A Final Shift at the Foundry
A Union veteran's tragic death while returning to work reflects the precarious nature of labor and health in 1878 Seattle.
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.
Mr. Edward C. Tenny, who came to this city with his wife and two young children from California about six months ago, was for a time engaged in the large foundry on Front Street, of which his brother is one of the proprietors. He was obliged to quit work about two months ago on account of his health. Feeling much better yesterday afternoon, he went to the foundry and said he thought he would go to work again. He had not been at work but a few minutes when his brother heard a sort of gargling noise, and on looking around saw a fearful stream of blood from the poor fellow’s mouth. Medical aid was secured as soon as possible, but before two minutes after the first noise was heard, Mr. Edward C. Tenny breathed his last. The doctor testified that a tumor in the stomach, from which the deceased had been suffering for a long time, had burst, thus causing almost instant death. The deceased, though among us but a short time, had a host of friends. He was an honored member of the Odd Fellows and will be buried by that order. The bereaved wife and family have the sympathy of the entire community in this their hour of sorrow. Mr. Tenny was a Union soldier and fought all through the late civil war, except six months in Andersonville.
“He had not been at work but a few minutes when his brother heard a sort of gargling noise, and on looking around saw a fearful stream of blood from the poor fellow’s mouth.”
Edward Tenny’s story highlights the historical lack of safety nets for working families in Seattle’s early industrial era. Today, while the foundry districts have transitioned to tech and service economies, the precarity of laborers facing health crises without adequate support remains a haunting echo of this 1878 tragedy.
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