Robert Emmet Odlum

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Robert Emmet Odlum

Robert Emmet Odlum (born August 31, 1851 in Ogdensburg, New York , † May 19, 1885 in New York City ) was an American swimming instructor. In 1885 he was the first person to jump from the 40 m high Brooklyn Bridge and died in the process.

Early life

Robert Emmet Odlum was born on August 31, 1851 in Ogdensburg, New York to Richard and Catherine Odlum. It was named after the Irish nationalist Robert Emmet . Odlum was one of seven children, only four of whom survived childhood. His older sister Charlotte Odlum campaigned for economic equality for women from the late 19th century. His older brother David Odlum served under the name Charles Rogers in the Union Army in the Civil War and disappeared after the Battle of Shiloh; to this day it is not known whether he was killed, captured or deserted.

Odlum was an excellent swimmer even as a child. After their father's death in the 1850s, the Odlums first traveled to New Orleans , then to New York City , Boston , Detroit , Cleveland, and Montreal , Canada . Eventually they settled in St. Louis . A trip to Cuba followed in 1860 . They returned to New Orleans on March 21, 1861. In search of David Odlum, they traveled to Cairo, Illinois and Paducah, Kentucky . In 1862 they moved to Memphis, Tennessee . On April 4, 1864, the Odlum's home in Memphis was destroyed in preparation for a battle. In 1865 they moved to Mobile, Alabama .

Career

From 1869 to 1870 Robert Odlum worked as a tea merchant in Philadelphia ; in the United States Census 1870 he was also listed as a railroad conductor. He later moved to St. Louis, where he worked for his sister at Inland Monthly magazine . Odlum lived and worked in Chicago , Illinois in the 1870s . In about 1878, when he moved to Washington, DC , he started a swimming school he called the Natatorium . From then on, he became known as a "professor" among the citizens of Washington. Students at his swimming school included the daughter and sons of former Presidents Rutherford B. Hayes and James A. Garfield and the children of James G. Blaine and General William Tecumseh Sherman . Shortly before the rowing race in the Potomac River in 1880, he swam the entire distance.

Odlum improved his natatorium in the winter of 1880. The opening of the season in April 1881 was attended by President's wife Lucretia Garfield , among others . Odlum also added a gym to its swimming pool .

Despite his success, Odlum was restless from 1881. According to his biography, he "called on every man in the United States to swim against him." Nobody accepted his bet, however. Odlum regularly displayed his skills as a swimmer and diver. On July 4, 1881, he jumped from a nearly 27.5 meter high bridge.

In June 1882 Odlum performed tricks. He jumped 33.5 meters into the water at Marshall Hall . Although he got up badly, he was unharmed.

After the Natatorium went bankrupt and closed, Odlum was hired as a "professor of swimming" and lifeguard at the Hygeia Hotel in Fort Monroe . On August 10, 1882, Odlum swam 18 miles from Old Point Comfort to Ocean View (Norfolk) and back, having to swim against the tide for the last half hour at Hampton Roads . While employed at the Hygeia Hotel, he saved three lives, including that of "Sky" Colfax, the 16-year-old son of former Vice President Schuyler Colfax .

death

Odlum jumps off the Brooklyn Bridge

On May 19, 1885, Odlum was the first person to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, completed in 1883. His motivation for doing this was, among other things, to demonstrate that people cannot die by falling through air. This popular belief prevented people from jumping into safety nets in fires from burning buildings. Odlum also wanted to become famous and saw the jump as an opportunity to support himself and his mother financially.

On the morning of May 19, he performed tricks to entertain a group of people on Paul Boyton's ship, with Boyton he had previously worked with on this. Boyton later stated that Odlum said he went to a Redemptorist church and made confession there . The police were aware of Odlum's plans. So Odlum sent two friends, James Haggart and Mr. Cluss, to the bridge in a taxi. Haggart was supposed to distract the police by posing as a Springer. A tugboat with spectators and a lifeguard hired by Odlum approached within 100 meters of the bridge.

At 5:35 p.m. local time, Odlum jumped from the 40 m high bridge. A strong wind was blowing when Odlum jumped, turning him a little. So he came up with one foot and right hip on the water. Since the lifeguard did not respond, Boyton swam over to Odlum. The lifeless Odlum was lifted into the boat and attempted to resuscitate there. He briefly regained consciousness and asked “Is it all over? … Did I make a good jump? ”, In German for example“ Is it all over? ... Have I made a good jump? ". When he started to spit blood, he asked "Am I spitting blood?" A friend of Odlum's in Boston assured him the liquid was just brandy. Internal bleeding began in the silent Odlum. A called ambulance arrived too late, Odlum died at 6:16 p.m. An undertaker brought his body to Coroner William H. Kennedy.

The autopsy revealed that the spleen , liver and kidneys were torn from the impact. Odlum's first, third, and fifth ribs were broken. A concussion was found to be the cause of death.

Odlum's funeral took place in Washington, DC. Among the honors was a flower replica of the Brooklyn Bridge. The Roman Catholic service was conducted by Pastor Ahern of St. Matthews in Washington. The sermon honored Odlum's efforts to save lives as a lifeguard. Odlum was buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery.

Aftermath

Odlum's sister Charlotte Smith visited New York on May 28th. Odlum's heart and liver had been removed, but the coroner denied any responsibility in an interview with Charlotte. Odlum's mother, Catherine, blamed Paul Boyton for her son's death. Boyton addressed a letter to her denying responsibility. The letter was published in the New York Times , among others . The two then met in New York. According to her accounts, two men who were hired by Boyton, who posed as lawyers and judges, were sent to see her. According to the men's demands, she shouldn't testify against Boyton, otherwise she would be charged with defamation . Catherine Odlum stated that Boyton had destroyed letters and telegrams that Boyton and Robert Odlum had sent each other. The letters allegedly told Odlum to travel to New York and jump off the bridge. She later wrote her son's biography, The Life and Adventures of Prof. Robert Emmet Odlum, Containing an Account of his Splendid Natatorium at the National Capital ... , published in 1885.

On July 23, 1886, Steve Brodie allegedly became the first person to survive a jump from the Brooklyn Bridge. However, it later turned out that the jump had been faked by throwing a dummy. In fact, Larry Donovan was the first to survive the jump; he jumped a month after Brody's alleged jump.

Private life

Robert Emmet Odlum never married and lived with his mother and sister for a long time as an adult. Odlum was friends with Matthew Webb , who died in 1883 while attempting to swim the Whirlpool Rapids, extremely powerful rapids and whirlpools of the Niagara River, located about four kilometers downstream (north) of Niagara Falls .

literature

  • Catherine Odlum: The Life and Adventures of Prof. Robert Emmet Odlum, Containing an Account of his Storium at the National Capital . Gray and Clarkson, 1885 (American English, digitized [accessed October 2, 2015]).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Catherine Odlum: The Life and Adventures of Prof. Robert Emmet Odlum, Containing an Account of his Storium at the National Capital . Gray and Clarkson, 1885 (American English, digitized [accessed August 22, 2015]).
  2. ↑ a b c Odlum’s Leap to Death . In: The New York Times , May 20, 1885. Retrieved July 3, 2001. 
  3. ^ A b Garrett Soden: Defying Gravity: wonderboi, Roller Coasters, Gravity Bums, and the Human Obsession With Falling . WW Norton & Company, New York 2005, ISBN 0-393-32656-X , pp. 79-82 .
  4. ↑ GS Prentzas: The Brooklyn Bridge . Infobase Publishing, 2009, ISBN 978-1-60413-073-7 , pp. 90 ( books.google.com ).
  5. ^ Richard Haw: The Brooklyn Bridge: a cultural history . Rutgers University Press, 2005, ISBN 978-0-8135-3587-6 , pp. 146 ( books.google.com ).
  6. ↑ a b c d e f Autumn Stanley: Raising More Hell and Fewer Dahlias: The Public Life of Charlotte Smith, 1840-1917 . Lehigh University Press , Bethlehem 2009, ISBN 978-0-934223-99-7 .
  7. ↑ According to an article that was published in the Journal in Ogdensburg in 1885 , there were doubts about Robert Odlum's paternity. See Stanley, pp. 34, 116, 202.
  8. ↑ Lawrence P. Gooley: Professor Odlum: A North Country Daredevil. In: Adirondack Almanack. June 25, 2012, accessed August 21, 2015 .
  9. ↑ a b c Odlum’s Fatal Leap . In: The New York Times , June 7, 1885. Retrieved July 3, 2011. 
  10. ↑ a b c New York Herald , quoted in The Life and Adventures of Prof. Robert Emmet Odlum… 1885 , pp. 160–167
  11. ↑ Robert Odlum's Sister . In: The New York Times , May 29, 1885. Retrieved July 3, 2011. 
  12. ^ The Public "I": A Very Bad Idea thepublici.blogspot.com ( accessed July 1, 2011)
personal data
SURNAME Odlum, Robert Emmet
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American swimming instructor
DATE OF BIRTH August 31, 1851
PLACE OF BIRTH Ogdensburg (New York)
DATE OF DEATH May 19, 1885
Place of death New York City