James Franklin Dillon
Birth: 3 Sep 1837 Independence, Jackson, Missouri
Death: 26 Oct 1912 Prescott, Yavapai, AZ
Entered Pioneers' Home March 8, 1911 at age 73
Lived there 1 year 8 months
J. Frank Dillon was known as "a man of honor" and "highly respected for those qualities of soul which he retained to the last-unswerving honesty in his dealings, and fealty to his friends which could not be shaken. He was a gentleman of heart; he knew not deceit" (1).
He had been active in mining for many years prior to entering the Pioneers' Home. There are several brief newspapers items telling of his activities. In 1898 he is mentioned in "The Arizona Republican", a Phoenix paper, relating that he had come in to Prescott from the Parnell mines (2). The following year he is mentioned in the Oasis, a paper published in Arizola, describing his activities with partner W. W. White in a "group of mines adjoining the Hillside mine" (3).
Sadly, his final days were not happy ones. As the obituary in the Weekly Journal Miner explains, after a period of being "Despondent over ill health and disappointed in financial transactions in recent years, " he took his own life by ingesting chloroform (4). This was not a unique cause of death in those days, although not all such deaths were attributed to suicide.
Chloroform was a common anesthetic for surgery in late 1800's and early 1900's, as well as being used by dentists. It was available in most drug stores. In a lecture given by Sir Lauder Brunton it was stated that before the introduction of chloroform seven out of ten surgery patients died from the trauma. After the anesthesia was introduce that number was reduced to just two in ten (5). Despite these approved medical uses for the chemical, there were also reports of it being implicated in suicide, homicide and accidental deaths on more than a few occasions. As early as 1888 there was a newspaper account of addiction to inhaling chloroform (6).
In June of 1911 a Mrs. Bessie Kelley Pierson died of chloroform overdose, however the inquest in that case determining she had ingested it "to relieve an attack of asthma and losing control, took too much"(7) . Just a few days after Dillon's death by chloroform, Benjamin Belcher, a Prescott City Councilman took his life by the same method. There had been rumors of his "brooding over financial affairs in connection with the operation of the Palace saloon, of which he was one of the owners" (8).
Birth: 3 Sep 1837 Independence, Jackson, Missouri
Death: 26 Oct 1912 Prescott, Yavapai, AZ
Entered Pioneers' Home March 8, 1911 at age 73
Lived there 1 year 8 months
J. Frank Dillon was known as "a man of honor" and "highly respected for those qualities of soul which he retained to the last-unswerving honesty in his dealings, and fealty to his friends which could not be shaken. He was a gentleman of heart; he knew not deceit" (1).
He had been active in mining for many years prior to entering the Pioneers' Home. There are several brief newspapers items telling of his activities. In 1898 he is mentioned in "The Arizona Republican", a Phoenix paper, relating that he had come in to Prescott from the Parnell mines (2). The following year he is mentioned in the Oasis, a paper published in Arizola, describing his activities with partner W. W. White in a "group of mines adjoining the Hillside mine" (3).
Sadly, his final days were not happy ones. As the obituary in the Weekly Journal Miner explains, after a period of being "Despondent over ill health and disappointed in financial transactions in recent years, " he took his own life by ingesting chloroform (4). This was not a unique cause of death in those days, although not all such deaths were attributed to suicide.
Chloroform was a common anesthetic for surgery in late 1800's and early 1900's, as well as being used by dentists. It was available in most drug stores. In a lecture given by Sir Lauder Brunton it was stated that before the introduction of chloroform seven out of ten surgery patients died from the trauma. After the anesthesia was introduce that number was reduced to just two in ten (5). Despite these approved medical uses for the chemical, there were also reports of it being implicated in suicide, homicide and accidental deaths on more than a few occasions. As early as 1888 there was a newspaper account of addiction to inhaling chloroform (6).
In June of 1911 a Mrs. Bessie Kelley Pierson died of chloroform overdose, however the inquest in that case determining she had ingested it "to relieve an attack of asthma and losing control, took too much"(7) . Just a few days after Dillon's death by chloroform, Benjamin Belcher, a Prescott City Councilman took his life by the same method. There had been rumors of his "brooding over financial affairs in connection with the operation of the Palace saloon, of which he was one of the owners" (8).
As many of the residents of the Pioneers' Home who were physically able attended Dillon's funeral. He had been a well respected man, and it was a sad way to see him go.
1) Prescott Courier 1912 obituary posted in Ancestry.com
2) Arizona Memory Project. The Arizona Republican. Sunday Morning. July 10, 1898.
"Mines & Miners". https://azmemory.azlibrary.gov/digital/collection/sn84020558/id/59271/rec/1
3) Arizona Memory Project. The Oasis. Saturday, August 4, 1899. "Mining News".
https://azmemory.azlibrary.gov/digital/collection/sn85032933/id/2582/rec/4
4) Newspapers.com. Weekly Journal Miner (Prescott, Arizona) 30 Oct 1912. "Ills of Flesh To Great To Bear"
https://www.newspapers.com/image/42321032/?terms=J.%20Frank%20Dillon&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/42321032/?terms=J.%20Frank%20Dillon&match=1
5) Newspapers.com. Arizona Republic. (Phoenix, Arizona) 01 Jan 1910 "Before Chloroform Was Used". https://www.newspapers.com/image/42272394/?terms=chloroform&match=1
6) Newspapers.com. Arizona Daily Star (Tucson, Arizona) 16 May 1888. "The Chloroform Habit"
https://www.newspapers.com/image/162833236/?terms=Chloroform&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/162833236/?terms=Chloroform&match=1
7) Newspapers.com. Arizona Republic (Phoenix, Arizona) 27 June 1911. "Death Was Accidental".
https://www.newspapers.com/image/42294202/?terms=chloroform&match=1
8) Newspapers.com Arizona Republic. (Phoenix, Arizona) 01 Nov 1912 "Benjamin Belcher Takes His Own Life." https://www.newspapers.com/image/119306702/?terms=%22Chloroform%22%20and%20%22palace%22&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/42294202/?terms=chloroform&match=1
8) Newspapers.com Arizona Republic. (Phoenix, Arizona) 01 Nov 1912 "Benjamin Belcher Takes His Own Life." https://www.newspapers.com/image/119306702/?terms=%22Chloroform%22%20and%20%22palace%22&match=1
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