Washington City
December 12, 1835 Dear Sir
Your Obd Sevt[Obedient Servant]John M Robinson His Excellincy Joseph Duncan.
December 12, 1835 Dear Sir
It is with most sincere regret and deep pain I inform you of the Death of my Colleague
the Hon Elias Kent Kane. He died this morning half after one oclock; his disease was on him when he reached the City and was a relaps of congestive fever with which he was afflicted last fall.1 Was in his place in the Senate on Monday remained but a short time, returned to his room at his Fathers house where
he had the most tender & unremitted attention aided by the most able medical assistance
but all to no purpose2
Very RespectfullyYour Obd Sevt[Obedient Servant]John M Robinson His Excellincy Joseph Duncan.
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CITY OF WASHINGTON
DEC[DECEMBER]
13
DEC[DECEMBER]
13
FREE
Free
J M Robinson
His Excellency
Joseph Duncan
Vandalia
Illinois
J M Robinson
1Doctors in the nineteenth century often considered fever to be a disease in itself
rather than a symptom. The term “congestive fever” was used to describe cases of malaria
that included pulmonary edema symptoms such as difficulty breathing, shortness of
breath, and coughing.
Frank R. Freemon, Gangrene and Glory: Medical Care during the American Civil War, 206-08; “Fevers,” in Glenna R. Schroeder-Lein, Encyclopedia of Civil War Medicine (Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2008), n.p.
2Until 1913, when the Seventeenth amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified,
state legislatures elected each state’s U.S. Senators. After Kane’s death, the two chambers of the General Assembly met in joint session to elect his replacement. Following many votes, they elected
William Lee D. Dwing to fill Kane’s vacant Senate seat.
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 167-75.
Autograph Letter Signed, 2 page(s), Folder 250, GA Session: 9-2, Illinois State Archives (Springfield, IL),