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Omaha, July 10, 1893
Mrs Leland Stanford,
Dear Madame.
As the one to whom Bishop Newman has committed the care of his mail and other matters, during his visit to South America, I write to say I have just received a letter from the Bishop, dated May 30, in which he states, he has not heard anything from home for three months. He was on shipboard when writing this letter and is now on the east coast, having finished his episcopal visitation of the west coast. He will remain for five or six weeks on the east coast and then return home. I am sending his mail to Buenos Ayres [sic] and shall continue to do so for a short time to come. I presume he has written you since the senator's decease, but fearing in his absence prevented from receiving his mail, such communication had been cut off, I make the above statement of his whereabouts and plan for returning home. I am sure that among the vast number of warm friends and ardent admirers of your precious husband, Bishop Newman stands foremost and were he where he could reach you, you would find him and wife near your [sic] in this hour of great bereavment [sic]. The religious papers of all the churches have spoken in the kindest terms of the grand man, that we have all learned to love and revere and none more so than those of the Methodist Episcopal Church. If you should desire at any time, any or all of these notices, I would be willing to forward them to you. Certainly the kindest and the best things have been said by the churches of your lamented husband. Truly
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you have reason to believe that the prayers of good men ascend daily in your behalf and none more fervent than those of our dear Bishop Newman and his saintly wife.
Your brother in Christ
A. Hodgetts
Pastor South Tenth st M.E. Church
Omaha Neb.
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City Public Schools
NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION,
SARATOGA, JULY 12-15.
MANAGER FOR STATE OF TEXAS:
ALEX. HOGG,
OFFICE, 303 LAMAR STREET.
Fort Worth, Texas, June 22d 1893
"Leaves have their time to fall, And flowers to wither at the north wind's breath, And stars to set - but all, Thou hast all seasons for thine own Oh! Death."
My Dear Mrs. Stanford:
But yesterday I was thinking of writing you, that written lately on two occasions hearing nothing from the Governor Alas! On opening the afternoon paper I read with sorrow the enclosed:
[newspaper clipping follows]
SENATOR STANFORD.
The Celebrated Californian Passes Over the River.
He Died Last Night at 12 O'clock From Appoplexy [sic] - His Death Was not Unexpected.
Menlo Park, Cal., June 21. - United States Senator Leland Stanford died at 12 o'clock last night. He passed away peacefully at his residence in Palo Alto.
Governor Stanford was in the best of spirits yesterday. He took a drive around his stock farm, and seemed as well as ever. He retired shortly after 10 o'clock, and about midnight his valet going into the governor's bedroom found he was dead. It has been evident for some time that Senator Stanford's demise was a question of but short time. His symptoms were appoplectic, [sic] and his weight was increasing alarmingly. There was a stiffness about his limbs that made locomotion an exceedingly difficult task. His body was fast becoming too heavy for his limbs to support. He could take only the slightest exercise. Curtis of San Francisco, his doctor, prescribed heroic treatment, but the senator was not ready to undergo the drastic methods for the reduction of flesh and the restoration of his waning strength. Appoleptic [sic] symptoms incresed and his situation became such as to cause serious alarm. About six weeks ago it was found necessary to impose severely plain diet upon the senator and since then his sole food has been dried hashed meal with hot water as the only liquid accompaniment. The senator rigidly adhered to the severe requirements of the physicians and it seemed for a time that its results were most beneficial and might have the effect of a cure. He expressed himself as much encouraged and looked forward cheerfully to the time he could devote himself with renewed energy to public affairs and to the completion of certain educational and other enterprises that were very near to his heart, but his strength was not sufficiently great to respond to the demands on it. He passed quietly
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It is needless for me to say I sympathize deeply with you - even more than laid at the death of Leland.
For when the son was taken the father - the husband was left - now son & husband both have been taken truly indeed are you bereft!
But you have the same saving consolation in the death of the husband that you had in the death of the son - that he too has simply "departed" - he has not "perished."
It is now over ten years since I first met the Governor. All this time he was
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my friend - cheering whenever he met me, offering his valuable counsel, his practical advice.
I feel that he has been cut off, it is true at a ripe old age, but in the very zenith of his usefulness, and in the midst of his still larger plans - & efforts for humanity.
His grand university - his other & just as noble benefactions for the betterment of the world are but in their infancy. His mantle must rest upon you, Mrs Stanford - especially in carrying out his great university conceptions. You must not forget
