Alexander Cadwalader

I feel like I'm probably the only genealogist not chasing down the newly released 1940 census today. This post is a little more morbid than my usual, and apologies for this being the first thing up after a longer absence than I'd like, but I stumbled across this accidentally last night and need to get it out of my head somehow.

I've heard in the family lore that my great-great uncle, Alexander Cadwalader, died by suicide, but until last night never found anything substantiating that. Then again, I don't think I've looked terribly hard, either. I think I just sort of assumed any death notice for him would be non-existent or might vaguely reference an unexpected passing. In no way did I expect to find a headline stating he killed himself, and that the hypothesis was his fear of commitment in a sanitarium.

[1]

The article explains the cause of death and briefly recounts the incident from the perspective of a member of the household staff. The article mentions the county coroner, but states that a formal inquest into Alexander's death was not necessary.

Alexander was 20 years old at the time of his death on August 6, 1918, and was the youngest of the seven sons of Richard McCall Cadwalder (1839-1918) and Christine Williams Biddle Cadwalader (1847-1900) [see This is the Face of Genealogy]

Rest in Peace.

Alexander Cadwalader at Find a Grave

[1] "Alex. Cadwalader Died by Own Hand," Philadelphia Inquirer, 9 Aug. 1918. Online. GenealogyBank.com. Accessed 1 Apr 2012.