SENATOR WATSON OF GEORGIA DIES SUDDENLY AFTER ASTHMA ATTACK
Chevy Chase, Maryland (JFK+50) On September 26, 1922, Senator Thomas E. Watson* (D-Georgia) passed away suddenly at his home here in Chevy Chase**.
The Senator, a well-known publisher before his election to the Senate, suffered a severe asthma attack at dinner and died early the next morning "after several severe attacks."
Senator Watson, a two-time Populist Party candidate for POTUS, was known as a great orator and student of history. He supported the soldiers' bonus and general amnesty for men convicted under the Espionage Act during the world war.
Janet Brenner Franzoni writes....
"Some praised him; others condemned him. Most agreed that he was one of the country's most picturesque figures."
*Thomas Edward Watson (1856-1922) was born in Thomson, Georgia & attended Mercer University & was admitted to the Georgia bar in 1875. TEW served in the US House of Representatives 1891-1893 & was a Populist candidate for POTUS in 1904 & 1908.
**Chevy Chase is located on the Northwest border of Washington, D.C., with Montgomery County, MD. It is known as "the most educated town in America" with 93.5% of adult residents holding bachelors degrees.
SOURCES
"Senator Watson of Georgia Suddenly Seized By Death," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., September 26, 1922, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
"Troubled Tirader: A Psychobiographical Study of Tom Watson," by Janet Brenner Franzoni, The Georgia History Quarterly, Winter 1973.
