Thursday, February 20, 2025

Who Killed Jane Stanford by Richard White

 

Leland Stanford made his fortune in the railroad industry.  He and his wife, Jane, had one child, a son named Leland Jr.  He was the focus of their lives and when he died of typhoid while traveling in Italy as a teen, it was the tragedy of their lives.  They started an educational institution in his honor and Stanford University is still existent and one of the top universities in the country.

Leland Sr. died many years before his wife and that left Jane to manage the fortune and unfortunately, to manage everyone around her.  She insisted on having a voice in every decision, down to the kind of doorstoppers used in the buildings.  She ruled her household with an iron hand.  Jane had more say in the workings of the university than its president, who knew he served at her pleasure as well.

As she aged, she became more tyrannical. One night when she drank her last glass of water, she was soon ill.  It seemed out of order and the water was analyzed only to find the poison strychnine in it.  Who did it was never determined.  

In 1905, Jane and her entourage left on a trip to Hawaii and then on to the East to Japan.  But Jane never made it.  She died in Hawaii in convulsions, the victim again of strychnine poisoning.  It worked this time and it was ruled the cause of death by the doctors there.  However that created an issue for the university as if she didn't die a natural death her will leaving her money to the institution could be in jeopardy.  So the officials concocted a story that made the death one of natural causes much to the disbelief of the newspapers and most people at the time.  

Richard White has done an extensive job of researching the story and all the side tracks surrounding any story.  I learned quite a bit about the Stanford family, the beginning of the university, the art that young Stanford collected and the personalities of Jane and the the university president.  Jane's penchant for spiritualism was discussed.  However, the mystery of who killed Jane was never solved.  I listened to this book and the narrator was only average, his voice seldom varying.  Readers interested in the time period or the history of California and Stanford University will be interested in this book and it is recommended for them.  

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