Grosvenor Adams Tryon (abt. 1848 - 1894)

Born about 8 May 1848 in Scott, Iowa, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Roseanna (Adams) Tryon — married 23 Mar 1869 in Grinnell, Powesheik, Iowa, United States

Descendants

Died 17 Nov 1894 at about age 46 in Avoca, Pottawattamie, Iowa, United States

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Michael Tryon [send private message] and Michael Maranda [send private message]

Biography

Grosvenor Adams Tryon, born 8 May 1848 at Walnut Grove, Illinois, was the third child of Alice Morley Townsend (Alvord; 1820-1867) and Andrew Sylvanus Tryon (1808-1888) ^[1].

Enlisted from Madison Township, Mahaska, IA in Company I, Iowa 47th Infantry Regiment on 04 Jun 1864.Mustered out on 28 Sep 1864 at Davenport, IA.^[2][3]

He married Roseana Adams on 23 Mar 1869 in Grinnell, Iowa.^[4]

Lived in Avoca, Pottawattamie, Iowa and kept restaurant.

He collected an invalidity pension from 31 Jul 1891.^[5] After his death his widow collected a widow's pension from 15 June 1895.^[5]

Newspaper Article Regarding His Death

WAS TEMPORARILY INSANE

While Crazed by Drink Grosvenor A. Tryon, An Old Citizen, Takes His Own Life.

Places a 38-Caliber Revolver to His Head and Shoots Himself Through the Brain.

Is it true that the Keeley cure for alcoholism weakens the minds of those who, after taking it, again become victims of the drink habit? THE RECORD man has known several cases of this character known men (bright, talented and educated), who have suffered a relapse from the Keeley cures, and while crazed by drink have attempted the lives of those who, when clothed in their right minds, were dearer to them than all else on earth, and who have ended all by taking the life which the Good God had given them to do with as they chose.

Over this last act of wasted lives of those unfortunate men the mantle of charity should be thrown, and pity and sympathy should be felt and shown for them, and for those whom, in life, they were dear.

To this list of unfortunates we are this week compelled to add the name of our late friend and townsman, Grosvenor A. Tryon. Mr. Tryon had been for many years a resident of Avoca. A man of liberal education; of good business qualifications; when sober a loving and devoted husband, and a kind and indulgent father. Universally liked and esteemed by all, but ruined by over-indulgence in strong drink, the appetite for which he was unable to control.

When thinking of the fate of Mr. Tryon and such as he, remember the words of the Blessed Savior, when, in the midst of trials and persecutions, He cried aloud: "Father, forgive them; they know not what they do." Let your judgment be not harsher than His. God is good, and His justice is tempered with mercy; and we are sure that in the light of His Word the poor, troubled soul of Grosvenor Tryon is enjoying that perfect peace which on earth he was denied to it.

The events which led to Mr. Tryon's death are briefly told: He had been for years addicted to the use of strong drink. At times he would abstain for months from any indulgence therein. Then he would lose the ground thus gained and enter upon a protracted spree. Saturday, while in the midst of one of these periodicals, his friends, in consultation with his wife, decided that the wisest plan would be to warn the liquor sellers to refuse him anything to drink in the future. This was done. With his awful craving for drink crying for satisfaction, he went from place to place, at each one demanding drink, and at each one being refused. He returned to his place of business and upbraided his wife for attempting to do what she could to make it difficult for him [to] obtain what his appetite at the time craved for.

He said a few words, went to a drawer, procured a 38-caliber revolver therefrom, stepped quietly into an inner room, placed the muzzle of the weapon to his head, and shot himself through the brain. He died instantly. Not a tremor shook his frame; not a nerve quivered. So quick had been his action that no one had time to interfere.

Mr. Tryon was an old soldier, and his death and the manner thereof are much regretted. He was buried Tuesday from the M. E. Church, under the ritual of the G. A. R.

Mr. Tryon was nearly 47 years of age. At the age of 16 he enlisted as a volunteer soldier, and went out on the field in defense of his country. He served until the close of the war, and the record he made was a good one. He went in when but a boy, with character and habits as yet unformed. The associations of army life were a bad thing for such as he, and to this fact, more than anything else, may be attributed the errors of his life and his sad ending.^[6]

An article about the Keeley cure can be found at Addiction Inbox The Science of Substance Abuse. The "cure" involved injections that may have included hallucinogenic drugs.

Notes

While identified in 1895 Iowa census, there is a "D" and a strike through, indicating that he was indeed deceased as the headstone image attests in 1894.

Sources

1. ↑ "A Genealogy of the Descendants of Alexander Alvord", Compiled by Samuel Morgan Alvord, published 1908 by A.D. Andrews, Printer, Webster, NY. By the Alford American Family Association; no. 817c: https://archive.org/details/genealogyofdesce00alvo/page/316/mode/1up
2. ↑ U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865; Roster & Record of Iowa Soldiers in the War of Rebellion (Ancestry.com)
3. ↑ U.S., Adjutant General Military Records, 1631-1976; California State Library; Sacramento; Report of the Adjutant General and Acting Quartermaster General of the State of Iowa (Ancestry.com)
4. ↑ Iowa, Select Marriages Index, 1758-1996; FHL Film Number: 1028402 (Ancestry.com)
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934; The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; NAI Title: General Index to Civil War and Later Pension Files, ca. 1949 - ca. 1949; NAI Number: 563268; Record Group Title: Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 1773 - 2007; Record Group Number: 15; Series Title: U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934; Series Number: T288; Roll: 480 (Ancestry.com)
6. ↑ The Avoca Record (Avoca, Iowa), 22 Nov 1894, page 2.

• "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXH8-75G : 13 December 2017), Grovener Tryon in entry for Richard Tryon, 1860.

• "United States Census, 1880," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MDL8-KTY : accessed 11 Oct 2014), Grovenern Tryon, Avoca, Pottawattamie, Iowa, United States; citing sheet 174C, NARA microfilm publication T9.

• "Iowa State Census, 1885," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HW2L-TN2 : 2 April 2016), Grove A Tryon, Avoca, Knox, Pottawattamie, Iowa; citing p. 33, 1885, State Historical Society, Des Moines; FHL microfilm 1,020,175.

• "Iowa State Census, 1895," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VTQ6-86F : 30 June 2016), Grover A Tryon, Pottawattamie, Iowa, United States; citing p. 503, 1895, State Historical Society, Des Moines; FHL microfilm 1,022,101.

• Grosvenor Adams Tryon's Find a Grave Memorial 83785643