Violence in the U.S. Congress
On May 22, 1856, Senator Charles Sumner, an abolitionist from Massachusetts, was giving a fiery speech on the floor of the Senate. Preston Brooks, a pro-slavery Congressman from South Carolina, was so enraged by the speech that he beat Sumner viciously with a cane, nearly killing him. (1/5)
In a rare case of what might appear to be divine justice, Brooks did not live long enough to resume his seat. In January, 1857, he suffered a sudden attack of croup, a viral respiratory infection that causes constriction of the trachea, making it difficult or impossible to breathe. "He died a horrid death, and suffered intensely. He endeavored to tear his own throat open to get breath." He was 37 years old. (4/5)
After the caning, two towns and one county in Florida, Georgia, and Virginia were re-named in honour of Brooks. At the end of the Civil War the town in Virginia, now in West Virginia, was again re-named.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Brooks (5/5)
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Eric MacKnight