The Passing of Edward Eldridge
Washington loses a foundational figure who helped shape the state from its territorial beginnings.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
In the death of Hon. Edward Eldridge, of Whatcom county, the state of Washington loses one of its best known and most respected citizens. Mr. Eldridge was identified with this commonwealth almost from its beginning. He is a pioneer of pioneers. He came to the sound before the great Indian war, and took part in that struggle for the possession of this fair land. He was one of the sturdy few who could, with all justice, claim to have been one of the founders of the state. Mr. Eldridge had always taken an active part in public affairs. In territorial days he was several times a member of the legislature. He was also a member of the convention which framed the constitution of the state of Washington, and was a delegate to the Republican national convention at Minneapolis in June last. Washington can ill afford to spare such a man as Edward Eldridge. For such men a whole state may well mourn.
“He was one of the sturdy few who could, with all justice, claim to have been one of the founders of the state.”
Edward Eldridge was a signatory of the Washington State Constitution. His death in 1891 marked the fading of the generation that personally negotiated the transition from territory to statehood, a period whose political legacy still dictates the state's modern structure.
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