived he found Mr. Biggs in convulsions, due to an overdose of strychnine. Control measures were taken and his recovery was achieved. The strychnine was in a bottle of tonic containing eight ounces, which he swallowed. The tonic contained about a grain of strychnine, enough to cause death. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Jenna Zunker USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free genealogical information on the Internet, data may be freely used for personal research and by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for profit or any form of presentation, must obtain the written consent of the file submitter, or their legal representative, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ------------------------------------------------------------------------