The Governor Died Two Days After Taking to His Room — and Never Said Goodbye
Samuel G. Cosgrove, elected to lead Washington in November, died of Bright's disease at a California sanitarium. Olympia draped the capitol in crape, called out the National Guard, and swore in his lieutenant governor before the funeral was over.
Olympia, Wash., March 31. — The funeral services of the late Gov. S. C. Cosgrove, who died at Paso Robles, Cal., Sunday morning, were held in the house chambers at 2 p.m. today with full military honors.
All companies of the national guard stationed in Western Washington were called out and participated in the services. Governor Cosgrove was a member of several secret societies and each of these orders sent large delegations.
The body was met in Portland Tuesday evening by a military escort, Gov. M. E. Hay, state officers and a committee from the recent house and senate. The funeral cortege reached Olympia early Wednesday morning and the body of the late governor was immediately taken to the capitol.
All flags in the city have been at half-mast all day and will remain so for 30 days. The state capitol has been draped in crape.
Heart failure was the immediate cause of the governor's death. Although his condition had recently been reported as improving, the governor had really been growing worse, and two days ago he took to his room. Although conscious of his weakened condition, death was sudden and there was no opportunity for a last farewell between husband and wife.
Bright's disease had marked Governor Cosgrove for a victim over eight months ago. He broke down in health during the Washington primary campaign, retiring to his home at Pomeroy, Wash., in September, and was brought to Paso Robles shortly after election in November.
Lieutenant-Governor Hay, who has been acting governor since January 17, took the oath of office Monday and immediately issued a proclamation requesting all public offices be closed Wednesday, and that memorial services be held throughout the state at the hour of interment.
"My policy as governor of Washington will be simply to carry out the line of work I have been performing as acting governor," said Lieut.-Gov. Hay today. "In the matter of appointments it is my aim and desire to secure the very best men possible to fill every position. I do not contemplate making many changes."
“Although conscious of his weakened condition, death was sudden and there was no opportunity for a last farewell between husband and wife.”
Washington's fifth governor won office and was dead within months, and the state's answer was procedural: an oath, a proclamation, a promise of continuity. The 1909 transition is a reminder that governments are built to survive the people in them — a lesson every modern administration, in Olympia or in Newport city hall, still leans on in its first hundred days.
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