Amasa Hitchcock VanKirk (1844-1909)

VANKIRK, VAN KIRK

Posted By: Dorian Myhre (email)
Date: 12/7/2016 at 18:53:48

From Nevada Representative October 22, 1909 (front page)

DROPPED DEAD AT SANITARIUM

A. H. VanKirk, a Carpenter Falls at His Work

A. H. VanKirk, carpenter 66 or 67 years of age and having Rochester, Minnesota, for his home address fell dead at his work at the Sanitarium about 1:20 p. m. Thursday. Death came to him about as suddenly as it ever comes to anyone from natural causes. He had been in apparently good health and usual spirits through the forenoon, had eaten his lunch and gone back to work in the afternoon. His work for the moment happened to be about the foot of the shaft of the dumb waiter, and Mr. P. E. Jensen, the superintendent of construction, had just given to him some instructions and gone up stairs. He had kept on at his work for few minutes, when the elevator boy hearing a fall stepped in to see what it was about. Mr. VanKirk had fallen, leaving a nail partly driven, and was lying with his hammer on his breast. Dr. Heald of the Sanitarium and Mr. Jensen were instantly called; but there was nothing to be done except to care for the body and notify relatives.

As stated, Mr. VanKirk hailed so far as it known from Rochester, Minnesota but he had for several years been chiefly in the south. He was a member of the Adventist denomination, and he had worked under Mr. Jensen in the building of a sanitarium at Nashville, Tennessee and Atlanta, Georgia. He had remained at Atlanta after the completion of the sanitarium there; but he came up here about five weeks ago to help about finishing up the construction of the sanitarium here. He had since coming here boarded at S. E. Armstrong's house, and he had impressed himself most favorably upon all who had some in contact with him. He was a veteran of the civil war, and he had some grown children; but his wife had been dead for about fifteen years and he had therefore no home which held him very close. So his disposition was to follow the work of constructing sanitariums and he found in this work both employment at his trade as a carpenter, and also a great deal of pleasure.

A son at Graysville, Tennessee, being notified of his father's death, wired to have the body embalmed and that further instructions would be sent.