Sunday, October 25, 2020 (ANOTHER ROAD TRIP!)

Although not planned as a Harding road trip, I ended up in Washington Court House today on a too-late-to-matter autumn foliage road trip, and I remembered that Harry M. Daugherty, who is described as the "President-maker" in his New York Times obituary, is buried there.

Here is Daugherty (and Harding) in the Harding front yard, circa August 28, 1920:

Daugherty's hometown newspaper reported on the burial, which took place Tuesday, October 14, 1941:

It was a dismal and gloomy day, but there were men and women, long prominent in the business and professional life of Washington C. H. and the farms of the surrounding countryside, gathered for the homecoming. They had wiped away the events of the intervening years during which Harry Daugherty had been praised and denounced; they had turned back to the time when they were all younger and happier with life before them. With heads bowed in grief and thoughts deep in memories of days gone by, they stood under the canvas canopy to get shelter from the gray of the clouds and drizzle of rain.

It might not have been the kind of day Harry Daugherty would have chosen for a homecoming. But he would have liked the way his old friends remembered him and forgot some of the things that had been written in the books during his colorful and turbulent career as he climbed the ladder to prominence and became a confident of a president of the United States.

This picture of the historical marker in the Washington Cemetery in Washington Court House was taken this morning:

And here are the front and back views of Daugherty's mausoleum this morning. According to the obituary in his hometown newspaper, the family mausoleum was built "during the days after the first World War":

I am fighting the urge to research Daugherty's life, which is hard to do when I come across statements like these in his hometown newspaper:

• In May of the year of Harding's death [1923], Daugherty's constant companion Jess Smith committed suicide in the apartment they occupied jointly in Washington. (October 13, 1941)
• Near the mausoleum where Mr. Daugherty lies is a granite slab which bears the name of Jess W. Smith, his intimate friend, known in Washington as the "mystery man" of Harding's brief period in period. (October 15, 1941)

Here are photographs of Smith's grave, also taken today:

And for those who live in Columbus and drive down East Broad on a regular basis, here a recent photograph of the Broadwin, where Daugherty died on October 12, 1941.

Sources:

• "Harry M. Daugherty Dies in Columbus; Burial in Cemetery Here on Tuesday." Washington Court House Record-Herald. 13 October 1941.
• "H. M. Daugherty Comes Home to Be Buried Here." Washington Court House Record Herald. 15 October 1941.