Sudden Death of a Whatcom Minister
Rev. J. V. Dimon, a former minister who recently took a job as a mill timekeeper, dies suddenly on a streetcar.
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.
The community was greatly shocked today by the news of the sudden death of Rev. J. V. Dimon, in a streetcar, while en route to his home about noon from the Cornwall mill, where he had been timekeeper for several months since retiring from the ministry. Just after taking his seat in the car, and while the conductor was standing before him to take his ticket, a deadly pallor overspread his countenance and he fell over with one elbow resting on the seat, his eyes closed and his lips quivering. The car meanwhile was speeding onward along Elk street and did not stop until Holly street was reached, when Dr. MacPherson was hastily summoned, but when he arrived, Mr. Dimon had breathed his last without speaking a word. He was about 45 years of age, of fine physique and apparently strong and healthy. His friends say, however, that he had been feeling unwell for some time and had expressed the thought that he might die suddenly. In religion he was a Congregationalist and as a minister and a citizen in everyday life he was highly esteemed. He leaves a wife, who has long been in delicate health, and three children.
“The community was greatly shocked today by the news of the sudden death of Rev. J. V. Dimon, in a streetcar.”
The transition from the pulpit to the mill was a common reality for many in the 1890s, highlighting the precarious nature of both religious and industrial labor. Today, this story serves as a reminder of how quickly the domestic landscape of the 19th-century Northwest could be disrupted by sudden, unexplained medical emergencies.
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