The Demise of Henry Samuel Augustus Von Unna
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| The Old Spot Hotel circa 1910. SLSA: B14954 |
In 1859, Henry Samuel Augustus Von Unna was a German immigrant living in Angas Park with his wife and six children. He had earned a government position to look for water in the area between Port Lincoln and Port Augusta and had stopped into the Old Spot Hotel in Salisbury hotel a rest on his travels back to Angas Park.
The government department which had hired him had done a background check on Von Unna, and cancelled his contract due to a previous crime he had not disclosed. H was now without a job and very depressed. He had planned to move his wife and children from Angas Park to Kensington but was so upset that his past was now affecting his future, that he decided on a different outcome.
The government department which had hired him had done a background check on Von Unna, and cancelled his contract due to a previous crime he had not disclosed. H was now without a job and very depressed. He had planned to move his wife and children from Angas Park to Kensington but was so upset that his past was now affecting his future, that he decided on a different outcome.
That night, before retiring to his room, Von Unna requested paper, pen and ink, and a nightcap of brandy and water.
He went to his room and locked the door and began writing.
He went to his room and locked the door and began writing.
A few hours later, other residents in the hotel were woken by a man shrieking “God Have Mercy!” and “Christ have mercy upon me!”. The noise was coming from Von Unna’s room, his door locked, the other residents smashed a window to gain entry. Inside they found Von Unna laying on the bed with only his shirt on, convulsing and writhing in pain.
Despite his condition, Von Unna was coherent enough that when asked what was wrong he replied that he had accidentally taken strychnine instead of calomel (a mercury-based solution used as a laxative), but shortly after, between gasping breathes, he admitted he had taken a large dose of strychnine to kill himself.
A Doctor was sent for, as was a Wesleyan Reverend requested by Von Unna.
A Doctor was sent for, as was a Wesleyan Reverend requested by Von Unna.
Remarkably, Von Unna, who had swallowed a very large dose of the poison managed to cling to life long enough to talk to the priest and tell him there were two letters which explained his predicament.
In one letter Von Unna offered a prayer for himself and his family, and one for his persecutors, of which he blamed for his act of suicide, and another prayer for his people, the Jewish.
The second letter contained a long-winded denunciation of society and all the injustices of crimes following, and ruining a man, long after he has paid for his crimes. Von Unna’s letters were held in police evidence after his death.
In one letter Von Unna offered a prayer for himself and his family, and one for his persecutors, of which he blamed for his act of suicide, and another prayer for his people, the Jewish.
The second letter contained a long-winded denunciation of society and all the injustices of crimes following, and ruining a man, long after he has paid for his crimes. Von Unna’s letters were held in police evidence after his death.
During an inquest into the suicide of Von Unna, the jury declared at the conclusion: “the said Von Unna died from the effects of strychnine, administered by his own hand while labouring under extreme disappointments of a worldly nature.”
It is believed that Von Unna is one of the many spirits haunting the Old Spot Hotel at Salisbury.
Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2019
Bibliography
‘EXTRAORDINARY CASE OF SUICIDE.’, South Australian Weekly Chronicle, (19 November 1859), p. 2.
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