A Sudden Tragedy at the Hoquiam Dance
A beloved young Aberdeen businessman collapses and dies mid-dance, sending shockwaves through the community.
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 entire community has been saddened by the sudden death of Walter W. Sargent. While attending a social dance at Hoquiam last Saturday night, and just after finishing a dance, he started for a seat, staggered, fell into a chair, and almost before any one could reach his side, had expired. Dr. South, who was present, says that there were a few pulsations of the heart after he reached him, so that death is supposed to have been caused by a clot of blood at the base of the brain. The deceased was 23 years, six months, and 15 days old, unmarried, and a member of the drug firm of Evans & Sargent. He belonged to the Knights of Pythias, was a member of the Aberdeen cornet band, and an officer in Company K militia. He was buried from the Congregational church on Tuesday forenoon, the interment being made in the Wishkah cemetery. All the places of business were closed during the funeral services.
“—Then steal away, give little warning, Choose thine own time, Say not Good-Night,—but in some brighter clime Bid me Good-Morning.”
The sudden loss of a vibrant community member at a local dance highlights the fragility of life in the 1890s, much as such unexpected tragedies continue to halt and unify small towns today. Walter Sargent was a local fixture, and the decision of the entire town to close its doors for his funeral reflects the tighter, more localized social fabric of Grays Harbor during the timber boom.
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