A Lonely Passing in Hoquiam
A Swedish immigrant is found dead in his home a week after his passing, leaving behind a modest fortune and unanswered questions.
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.
Wednesday forenoon some inquiry was made as to the whereabouts of A. W. Anderson, when J. S. Milligan and Lew Miller went to the little house on 7th Street, just off from I, and looked in the window. There they saw Anderson lying in the bed and apparently asleep. As he had not been seen since Thursday of last week, the town officials were informed and on the door being forced open, it was discovered that Anderson lay there dead. The clothes were drawn over his face and otherwise were undisturbed. Coroner Stapp, of Aberdeen, was notified and concluded an inquest was necessary. The inquest showed death to have resulted from the rupturing of the mitral valve of the heart. Anderson was a native of Sweden and was a man free from vices. Being prudent and industrious, he had considerable property and money here, having received $2,400 on a timber claim less than two months since. Being a member of the order of Odd Fellows, his burial was left to the lodge members by whom he was buried in Aberdeen.
“The face gave indications of the body having been dead for at least a week.”
A.W. Anderson’s story highlights the precariousness of life for single laborers in the late 19th-century timber boom. While Aberdeen and Hoquiam are now modern cities, the isolation of living alone in a 'little house' on the edge of town remains a poignant, recurring reality for many individuals today.
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