One of many children of John A. and Harriet Workman, the young teacher and attorney arrived in Chariton during 1882. The Democrat-Leader of Nov. 2, 1882, reported: "Mr. A.J. Workman of Keosauqua arrived on Tuesday at noon, and having formed a partnership with Major Woodward in the land, loan, law and abstract business, he has hauled his coat and settled down to hard work. Mr. Workman is a young attorney, well learned in the law, active, energetic, and will no doubt meet with the success here that such qualifications merit."
Mr. Workman probably came to Chariton because of his close friendship with E. Bates Manning (1861-1888), son of Keosauqua's Edwin Manning, whose banking and mercantile empire extended to Lucas County through the partnership of Manning & Penick. Bates Manning arrived in town at about the same time to work in his father's enterprise and the two young men were roommates, sharing quarters over the kitchen in the rather grand G.J. Stewart home on North Grand Street.
Newspaper reports 1883-1885 suggest that Andrew was a very social young man, moving within a group of Chariton young people who most likely would have described themselves as Chariton's best. His partnership with Emmett Woodward continued into 1884, but then was dissolved and A.J. established an independent law practice on the square. During midyear 1885, for unknown reasons, he moved back to Keosauqua.
The news of Mr. Workman's death reached Chariton during mid-July of 1886 and The Herald reported, discreetly, in its edition of July 15: "Mr. A.J. Workman, formerly a resident of Chariton, died at his home in Van Buren county on the 7th inst. and was buried on the 8th. We did not learn the cause of death."
Sam King, by now editor of what had been the Democrat-Leader but now was just The Democrat, was not so discreet. His report of July 15, headlined "Another Wreck," commenced with a reprint of a news item from The Keosauqua Democrat:
"We regret to learn of the death of Andrew J. Workman, which occurred at 2 o'clock yesterday. Deceased was 26 years of age. He possessed a very good education, taught some, was admitted to the practice of law, and engaged in the practice at Chariton and later at Keosauqua. He was bright and smart, and of pleasing address and agreeable manners. He had many friends, and a bright future. But unfortunately a passion for stimulants marred and finally completely blighted a career that would undoubtedly have been creditable alike to himself and his friends. The funeral took place at 2 o'clock today (Keosauqua Democrat)."
Unwilling to allow the report from Keosauqua to speak for itself, Mr. King, somewhat prone himself to hysteria if not to "stimulants," then added his own paragraph:
"Deceased was well known in Chariton where he resided for two or three years, and was for a while a member of the firm of Woodward & Workman in the abstract and loan business. He was a young man of considerable natural ability. But unfortunately he came to man's estate without having learned the necessity of curbing the evil passions and controlling the consuming appetites that beset us. Thus he soon became a wreck, going to his untimely grave shouting back to us the awful warning that "the wages of sin is Death."
Yikes. They just don't write obituaries like that any more ....
"We regret to learn of the death of Andrew J. Workman, which occurred at 2 o'clock yesterday. Deceased was 26 years of age. He possessed a very good education, taught some, was admitted to the practice of law, and engaged in the practice at Chariton and later at Keosauqua. He was bright and smart, and of pleasing address and agreeable manners. He had many friends, and a bright future. But unfortunately a passion for stimulants marred and finally completely blighted a career that would undoubtedly have been creditable alike to himself and his friends. The funeral took place at 2 o'clock today (Keosauqua Democrat)."
Unwilling to allow the report from Keosauqua to speak for itself, Mr. King, somewhat prone himself to hysteria if not to "stimulants," then added his own paragraph:
"Deceased was well known in Chariton where he resided for two or three years, and was for a while a member of the firm of Woodward & Workman in the abstract and loan business. He was a young man of considerable natural ability. But unfortunately he came to man's estate without having learned the necessity of curbing the evil passions and controlling the consuming appetites that beset us. Thus he soon became a wreck, going to his untimely grave shouting back to us the awful warning that "the wages of sin is Death."
Yikes. They just don't write obituaries like that any more ....
1 comment:
Those old obituaries are full of information not found in today's obits. I have one of a young ancestor of mine who shot his wife and then himself and is quite graphic in its detail. Modern obits are quite boring in comparison.
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