I’m delighted to announce Old Spirituals’ first guest series, written by Mr. Nicola Di Crescenzo, who you may know as Jax Saggezza, author of many brilliant comments on this site!

I asked Nicola if he would be interested in writing a post for Old Spirituals, and he graciously agreed. Recently he shared this fascinating but little-known story that will unfold over the next few posts. I know you’ll enjoy it!

“I have been poisoned again!”

The 1905 Demise of Jane Stanford 

Best known for high quality education, Stanford University has a narrative kept in the sepulcher (pun intended) of history. The seldom talked about, and always omitted from public discussion, are the events leading to and surrounding the death of Jane (nee Lathrop) Stanford, the wife of Leland Stanford. Leland Stanford was cofounder and head of the railroad company that built the “First Transcontinental Railroad’s western section.”  Stanford was also the 8th Governor of California and the cofounder of what is now known as Stanford University.

Born “Amasa Leland Stanford,” Leland Stanford achieved a great deal in the 69 years preceding his death on June 21, 1893. (Some historians claim Stanford’s business and political success was due to his partners and associates and not so much as a result of his own talents.)

Leland went to school and studied law during his early days in Albany County, New York.  After passing the bar, Leland and his wife, Jane, moved to Port Washington, Wisconsin, on the shore of Lake Michigan, while five of his brothers moved to California to find success during “The Gold Rush.”  When a fire destroyed his personal belongs and his law library (gifted by his father), Leland decided to move to California to enter business with his brothers who by then owned a very successful general merchandise business. The Stanfords were so prosperous that Leland left the partnership with his brothers and opened his own mercantile business.  That provided the means and relationships to venture into the transportation business and his untold wealth.

Leland Stanford Jr. Aged 14 yrs + ten months, circa 1883
Passed away 15 yrs + 10 months
Stanford University Libraries Historical Photograph Collection

Though blessed with great achievements and fortunes, Leland Stanford had a significant personal tragedy, the death of his only child and son, Leland Stanford, Jr. His son died from typhoid fever in Florence, Italy in 1884, while the family was traveling in Europe. The boy was only 15 years old.  Before they returned home to America, the Stanfords conceived the idea to found a university in memory of their son.  They left Europe with their son’s body and their wills already changed to leave everything to a “proposed” institution in Palo Alto, California.

In 1885, the Stanford’s established “Leland Stanford Junior University,” opening officially in 1891.  After her husband’s death in 1893, and until her death in 1905, Jane Stanford controlled the university.  

Go to Part 2.