Harding - JH - 1891 - Montgomery InGenWeb Project

A special dispatch from Alton, Ill., to the St. Louis Globe Democrat contains the following particulars of the suicide of an old resident of this county at Alton last Wednesday: “J. H. Harding, of Crawfordsville, Ind., committed suicide yesterday afternoon at 5 o’clock. Harding was about 60 years old. He came here on Monday since which time he was engaged in canvassing the city with a patented hair wash.  He was in indigent circumstances, and asked for the cheapest room in Regan’s boarding house, 17, East Second Street. The first person to learn of the affair was one of the domestics. When she entered the room, he was hanging from a clothes hook. He had utilized two towels to accomplish his design. Dr. Schusssler was summoned but Harding was dead when he arrived. Among his effects was a letter was found from his daughter, Kate. It was dated at Brown’s Valley, Ind. Coroner Bonner was notified and will probably hold an inquest tonight. Deceased was not addicted to drink. He was simply poor and despondent.”