Shot Through The Head

Henry S. Van Schaick, Jr., Commits Suicide

He Was a New Yorker Who Bought Robbins's Point, Across the River a Few Months Ago, and Was Putting Up a Fine Residence There

Henry S. VanSchaick Jr., who bought the Conover property on the Middletown side of the Shrewsbury river about a year ago, committed suicide on Sunday night by shooting himself through the head. Mr. VanSchaick was living in the old house on the property with his bride of a month while a handsome new house was being built for their occupancy.

Mr. VanSchaick was married a month ago to Miss Grace Borden of New York without his father's knowledge. He was 41 years old and his bride is about twenty. They spent last Sunday at Dr. Walter S. Whitmore's at Oceanic and returned home about ten o'clock at night. After returning home Mr. VanSchaick was discussing with his wife the advisability of informing his father of his marriage. It was decided that he should go to New York on Monday for that purpose. Suddenly springing to his feet Mr. VanSchaick said "I'll end all this now." and going to a desk in the room he took out a revolver and fired a bullet in his brain before his wife had scarcely realized what he was doing. He died almost instantly. Coroner Tetley was notified but he did not deem an inquest necessary.

It is not known what caused VanSchaick to take his life. He was of a convivial diposition(sic) and as far back as is known there was no reason for his rash act. A brother of Mr. VanSchaick's thinks that the taking of his life was unintentional. He says that his brother was fond of scaring his friends by pretending that he had taken poison, or that he was about to end his life in other ways. He thinks his brother picked up the revolver and pointed it at his head simply to frighten his wife and that the revolver, which was of a self-acting type, was accidentally discharged. Mr. VanSchaick had served in the Cuban war with Roosevelt's Rough Riders, and he contracted Cuban fever there. One theory of his death is that the Cuban fever had affected his brain and that he was temporarily insane when he killed himself.

Mr. VanSchaicks' body was taken to New York for burial. His father is a lawyer in that city.

Eugene VanSchaick, a brother of the man who committed suicide, spent last summer at Oceanic.

Source: Red Bank Register, Wednesday, Feb 27, 1901

Some additional excellent resources for your research are:

• New Jersey Census, 1772-1890 - Ancestry.com

• Calendar of New Jersey Wills, 1670-1760 - Ancestry.com

• Interment.net - NJ ~ New Jersey Cemetery Transcriptions on the net.

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