“About ten o’clock last Tuesday morning the lifeless form of Mr. Harvey Stockham, an old and prosperous farmer of Madison township, was found hanging in the carriage house.”
“In the morning he had told his wife that he intended to do some work on his buggy, and went to the shed ostensibly for that purpose.”
“In a few hours Mrs. Stockham had occasion to go to the shed, where, to her horror, the ghastly sight confronted her.”
“The preparations for the suicide had been minute and painstaking. A trace chain wrapped twice around the crossbeam of the building from which hung a small rope about five feet long were the instruments of death. At one end of the rope was an iron hook, which he had fastened to the chain by climbing on a box about eighteen inches high. When found, one foot was swinging in the air and the other still rested on the box. Upon the box, also, were found his spectacles and a letter, written in the buggy shed, and while he was contemplating his desperate deed. The following is an exact copy:”
I, J. H. Stockham, have been despondent and cast down, and have had no satisfaction of this life so I have determined to end this life with myself. The cause of this was brought on by the La Grippe and no other cause. There is nobody to blame but me. I have no satisfaction on the account of it. Don’t blame my wife for it, for she is not to blame. I am sorry on her account, but I can’t help it; it appears I must do it. Joseph D. Stockham, I appoint you to settle up my estate according to my will which is in the hands of Samuel Erwin. I want my wife to have the twenty-five dollars which I have on hand and to account for it when my estate is settled, and if she needs any more before my estate is settled, let her have it, and charge to her and take it out of her share.
Now, Mary, I am sorry for you, but I cannot help it.
There is fifty dollars in the Citizens’ Savings Bank. Joseph, I want you to draw that out and pay it to my wife, and twenty-five dollars on hand. Pay this sum to my wife at my death and take her receipt for it and charge it to her to come out of my estate. I want no funeral. Get H. Lantz1 to make my coffin. I want it plain and substantial. Bury me in the clothes that I have got; they are good enough. Geo. Mault owes me one hundred dollars, secured by mortgage. Mandy Scott owes me one hundred and fifty dollars secured by mortgage. Will Erwin owes me forty-five dollars secured by note. Geo. Mault owes me ten dollars on account. When you find me bury me by the side of Catherine. Farewell to all.
“Mr. J. H. Stockham2 was seventy-three years, four months and sixteen days old, was a prosperous farmer, a good neighbor and an esteemed citizen. He was a christian and a church member for the last forty-five years. The explanation of his violent act is found in his ante-mortem statement which bears inherent evidence of a brain distraught by disease.”
“The deceased had been twice married, the last time about two years ago, to Mrs. Miller3, of Clay township, by whom he had no children. By his first wife4 he had eleven children, Mr. J. M. Stockham5, Mrs. M. B. Gilbert6 and Mrs. Richard Micklethwait7, of this city, being of the number.”
“The funeral occurred Wednesday afternoon at 2 o’clock. In accordance with his request no funeral sermon was preached, brief services at the grave being the only ceremony.”8
A page from the Dr. Gilbert Micklethwaite Family Photo Album
The Headstone of Joseph Harvey and Catharine Ann Stockham at Squire Cemetery
- Henry Lantz was a well-regarded carpenter in the Minford area
- Joseph Harvey Stockham
- Mary Ault, whose first marriage had been to a John Miller
- Catherine Ann Dewey Stockham
- John Milton Stockham
- Caroline Matilda Stockham Gilbert
- Rosana Ellen Stockham Micklethwaite
- Tired of Life: J. H. Stockham, of Madison Township, Suicides by Hanging. (1890, August 2). Portsmouth Times, p. 3.
