The Pioneer Governor of Idaho Dies in Seattle
W. B. Daniels, a contemporary of James A. Garfield and a key figure in early Pacific Northwest history, passes away at the Fanny Paddock hospital.
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.
W. B. Daniels, ex-governor of Idaho, died today at the Fanny Paddock hospital of Bright's disease, aged 76 years. He had been ill for the past two months. The remains will be shipped to Vancouver, Washington, where two of his sons reside, one being the mayor and the other, Thurston Daniels, editor of the Vancouver Register. Governor Daniels was born in Ohio, on a farm adjoining that on which James A. Garfield was brought up, and the two were boys together. Daniels crossed the plains with an ox team in 1853 and settled in Yamhill county, Oregon. In 1863, he was appointed governor of Idaho by President Lincoln, and returned to Oregon upon the completion of his term. In 1870, he was appointed to a position in the Portland custom house. He came here about eight years ago and had held various positions in the Northern Pacific railroad.
“Governor Daniels was born in Ohio, on a farm adjoining that on which James A. Garfield was brought up, and the two were boys together.”
Fanny Paddock Hospital, once a cornerstone of Tacoma’s medical history, has long since vanished, much like the era of pioneer-governors who crossed the country by ox team. This obituary captures the tight-knit nature of 19th-century political life, where proximity to an future President was a defining biographical marker.
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