Tonight my 3rd Cousin Lillian Rider sent me the names and dates of her grand parents. I added them to Ancestry.com and then traveled back six generations quickly. Lillian is a descendant of some very notable and interesting ancestors.
Actors, professors, clergy, miller, author, and politician. But look at the figure of realestate asset of Sol Smith Russell! Yes, $2,000,000 and that was in 1902! Did you also see that he died of Hiccoughs? He is the second person I have researched who has died this way. I think so far, this is the best obituary I have read. This is why I shared it with my readers. I guess stage actors made bank in those days.
The interesting story here I will have to research is how he went from rags to riches. Just seven years prior in 1895, I found Sol and his family living in a Penal, Corrective and Charitable Institution. Grover Cleveland was President of the United States, and had just come through the worse depression of the time. The 1893 PANIC, where we can find unemployment at over 18%.
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| Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington D.C. |