Who Killed Jane Stanford?: A Gilded Age Tale of Murder, Deceit, Spirits and the Birth of a University Paperback – April 4, 2023

This is a complex and intertwined tale of the murder of an extremely wealthy but tiresome elderly lady named Jane Stanford. She was the widow of Leland Stanford, Sr., who made millions through shady business dealings in the late nineteenth century. Jane Stanford and her husband founded what was to become Stanford University as a memorial to their only child, a son who died at 15 in the 1880s. Neither of the Stanfords had much knowledge of how a university should be run, and they were constant thorns in the side for the administrators and scholars whom they hired. Jane Stanford was a particularly annoying presence in the history of the University's early years. Besides attempting to micromanage the place, she also caused problems for the school's officials by insisting on making spiritualism one of its guiding principles.Then in early 1905 Jane Stanford suddenly died, apparently of strychnine poisoning. The investigation of her death became a cause celebre for newspapers in San Francisco and throughout the United States. Richard White's account of Stanford's early history, the death of Jane Stanford, and the ensuing investigations and details is a thorough and well documented story involving deceit, racism, financial misdealings, and the enduring mystery of what actually happened. Sometimes all the detail made for slow going, but I found that sticking with it all paid off in the end because White manages to draw the multiple threads to a satisfactory hypothesis as to who killed her and why in his Epilogue.

My husband and I both earned graduate degrees at Stanford. I got my Ph.D. in 1977 and he received his J.D. and M.B.A. a couple of years later. Neither of us ever heard that Jane Stanford had been murdered. I remember seeing photos of Stanford University before the 1906 earthquake and thinking that Jane Stanford would have been devastated by the destruction, but that the architecture was much improved in the rebuilding.I listened to Prof. White's presentation on his book to the Stanford Historical Society and immediately ordered a copy. His deeply researched description of the differences between the goals of Jane Stanford and the University's first President, David Starr Jordan, and the board of directors was eye-opening, and very convincing.The self-serving human behaviors that drive the action in 1905 are still factors in business and politics. The book is a reminder that we should look beyond headlines to understand the political battles that are on-going around us.

The title of the book posits the author's opinion; somebody killed Jane Stanford. Officially, Jane Stanford died of natural causes, not murder.Leland Stanford was one of the founders of the Southern Pacific Railroad and later a Governor of and Senator from California. He and his wife, Jane, had one son, Leland Stanford, Jr., who died at age sixteen. In their son's memory, the Stanfords founded a university.. Leland Stanford died in 1894 leaving Jane as an extremely wealthy widow and the surviving founder of Stanford University.From this point forward, the saga of Jane Stanford and her university is a complicated spiderweb of intrigue, questionable motives, changing alliances and all things nefarious. Early on in the narrative, one person repeated stands out as particularly suspicious. When the author finally identifies the alleged murderer, it comes as no surprise.For all I know, every word in the book is exactly true. Given how deeply the author dives into the weeds, it appears that he has left no stone unturned. It details all manner of events and personalities.The book is chocked full of characters. (The index runs to twelve full pages.) There are competing Chinese gangs, corrupt politicians and police and multiple competing San Francisco newspapers hungry for headlines. Two people stand out throughout the book, David Starr Jordan, the first president of Stanford, and George Crothers who wanted to protect the university regardless of collateral circumstances.Ultimately, in my opinion, the author's conclusions are too pat. All things that lead to a finding of murder are laid out as irrefutable facts. Alternate theories of Jane Stanford's death are the work of quacks, paid deniers and others who had much to gain from a finding of natural death. The author convinced me that Jane Stanford was a difficult woman. Hardly any of the principle characters in the book liked her and might well have been grateful for her passing. Dislike alone is not evidence of murder, however.When the author reveals the "murderer," he is forced to hypothesize a series of events and relationships that could be true, but he admits that he has no way of knowing for sure. Nonetheless, it is the only scenario that makes sense to him. He may be exactly right, but the fact remains that the record says that Jane Stanford died a natural death.

It is a slog, dull.

Interesting true story about the founding of Stanford University and it's founder. Lots of research but could have been edited better.

It can't be easy to investigate a death that happened more than a century ago. But the author here has done a great job of just that. The late 19th century comes alive as we try to find out the truth about the suspicious death of Jane Stanford; yes, that Stanford. She and her husband were the founders of what is today one of the best universities in not just America, but the world. Was the murdered or did she die from that ubiquitous phrase, "natural causes." One interesting sub plot is the fact that she was into "spiritualism," the belief that life and death are only separated by a thin layer, and that we can communicate with the dead. A terrific book; very much worth reading.

AWESOME