The Sudden Passing of Captain E. A. Starr
A beloved community leader and steamship captain dies suddenly under mysterious circumstances.
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.
About eleven o'clock on Friday, our community was startled by the information that Capt. E. A. Starr, of the steamer 'Alice Stafford', was prostrated by a serious illness that threatened to terminate in a month or less. Dr. Steele and Mr. Stamford were immediately notified and proceeded forthwith to the steamer, but arrived too late to afford any relief, and in a short time he passed to the bourne beyond. From Dr. Steele we gather the following particulars: Yesterday afternoon, it appears, Capt. Starr was in ordinary health and good spirits, and late in the evening he ate heartily of oysters. Soon afterward he experienced violent cramps in the stomach, and on approaching midnight, he sent ashore for Dr. Spencer, who, after administering a hypodermic injection, gave him a prescription containing morphine, the effect of which upon a system so much under the influence of strong liquor is opposed to the stimulation of the heart. Capt. Starr retired to his room, and the boat returned to this place, and although he did not during his journey to the city show any sign of his impending end, no suspicions were aroused of the true state of the case. About 10 o'clock, however, it was noticed that he was quiet in his room, and it was discovered that the captain was gasping for breath. The alarm was immediately given, and when the physician arrived, they found him in a comatose state in his berth, from which all efforts to arouse him were futile. We have not the heart to write further of the sad catastrophe by which our community loses one of its most enterprising citizens. A feeling of poignant regret pervades the whole community, and those who knew the deceased must feel the deepest loss. He was a firm friend, a sterling citizen, and a true man in every sense of the term. Peace to thy shade, and mayst thou rest in thy genius and in thy love to the blessed.
“A feeling of poignant regret pervades the whole community, and those who knew the deceased must feel the deepest loss.”
Steamboat captains like E.A. Starr were the backbone of Snohomish's early economy, linking the town to the outside world via the Snohomish River. The shock and mourning described in this 1870s report capture a tight-knit frontier society where the loss of a single prominent figure felt like a blow to the town's entire future.
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