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Showing posts with the label James Garfield

Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President

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BOOK REVIEW Millard, Candice.  Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President.    New York:  Anchor Books, A Division of Random House, Inc. 2012. Elizabeth Shown Mills reminds us that as genealogists we must understand the patterns of the time in which events took place. [1]   Patterns of History If you are studying ancestors in the period immediately following the Civil War, this non-fiction account of a little known event in American History may increase your understanding of the societal norms of the time.   Death of General James A. Garfield. Lithograph by Currier & Ives. From the Library of Congress President James A. Garfield was shot by Charles J. Guiteau on July 2, 1881.   Ignoring Evidence This is a story of how one man’s stubborn refusal to let scientific medical evidence change a firmly held belief may have changed the outcome of the assassination attempt.   Rebound from Tragedy The event unified the country which was still divided aft