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Death of Charles Paul Hicks (d. 8/26/1914) possible arsenic poisoning?

Death of Charles Paul Hicks (d. 8/26/1914) possible arsenic poisoning?

Posted: 10 Sep 2014 3:18PM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Hicks
At the age of 33 years, Charles Paul Hicks died due to: chronic nephritis endocarditis; with a secondary cause as: pulmonary edema. He must have suffered for 3 days because the death certificate indicates he had been treated since August 23, 1914.
I suspect he was poisoned by his wife because her previous husband also died very young, and I suspect he also had been poisoned.
Can chronic nephritis endocartitis be caused by arsenic poisoning? It seems unlikely that he would have died from a heart condition at such a young age. Given that her previous husband also died so terribly young, I have to wonder.
Would anyone know if poisoning of some sort would lead to this condition?

Re: Death of Charles Paul Hicks (d. 8/26/1914) possible arsenic poisoning?

Posted: 11 Sep 2014 4:45AM GMT
Classification: Query
Nephritis and endocarditis are two different conditions. Nephritis is inflammation of the kidneys; endocarditis is inflammation of the heart lining. Although arsenic poisoning can cause kidney and heart problems, there are other more distinctive symptoms that would usually have been noted. And 100 years ago, there were many infectious diseases that could cause symptoms like those described. Endocarditis in particular is usually caused by a bacterial infection.

The word "chronic" suggests that he had been ill for quite a while. Sadly, early death due to infection was not uncommon before the discovery of antibiotics.

Steve

Re: Death of Charles Paul Hicks (d. 8/26/1914) possible arsenic poisoning?

Posted: 20 Feb 2015 10:57PM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: HICKS HOWARD MCGHEE
Alison, I hope you don't mind telling me about Charles Paul Hicks' wife's name and that of her previous husband. I'm curious about Charles Paul Hicks because of his early history in Tennessee. He was married (he was very young) to a slightly older Alva McGhee Howard (recently divorced from Tom Howard). The marriage was very brief. Family lore is that his family was horrified (given the notoriety of the Howards and McGhees and their feud) and hustled him out of town as soon as they could.
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