Silas Deane

Silas Deane, son of a poor blacksmith, was an ambitious man. After his first wife died, Deane married the granddaughter of the former governor of Connecticut. A thriving businessman, Deane entered politics. He was on Connecticut’s Committee of Correspondence and as a delegate to the first and second Continental Congress. On September 22, 1789 Silas Deane booked passage on a ship, the Boston Packet. While with the ship’s captain, Deane suddenly complained of dizziness and stomach pain. Right away the captain put him to bed. Deane’s condition got worse and four hours later he died. Some say he was murdered by his friend Edward Bancroft but that was not the case. He had committed suicide. Deane was a very depressed man and he had the resources to kill himself. There are many rumors about how Deane died but what some people don’t know is that Deane’s death was self inflicted.

To begin, Deane was a very successful man. However, during his service as Minister Plenipotentiary he ran into many problems. He was accused of taking advantage of his power to make more money. He denied it but congress still decided to take away his title as Minister Plenipotentiary. Then, in 1781, some of his letters to friends were found that stated that he thought that America should go in a more peaceful direction and try to make things better with England. But being that America had already won by the time these letters were found he was thought to be a traitor and could no longer live in America. Because of Deane’s depressions from Congress taking away his title as Ministry Plenipotentiary to him being accused of being a traitor and not being able to live in America one can easily see why he took his life.

Furthermore, Deane had everything he needed to plan the perfect suicide so no one would suspect it. For example, he was an opium addicted. Opium is a very powerful drug that one could easily overdose on especially Deane. Deane was very depressed at the time and would have done anything to feel better. Additionally, Deane had the perfect time to kill himself. The ship Deane died on was headed toward America. There lied many opportunities for Deane to take back his fortune but instead Deane used this opportunity to kill himself because no one would suspect it. A man going to America with many opportunities would most likely not commit suicide and that is exactly why Deane did so on the boat. One can easily see that because of Deane’s opium addiction and his opportunities that he killed himself.

All in all, many rumors have been made about Deane’s death but what some people don’t know is that his death was self inflicted. Deane killed himself for two reasons. One being that he was very depressed and the second being that he had all the opportunities and resources to kill himself. In summary, there are many possibilities to who killed Silas Deane but the truth is Deane took his own life.