Carrying a Grudge

This article caught my eye while I was looking for more information about the well-known Thaw family of Pittsburgh. It would appear that this fellow planned to carry his grudge against his family to the grave.

Suicide Accuses Kin
Philadelphian Ends Life in Park Declaring Rich Relatives Let Him Starve
Lived Under Assumed Name

After Concealing his Connection with the Thompsons and Thaws for Twenty-Five Years Despondent Man Takes Poison, Leaving A Bitter Note for His Brother.

Philadelphia, Aug. 18. Unable to bear longer the sight of his wife and children suffering the tortures of poverty, Joseph Alexander Thompson of this city killed himself on a bench in Fairmount Park after writing a letter in which he revealed the fact that for twenty five years he had been living under the name of Thomas and he was related by marriage to the wealthy Thaw family of Pittsburg. Two letters were found on the body, one addressed to Thompson's wife and couched in the most endearing terms and the other written apparently to let the world know that he was a brother of William R. Thompson, a wealthy resident of Sparkhill, N.Y., who married a daughter of William Thaw of Pittsburg.

It was a remarkable document the man left, apparently intending it as a dying rebuke of a neglected brother. In it he painted in terms, whose simplicity gave added force to the picture, his own poverty and contrasted it with the luxuries his relatives enjoyed.

Not in a long time have social circles in this state been stirred as much as they were when the letter was published. From Pittsburg there came confirmation of the man's assertion that he was related to the Thaws, but it was denied he had been neglected by his relative. It was said that Thompson had frequently received offers of aid and a good  position from his brother on condition that he resume his family name and do as the brother requested. The offers were refused.

Out of Work Three Years

Thompson was about fifty-five years old. Twenty-five years ago he had married Katie Spangler of this city. The couple had four children. He had been out of regular work for the past three years, and it was known he felt bitterly toward his relatives. It is said his marriage caused the estrangement between Thompson ad his relatives. A message sent from Pittsburg to J. D. Lyons, a partner of William R. Thompson, said he had never heard his partner speak of his brother. Mrs. Thompson, or Thomas, said her husband's relatives had refused to anything for him.

One of the notes found on Thompson's body read:

"I am Joseph Alexander Thompson, son of Andrew Turley Thompson, who for years was the agent of the Young Men's Bible Society of Allegheny county. Mr. brother, William R. Thompson, of Sparkhill, N.Y., knows my circumstances and will not help me or my family.
"He married Mary Thaw, daughter of William Thaw, who died in Paris. Thaw was second vice-president of the Pennsylvania railroad and was in the firm of Mark & Thaw of Pittsburg.
Related to the Thaws.

"He was the father of Alice Thaw, who was married to the Earl of Yarmouth, and of Harry Thaw, who married Miss Evelyn Nesbit, the artists' model. I am connected with Harriet Thaw, who lives in Cross street, between Ninth and Tenth, and who was permitted to live in squalor, with rats as her companions. Me and mine are starving and have been for the past five months.

"His brother, Dr. A.D. Thompson, starved to death in Philadelphia in 1879 or1880. What have I, as his brother, to look far? I have been a slave to hard work for forty years, and as Virginus says, 'There is no way but this.'"

In the letter to his wife Thompson said:

"You are still a young woman and I am too old to stand in the way of what might be a pleasant and happy future for you and the children. I cannot get work on account of my age, so I am only in the way. May God in his infinite mercy deal gently and kindly with you and my loving children.

"I have lived the past twenty-five years under an assumed name. My brother, William R. Thompson of Pittsburg, now st Sparkhill, N. Y. knew all the time of my double life, from the time your first child was born. To make you happy for the future I must make you unhappy for the present..

"From one who loves the ground you walk on."

Right below this, the paper also printed a response from the brother in question:

Suicide's Brother Denies Charges

New York, Aug 18. William R. Thompson was seen at his home at Sparkhill. He was shocked and surprised at the news of his brother's death, notice of which had just reached him. "For years I have been sending him money," said Mr. Thompson, "but he would spend it faster than I could send it to him, and at times I have lost all patience with him. he had two sons, both at work, and surely they would not permit him to suffer, nor could I, for the necessities of life. I regret exceedingly that it becomes necessary to make this statement, but in justice to myself, in view of what he says in that letter blaming me, I must say what is the truth."

Nothing like airing dirty laundry in public, eh?
Source: Easton Free Press, 8/8/1905