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The Suicide of Frederick Bellon, 1881
Posted By Norman Gasbarro on September 7, 2018
From the Harrisburg Telegraph of 5 March 1881, comes the following detailed story of the death (by suicide) of Civil War veteran Frederick Bellon:
The Lykens Suicide
The Lykens Register gives us the following particulars of the suicide in that place on Wednesday:
“Frederick Bellon, a young unmarried man, who lived with his mother on North Street, this borough, came to a terrible en by his own hand between 11 and 12 o’clock on Wednesday night. He was found in an attic room at his home with the top of head blown off and his brains and scull scattered about the floor. A Springfield breech-loading rifle near by did the bloody work, and death must have been instantaneous, the muzzle of the fire-arm having evidently been placed in his mouth before it was discharged. The case is a sad one — too sickening to detail in all its horror. Bellon was a member of Captain Myers’ military company and took his gun home to put it in condition for the trip to Washington with the company; meanwhile, being addicted to very intemperate habits, he was attacked with mania-a-putu, which drove him to take his life. One or two men who attempted to secure the weapon were shot at and narrowly escaped. When found the unfortunate man had all his clothes on, but was in his bare feet.”
At the time of the Civil War, 27 August 1864, Frederick Bellon at age 19, enrolled in the 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry at Harrisburg. On the same day and at the same place, he was mustered into service as a Private in Company B, which was heavily composed of men from the Lykens Valley area. He gave his residence at the time as Schuylkill County, his occupation as carpenter, and his place of birth as Germany. He stood 5 foot 6 inches tall, had a dark complexion, hazel eyes and black hair. Records of the regiment indicate that he was discharged by General Order on 29 May 1865, after which he settled in Wiconisco Township, Dauphin County, where he lived with his mother and worked as a carpenter.
At his death, he was buried at the Union Cemetery in Lykens, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. However, at this time of the writing of this blog post, his grave marker was not seen or photographed and he does not have a Findagrave Memorial.
However, the name of Fred Bellon does appear on the Lykens G.A.R. Monument:
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