JUSTICE JOSEPH STORY AND DEATH IN EARLY-19TH-CENTURY AMERICA

Justice Joseph Story, associate justice of the United States Supreme C ourt from 1811 until his death in 1845, suffered many losses during hi s lifetime. His first wife died a little more than one-half year after their marriage, and her death was followed a few months later by the death of Story's father. Five of his 7 children died. Other family mem bers, friends, and colleagues died. Story was insightful and articulat e in describing these losses. Thus a study of his reactions to, and co ping mechanisms for, these deaths provides an excellent perspective on how death was dealt with in early 19th-century America.