KENNEDY, Charles A. c1870-1915

KENNEDY

Posted By: S. Bell
Date: 8/22/2013 at 23:48:41

[Waterloo Times-Tribune, Saturday, October 16, 1915]

COMMITTED SUICIDE WHILE DESPONDENT

Charles A. Kennedy, Veteran
Sign Painter, Died in Hospital
Last Night From Poison Taken
With Suicide Intent

REFUSED TO EXPLAIN ACT

Charles A. Kennedy, aged 40, a sign painter, living at 310 Fremont Street, died at 12:40 midnight at St. Francis hospital from poison taken early in the day with suicidal intent. Despondence due to ill health is thought to have been the cause.

Kennedy was found unconscious in Lincoln park shortly before the noon hour yesterday. He had drunk the contents of a two ounce bottle of chloroform. Passersby noticed him lying in a heap beside a park bench and called the police. He was sent to the hospital and efforts made to save his life.

His aged mother, Mrs. Dennis Kennedy, 310 Fremont street, remained at his bedside until he died. He was conscious for a short time but refused to say why he had taken the poison, despite tearful pleas from his mother. He expressed no regrets. Kennedy had suffered from stomach trouble of late, relatives said. He was badly burned a year ago by an explosion in his paint shop on East Fourth street.

Kennedy was one of the first sign painters in Waterloo. He had considerable ability as a cartoonist and a commercial artist, and his work was in demand up until recent years.

The body was removed to the Hileman & Gindt undertaking parlors to await the completion of funeral arrangements.
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[Waterloo Times-Tribune, Sunday, October 17, 1915]

KENNEDY -- Funeral services of the late Charles A. Kennedy will be conducted at 3 p.m. today from his home, 310 Fremont Street. Rev. Effie McCullom Jones, pastor of the Universalist church, will officiate. The interment will be made in Fairview.
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[Waterloo Times-Tribune, Saturday, October 30 1915]

JURY SAYS KENNEDY WAS NOT A SUICIDE

Coroner's Inquest Reports That
Sign Painter Drank Chloroform
To Relieve Pain and Not With
Suicidal Intent

That Charles A. Kennedy, a sign painter, who died at St. Francis Hospital on the morning of Oct. 16, came to his death as the result of drinking chloroform to relieve pain and not with suicidal intent was the verdict of a coroner's jury last night. Charles Kennedy was found in Lincoln park shortly after the noon hour on Oct. 15 suffering from an overdoes of chloroform. The police were notified and he was rushed to the hospital where he died shortly after midnight.

Relatives testified at the coroner's inquest that Kennedy had been in ill health for some time and that he suffered from stomach trouble. After considering the evidence the jury returned the following verdict:

"We find that the deceased, Charles Kennedy, came to his death by taking internally an overdoes of chloroform; the same being taken for relief of pain and nervous condition as shown by the evidence introduced, and was not taken with suicidal intent."

The verdict was signed by J. B. Sherburne, F. A. Robinson and N. M. Beekly.

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Note: Ancestry has his dates 1869-1915
Multiple census entries have his abt 1870, so he would be older than 40 as the newspaper article indicates.