Secluded Veteran Dies After Five Years of Leprosy

1910

Badger Leper Dies

Passes Away After Five Long Years of Affliction

Lived Life of Seclusion in Building Set Apart for Him at the National Soldiers' Home In Milwaukee.

Milwaukee, Wis. — Albert S. O'Gorman is dead. Milwaukee's leper, after nearly five years of retreat in a little brick house on the grounds of the Soldiers' home, is no more. Death came quietly. It was the gradual dissolution of a body wasted by disease, that could no longer find strength to meet the daily strain demanded of it.

O'Gorman was a soldier. He served many years in the regular army, seeing service throughout the east and west. He joined the ranks when the war with Spain broke out, and was one of the foremost in Cuba and the Philippines. It was while with the army in the islands that he contracted the disease which brought his death.

Upon his return from war, O'Gorman entered the regular service in various army posts. Then he was taken ill. He asked a pension, and permission to enter a soldiers' home. The request was readily granted. A monthly income of $72 was allowed him by the government. He was ordered to the Milwaukee national home.

Then, and not till then, did O'Gorman learn the true character of his malady. He was examined by staff physicians, who diagnosed his disease as leprosy. There was no help for him, they said, and preparations were made to arrange for his comfort during his lifetime.

In a corner of the grounds a small brick house, once the home of one of the officials, was set aside for him. It was a two-story structure, with three rooms — a living room, a kitchen and a bedroom. Furniture and books, utensils and regulation clothing were furnished him, and he settled down to live the life of a recluse during the remainder of his days.

That was five years ago. During the intervening time, O'Gorman lived almost happily. Two of his daily meals he prepared himself on the cook stove in his little kitchen. Each day an orderly brought his dinner to him. Tobacco was supplied in abundance. Papers and books were plentiful. He was a deeply religious character, and spent much time reading the Bible, sitting on the low steps of his dwelling, basking in the sun.

To look at the man, one would not realize that he was the victim of the most horrible of diseases. He was inclined to a pleasant personality. None of the horror or fear of the evident indications of leprosy were shown.

O'Gorman suffered especially during the winter time. Cold weather, he complained, increased the steady aches and pains to which he was subjected. During last winter, he failed slowly but steadily. Spring came, and he rallied slightly; but his system was too far gone, and the convalescence proved only temporarily.

O'Gorman was born in Ireland in 1856 It was in 1874 that he came to the United States. He settled near St. Paul, Minn., and it was from there that he was recruited into the regular army.

The case of the patient attracted much attention throughout the country. He was one of two individuals in the United States afflicted with the plague.

Several times the state department and the secretary of war considered transferring his case from Milwaukee, but there were no leper colonies where he might be sent, and it was decided finally, that he could be best cared for in the little brick building in which he made his home.

—Suburbanite Economist, Chicago, Aug. 26, 1910.

Theodore Roosevelt Files to Become U.S. Citizen

1905

ROOSEVELT TO BE CITIZEN

Omaha, Neb., Aug. 19. — In the district court here yesterday Theodore Roosevelt filed an application to be admitted to citizenship in the United States. Roosevelt says he is not related to the president. He was a subject of Emperor Franz Joseph, of Austria, served in the Austrian army for several years and came to this country ten years ago. He served with President Roosevelt's rough riders during the Spanish-American war and is a great admirer of the chief executive.

He is now living in the sand hills in the western part of Nebraska and desires to become a citizen of the United States in order that he may file on government lands in Cherry county.

—The Fort Wayne Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN, Aug. 19, 1905, p. 4.

Six-Year-Old Patriot Tries to Join the Army

Chicago, 1898

A Six-year-old Patriot.

Edward Maginnis, 6 years old and curly headed, presented himself with a convincing air of seriousness at the army recruiting station, 82 West Madison street, to enlist, when Captain Bomus appeared at his desk. He preferred the cavalry service because he could ride and have a saber as well as go to shoot Spaniards.

Captain Bomus is a big officer with a kindly smile, and has little ones of his own, so when the sergeant tried to throw cold water on the young patriot's plan of enlisting his superior took a hand.

"Where do you live, my little man?" asked the captain.

"I live at 287 West Randolph street, near the Second regiment armory, and I want to be a sure enough soldier," was the prompt answer.

"How do you spell your name?" queried the old cavalryman.

"That don't make any difference. When you want me, send for me," replied the child, while the six foot ex-artillery sergeant standing beside him waiting to apply for a chance to get into the service again forgot his lessons in discipline and went off into explosive laughter. Captain Bomus took the little fellow's name and address, patted him on the head and told him to come around for a physical examination later when Captain Birmingham, the surgeon, was present. — Chicago News.

Who Coined the Term "Rough Rider"?

1903

WHO COINED "ROUGH RIDER?"

Probability That It Was the Celebrated Authoress, "Ouida."

"While I was reading the other night," said a scholarly Washingtonian to a Post reporter, "I was brought face to face with another instance of the probable truth of the old saying that there is nothing new in the world. Every one is familiar with the term 'rough rider.' It is a phrase which was contributed in no slight degree to the popularity of the president. It is something to conjure by, and it gives a direct answer to the question, 'What's a name?' You can't tell me that the volunteer cavalry would have been watched with as much interest if they had been known only by their official designation.

"If my memory serves me correctly, Col. W. F. Cody, known as 'Buffalo Bill,' is credited with originating the term 'Rough Rider.' He knows the value of a name as well as any one, and at the time his word was not disputed. It may have been original with him, but he certainly was not the first to use it. As I said, the other night I Was reading: I am not ashamed to say that I was reading Ouida. I had picked up a copy of 'Idalia,' and had been reading some of her extravagant tributes to the hero, Erceldonne, when I caught the phrase 'rough rider.' That startled me, but I might have forgotten all about it if it had not been repeated a few pages later on. She had used it in all the significance it acquired during the Spanish-American war.

"As I do not know of its use prior to its appearance in 'Idalia,' which was published at least thirty years ago, I suppose we had better give Ouida the credit for originating the name that has aided in making one man president of the United States."

—Davenport Daily Republican, Davenport, Iowa, March 5, 1903, page 6.