A Profile of Robert F. Withington

The Parents of Robert F. Withington

Albert M. Withington and Mary E. Bullard Withington

Withington Family Tree

Bullard Family Tree

The Obituary of Robert F. Withington

8 June 1862 - 16 June 1892

From the Livonia Gazette, 17 June 1892

Conesus - Robert F. Withington of Conesus, a member of the firm of Snyder & Withington, and a son of Albert Withington of Springwater, fatally shot himself at Mr. Green’s Excelsior Springs House early yesterday morning.

Wednesday morning at 4:00 Mr. Withington rapped at Mr. Green’s door and he got up and let him in. Rob said that he had put his horse in the barn, and wanted to go to bed. Mr. Green showed him to a room. On leaving the door Rob asked him not to call him. At half-past 12 Wednesday he got up and said he wanted some dinner. He ate his dinner and said he was going home. He seemed to be low-spirited, but Green was very busy and paid no further attention to him. He went to the barn and hitched up his own horse, but instead of going home went down the lake road. Mr. Green saw nothing more of him and supposed he had gone home.

At 5 o’clock Mr. Roberts, Miss Logan and Miss Onnolee Brownell of Scottsburg, and a Mr. Smith of Nebraska drove up to the house and ordered supper, and inquired for Mr. Withington. It appears they expected to meet him there. At half-past 8 Mr. Withington had not appeared, and the party left for home. Five minutes after they left Rob drove in, and Mr. Green asked him if he had seen Mr. Roberts. He said no; that he had just come from Geneseo. He asked Mr. Green to make him some sandwiches, and after eating them he talked with some of his Springwater friends. He appeared to be so uneasy that he could not sit still anywhere, and acted in that way until 10 o’clock, when he went to bed.

Just before retiring he asked Mr. Green for a sheet of paper, and after writing the sheet full he was asked if he wanted a pen and ink, he having written his letter with a pencil. He said no, and added that he would direct the envelope early in the morning. The letter was to his partner, and related to some of their business affairs. He called for a glass of water and returned to the room he had occupied in the forenoon. After he had been in bed seemingly half or three-quarters of an hour, Mr. and Mrs. Green heard a noise as if some one was choking. Both being tired and sleepy they thought nothing more about it until the next morning, when Mr. Ripley, Mr. and Mrs. Green and several others heard a number of reports similar to those from a toy pistol. Mr. Ripley got up and went down stairs, with two or three men who are boarding at the house, all having heard the noise, but none of them knew what to attribute it to. Mr. Ripley spoke to Mr. Green about it and asked if he supposed there was anything wrong with Rob. Mr. Green said he guessed not, but asked Scott Jones to go up and rap on his door, which he did, but came down directly and said he could not awaken him. Mr. Green and the others went to the room and pounded on the door, but there was no response and they burst it in.

(Some unclear text)

... were summoned, and an examination showed that he had fired seven balls from a twenty-two calibre revolver into his head. They located six of them, but the other probably went into the brain. It is thought he took the chloroform on retiring. It failed to do its work, and, determined to die, he shot himself.

It was a cheap revolver, and it is supposed he bought it at Geneseo, where he probably went after leaving the hotel. He was unconscious from the time of the shooting, and died at exactly 5 o’clock yesterday afternoon, with his sorrowing father and mother at the bedside.

He had two sisters, but was an only son. Rob Withington was a young man of irreproachable character. Every one who knew him was his friend, and the terrible tragedy has saddened the whole community.

The Burial of Robert F. Withiington

Mt. Vernon Evergreen Cemetery in Springwater NY

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