James A. Garfield
How They Croaked Project
Brief Bio
He only served for four months.
Born: November 19, 1831
Orange, Ohio
Died: September 19, 1881
Elberon, New Jersey
He was only 49 years old when he died.
A Brief History
Garfield's unlimited accessibility was a contributing factor to his shooting. Charles J. Guiteau, Garfield's assassin, read the paper and found out that Garfield was going to be at a train station. So, on July 2, 1881, Guiteau took his snub-nosed, .44-caliber British Bulldog Revolver, walked right behind Garfield, and shot him. One shot grazed Garfield's arm and the other shot went into his back. For Garfield, this moment was the beginning of the end...but not for the reasons you may think.
Charles J. Guiteau
Death: June 30, 1882
Death by hanging for the assassination of President James Garfield.
Charles J. Guiteau
"Charles Julius Guiteau was an American lawyer best known for assassinating President James Garfield in 1881 for denying him an ambassadorship position in Paris" (biography.com)
Rendering of the shooting of James Garfield
Timeline of his Injury
Day 1:
Doctor arrives and gives Garfield a shot of Brandy to lessen the pain. The then proceeds to examine the bulled hole by sticking his unwashed finger in the wound. (X-Rays will not exist for another 14 years.)
Shortly after, ten more doctors arrived, each sticking their unwashed fingers in Garfield's bullet wound-attempting to locate the wayward bullet.
Next, the "doctors" decided to take a bullet probe to the wound. They repeatedly jammed it into the bullet hole, hoping to locate and remove the bullet. After several failed attempts, they did not find the bullet, but they did create a completely new 12 inch-long path in Garfield's back-full of microscopic germs!
Finally, he was taken to the White House, given a glass of champagne, and a shot of morphine, to dull the pain. He was not expected to live the night.
Day 2:
Garfield's legs went numb, he vomited every thirty minutes, and the bed was soaked with blood; but, he was alive.
Day 44:
Doctors decided not to give him any more food to eat (he was constantly throwing it up). They decided to only give him enemas of eggs, beef extract, and whisky, rectally. The doctors were slowly, albeit inadvertently, starving him to death.
Day 74:
Garfield was asked to be taken to the New Jersey Shore. 3,200 feet of new track had to be built so that the train could travel right up to the door of the beach house.
Day 88:
On September 19, 1881, Garfield died. The infected would, blood poisoning, and a heart attack did him in. He had lost 100 pounds in only three months. The autopsy showed the the bullet was nowhere near any vital organs...Garfield would have lived if the "doctors" would have left him alone.
Pistol, used by Guiteau, to Shoot Garfield
Disease: How Garfield Croaked
- Excessive bleeding
- Fever
- Vomiting
- Legs went numb
- Infection (whole body)
- Delirium
- Infected parotid gland by his right ear (made his eye and cheek so swollen, the whole side of his face became paralyzed).
- Blood poisoning
- Seizures
- Heart Attack
- Death
Medicine: What they Used VS. What we Use
- Whiskey
- Champagne
- Morphine
- Bullet Probe
- Dirty Fingers
- Hang him by the feet so the bullet would come out
- Suck it out with a pump
- Alexander Graham Bell-metal detector (good idea, but Garfield was laying on a bed with metal springs; the machine gave false readings as a result).
- Rubber hose inserted into the would to drain the large amounts of pus, including fabric from his shirt and pieces of his rib
- Enemas, given rectally, consisting of eggs, beef extract, and whiskey
Modern Day Treatments:
- Antisepsis-Sterile hospital rooms, instruments, doctors, etc.
- X-Rays
- Blood Transfusions
- Antibiotics
- Surgery
Bullet Probe
Bullet Probe and Bullet Extractor
Alexander Graham Bell
Vocabulary
2. Enema: A procedure in which liquid or gas is injected into the rectum, typically to expel its contents, bur also to induce drugs or permit x-ray imaging.
3. Alexander Graham Bell: Alexander Graham Bell was an eminent Scottish-born scientist, inventor, and innovator who is credited for inventing the first practical telephone.
4. Blood poisoning: The presence of microorganisms or their toxins in the blood, causing disease; septicemia
5. Bullet Probe: Tool used to locate the presence of a bullet within the body