The Tragic End of Samuel S. Rhodes
A struggling Seattle bartender, gripped by addiction and marital strife, ends his life in a room at the Squire-Latimer building.
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.
Samuel S. Rhodes, a 34-year-old bartender who had been out of work for some time due to severe alcoholism, was found dead in his room at the Squire-Latimer building by his wife. Having struggled with alcohol and a laudanum habit, Rhodes reportedly made frequent empty threats of suicide to his wife. After telling her she would never see him alive again, he was found hours later with an empty laudanum bottle. His wife, described as a hardworking woman, had supported them since they moved from Kansas City three years prior.
“She says she was married to Rhodes in Kansas City just before coming here, and has had to work out to help make a living ever since; that her husband was very cross and demonstrative when under the influence of liquor.”
This account reflects the late 19th-century reality of addiction and limited mental health resources in Seattle, where suicide and chronic alcoholism were often reported with a mix of moral judgment and tragic observation. The mention of the 'Squire-Latimer block' connects the story to a specific, now-vanished piece of Seattle's early commercial core.
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