| | 
William Harris Wharton (1802-1839) —
of Texas.
Born in Virginia, 1802.
Delegate
to Texas Convention of 1832 from District of Victoria, 1832; delegate
to Texas Convention of 1833 from District of Victoria, 1833; delegate
to Texas Consultation of 1835 from District of Columbia, 1835;
member of Texas
Republic Senate from District of Brazoria, 1836, 1837-39; died in
office 1839.
Killed when he accidentally shot
himself while dismounting from his horse, near
Hempstead, Waller
County, Tex., March 14,
1839 (age about 36
years).
Interment at Restwood
Memorial Park, Clute, Tex.
|
| |
Thomas Walker Gilmer (1802-1844) —
of Virginia.
Born in Gilmerton, Albemarle
County, Va., April 6,
1802.
Lawyer;
member of Virginia
state house of delegates, 1829-36, 1838-39; Speaker of
the Virginia State House of Delegates, 1838-39; Governor of
Virginia, 1840-41; U.S.
Representative from Virginia, 1841-44 (12th District 1841-43, 5th
District 1843-44); U.S.
Secretary of the Navy, 1844; died in office 1844.
Among those killed in the explosion
when a cannon
accidentally burst on board
the U.S.S. Princeton, on the Potomac River near Fort
Washington, Prince
George's County, Md., February
28, 1844 (age 41 years, 328
days).
Originally entombed at Congressional
Cemetery, Washington, D.C.; reinterment at a
private or family graveyard, Albemarle County, Va.
|
| |
Abel Parker Upshur (1790-1844) —
of Virginia.
Born in Northampton
County, Va., June 17,
1790.
Son of Littleton
Upshur.
Member of Virginia
state house of delegates, 1812-13, 1824-27; state court judge in
Virginia, 1826-41; delegate to
Virginia state constitutional convention, 1829-30; U.S.
Secretary of the Navy, 1841-43; U.S.
Secretary of State, 1843-44; died in office 1844.
Episcopalian.
Among those killed in the explosion
when a cannon
accidentally burst on board
the U.S.S. Princeton, on the Potomac River near Fort
Washington, Prince
George's County, Md., February
28, 1844 (age 53 years, 256
days).
Originally entombed at Congressional
Cemetery, Washington, D.C.; later interred in 1874 at Oak
Hill Cemetery, Washington, D.C.
|
| |
Virgil Maxcy (1785-1844) —
of Maryland.
Born in Attleboro, Bristol
County, Mass., May 5,
1785.
Son of Levi Maxcy and Ruth (Newell) Maxcy.
Lawyer;
member of Maryland
state executive council, 1815; member of Maryland
state house of delegates; member of Maryland
state senate; U.S. Charge d'Affaires to Belgium, 1837-42.
Among those killed in the explosion
when a cannon
accidentally burst on board
the U.S.S. Princeton, on the Potomac River near Fort
Washington, Prince
George's County, Md., February
28, 1844 (age 58 years, 299
days).
Originally entombed at Congressional
Cemetery, Washington, D.C.; reinterment at a
private or family graveyard, Anne Arundel County, Md.
| |  |
Relatives:
Married to Mary Galloway. |
|
| |
David Gardiner (1784-1844) —
of New York.
Born in 1784.
Member of New York
state senate 1st District, 1824-27.
Among those killed in the explosion
when a cannon
accidentally burst on board
the U.S.S. Princeton, on the Potomac River near Fort
Washington, Prince
George's County, Md., February
28, 1844 (age about 59
years).
Originally entombed at Congressional
Cemetery, Washington, D.C.; later interred at South
End Cemetery, East Hampton, Long Island, N.Y.
|
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Joseph Roffignac (1766-1846) —
also known as Louis Philippe Joseph de Rouffignac —
of New Orleans, Orleans
Parish, La.
Born in Angoulême, France,
1766.
Mayor
of New Orleans, La., 1820-28.
French
ancestry.
Fled
France in 1789 to escape the
guillotine, presumably over disloyalty
to the revolutionary regime.
Suffered a stroke,
and dropped the gun he was holding, which accidentally
discharged, shooting
him in the head and killing him, in Périgueux, France,
1846
(age about
80 years).
Burial
location unknown.
|
| |
George Nixon Briggs (1796-1861) —
also known as George N. Briggs —
of Lanesboro, Berkshire
County, Mass.
Born in Adams, Berkshire
County, Mass., April 12,
1796.
Lawyer;
Berkshire
County Register of Deeds, 1824-31; U.S.
Representative from Massachusetts, 1831-43 (9th District 1831-33,
7th District 1833-43); Governor of
Massachusetts, 1844-51; defeated (American), 1859; common pleas
court judge in Massachusetts, 1851-56; delegate to
Massachusetts state constitutional convention, 1853.
Killed by the accidental discharge of a "fowling piece" (shotgun),
in Pittsfield, Berkshire
County, Mass., September
11, 1861 (age 65 years, 152
days).
Interment at Pittsfield
Cemetery, Pittsfield, Mass.
|
| |
Richardson A. Scurry (1811-1862) —
of Texas.
Born in Gallatin, Sumner
County, Tenn., November
11, 1811.
Democrat. Served in the Texas Army during the Texas War of
Independence; judge of Texas Republic, 1840-41; member of Texas
Republic House of Representatives, 1842-44; U.S.
Representative from Texas 1st District, 1851-53; general in the
Confederate Army during the Civil War.
Accidentally shot
himself in the foot while hunting,
in August 1854; the wound never healed and became infected;
though his leg was later amputated, he died as a result in Hempstead,
Waller
County, Tex., April 9,
1862 (age 50 years, 149
days).
Interment at Hempstead
Cemetery, Hempstead, Tex.
|
| |
Charles Tillinghast James (1805-1862) —
of Providence, Providence
County, R.I.
Born in West Greenwich Center, West Greenwich, Kent
County, R.I., September
15, 1805.
U.S.
Senator from Rhode Island, 1851-57.
Died of wounds that he received from the accidental explosion of
a cannon
shell of his own manufacture, with which he was experimenting, at
Sag Harbor, Suffolk
County, Long Island, N.Y., October
17, 1862 (age 57 years, 32
days).
Interment at Swan
Point Cemetery, Providence, R.I.
|
| |
George M. Carhart (d. 1863) —
of California.
Member of California
state assembly 21st District, 1853-54.
Accidentally shot and
killed while sleeping in Skinner's Saloon,
Bannock, Beaverhead
County, Mont., May 17,
1863.
Burial
location unknown.
|
| |
Williamson Robert Winfield Cobb (1807-1864) —
also known as Williamson R. W. Cobb —
of Bellefonte, Jackson
County, Ala.
Born in Rhea
County, Tenn., June 8,
1807.
Democrat. Member of Alabama
state house of representatives, 1845; U.S.
Representative from Alabama, 1847-61 (6th District 1847-53, 8th
District 1853-55, 6th District 1855-61); Representative
from Alabama in the Confederate Congress 3rd District; defeated,
1861; elected 1863.
Killed by the accidental discharge of his own pistol,
while putting up a fence on his plantation near Bellefonte, Jackson
County, Ala., November
1, 1864 (age 57 years, 146
days).
Interment a
private or family graveyard, Madison County, Ala.
|
| |
Clement Laird Vallandigham (1820-1871) —
also known as Clement L. Vallandigham —
of Ohio.
Born in New Lisbon (now Lisbon), Columbiana
County, Ohio, July 29,
1820.
Democrat. Lawyer;
member of Ohio state
house of representatives, 1845-46; delegate to Democratic
National Convention from Ohio, 1856,
1864,
1868;
U.S.
Representative from Ohio 3rd District, 1858-63; defeated, 1852,
1854, 1862; candidate for Governor of
Ohio, 1863.
Leader of the pro-Southern "Copperheads" during the Civil War; arrested
by the Union military authorities in 1863 for treasonable
utterances, and banished
to the Confederate States; returned to the North by way of Canada.
Accidentally shot
himself, while practicing a courtroom
demonstration he planned as part of a defense in a murder trial (not
actually in court at the time, contrary to legend), and died of his
wound the next day, in the Lebanon House hotel,
Lebanon, Warren
County, Ohio, June 17,
1871 (age 50 years, 323
days).
Interment at Woodland
Cemetery, Dayton, Ohio.
|
| |
Claiborne Hooper Phillips (1847-1886) —
of Nashville, Davidson
County, Tenn.
Born in 1847.
Mayor
of Nashville, Tenn., 1883-86.
Accidentally shot and
killed while on a hunting
trip, near Britton, Marshall
County, Dakota Territory (now S.Dak.), September
10, 1886 (age about 39
years).
Burial
location unknown.
|
| |
Alson Bailey Abbott (1844-1894) —
also known as Alson B. Abbott —
of Queensbury, Warren
County, N.Y.; Glens Falls, Warren
County, N.Y.
Born in Andover, Essex
County, Mass., November
3, 1844.
Son of William F. Abbott (1814-1896) and Sarah Job (Abbott) Abbott
(1818-1863).
Served in the Union Army during the Civil War; lawyer;
member of New York
state assembly from Warren County, 1878; president, Canton Bridge
Company.
While cleaning a shotgun
for hunting,
it accidentally discharged, killing him, in Glens Falls, Warren
County, N.Y., August
27, 1894 (age 49 years, 297
days).
Burial
location unknown.
| | |
Relatives:
Married 1873
to Sarah Morgan. |
|
| |
Athelston Gaston (1838-1907) —
of Meadville, Crawford
County, Pa.
Born in Castile, Wyoming
County, N.Y., April 24,
1838.
Democrat. Mayor
of Meadville, Pa., 1891; U.S.
Representative from Pennsylvania 26th District, 1899-1901.
Accidentally hit by gunshot
while on a hunting
trip at Lake Edward, Quebec,
September
23, 1907 (age 69 years, 152
days).
Interment at Greendale
Cemetery, Meadville, Pa.
|
| |
Paul Oscar Adolph Husting (1866-1917) —
also known as Paul O. Husting —
of Mayville, Dodge
County, Wis.
Born in Fond du Lac, Fond du Lac
County, Wis., April 25,
1866.
Son of John P. Husting and Mary M. (Juneau) Husting.
Democrat. Lawyer; Dodge
County District Attorney, 1903-06; member of Wisconsin
state senate 13th District, 1907-14; U.S.
Senator from Wisconsin, 1915-17; died in office 1917; delegate to
Democratic National Convention from Wisconsin, 1916
(member, Platform
and Resolutions Committee).
French,
Luxemburgian,
and Menominee
Indian ancestry.
Accidentally shot in
the back by his brother Gustave, when he stood up in his
boat while duck
hunting on Rush Lake, and died soon after in a nearby farmhouse,
near Pickett, Winnebago
County, Wis., October
21, 1917 (age 51 years, 179
days).
Interment at Graceland
Cemetery, Mayville, Wis.
|
| |
Robert Lee Henry (1864-1931) —
also known as Robert L. Henry —
of Waco, McLennan
County, Tex.
Born in Linden, Cass
County, Tex., May 12,
1864.
Democrat. Mayor
of Texarkana, Tex., 1890; U.S.
Representative from Texas, 1897-1917 (7th District 1897-1903, 1st
District 1903-05, 11th District 1905-17); delegate to Democratic
National Convention from Texas, 1912
(member, Committee
on Rules and Order of Business; speaker).
Died from the accidental discharge of a pistol,
in Houston, Harris
County, Tex., July 9,
1931 (age 67 years, 58
days).
Interment at Rose
Hill Cemetery, Texarkana, Tex.
|
| |
Edward Coke Mann (1880-1931) —
of South Carolina.
Born in Lowndesville, Abbeville
County, S.C., November
21, 1880.
Democrat. U.S.
Representative from South Carolina 8th District, 1919-21.
While returning from a hunting
trip, was accidentally shot and
killed, near Rowesville, Orangeburg
County, S.C., November
11, 1931 (age 50 years, 355
days).
Interment at Sunnyside
Cemetery, Orangeburg, S.C.
|
| |
Melville Clyde Kelly (1883-1935) —
also known as M. Clyde Kelly; "Father of Air
Mail" —
of Edgewood, Allegheny
County, Pa.
Born in Bloomfield, Muskingum
County, Ohio, August 4,
1883.
Son of William B. Kelly and Mary C. (Clark) Kelly.
Republican. Newspaper
editor and publisher; member of Pennsylvania
state house of representatives, 1910-13; U.S.
Representative from Pennsylvania, 1913-15, 1917-35 (30th District
1913-15, 1917-23, 33rd District 1923-33, 31st District 1933-35).
Presbyterian.
Member, Sons of
the American Revolution.
On returning from a frog
hunting trip, was injured when a rifle he
was cleaning accidentally fired; he died one week later, in a
hospital
at Punxsutawney, Jefferson
County, Pa., April 29,
1935 (age 51 years, 268
days).
Interment at Mahoning
Union Cemetery, Marchand, Pa.
|
| |
Paul Ranous Greever (1891-1943) —
also known as Paul R. Greever —
of Wyoming.
Born in Lansing, Leavenworth
County, Kan., September
28, 1891.
Democrat. Served in the U.S. Army during World War I; lawyer; mayor of
Cody, Wyo., 1930-32; U.S.
Representative from Wyoming at-large, 1935-39; defeated, 1938.
Killed accidentally, while cleaning his shotgun,
in Cody, Park
County, Wyo., February
16, 1943 (age 51 years, 141
days).
Interment at Riverside
Cemetery, Cody, Wyo.
|
| |
Clellan S. Forsythe (1895-1953) —
of Syracuse, Onondaga
County, N.Y.
Born in Houtzdale, Clearfield
County, Pa., March 6,
1895.
Republican. Served in the U.S. Navy during World War I; automobile
dealer; member of New York
state assembly from Onondaga County 2nd District, 1945-48.
Presbyterian.
Member, American
Legion; Veterans of
Foreign Wars; Freemasons.
Suffered a heart
attack while holding a shotgun,
which accidentally discharged, killing him, on Fox Island, Jefferson
County, N.Y., September
18, 1953 (age 58 years, 196
days).
Burial
location unknown.
|
|
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