Solved: The Mystery of a Local Explorer's Death

Rumors about Robert Kennicott's death have circulated for decades.

Some contended Kennicott -- the famed naturalist buried in the Grove National Historic Landmark -- was murdered. Others called it suicide and some said he died from hypothermia.

Numerous books have been written on the subject, but not one of them ever managed to find definitive evidence, said Steve Swanson, director of historic landmarks. "We did not want to leave doubts out there," he said. "We decided to spend the time that was necessary."

The Grove officials decided to end the debate by learning what killed Kennicott, and so they turned to The Smithsonian Institute for help.

"More importantly, we asked the Smithsonian Institute to prove he didn't die from what people said in stories," said Swanson. 

So, in 2001, The Grove exhumed Kennicott's body and an extensive autopsy by anthropologists at the Smithsonian followed.

Ten years later, a final cause of death has been determined. And the rumors have been dispelled with fact, Swanson said. Kennicott died of a heart ailment, the study concluded.

Before his untimely death at age 30, Kennicott's contributions to science and country were many. Known as Illinois' first naturalist, his exploration of the Northwest wilderness contributed to the U.S. decision to purchase territory, now Alaska, from Russia in 1867. His name can be found gracing the likes of mountains, rivers, towns and several species. In fact, the Kennicott Glacier is located near the Kennicott River and the abandoned National Historic Landmark mining town of Kennecott, Alaska.

The explorer's family moved to The Grove a year after he was born in 1835. He flourished in the environment, learning quickly to explore the world around him.

At age 17, Kennicott began studying natural history under the tutelage of Dr. Jared Kirtland, a pre-eminent ornithologist and natural scientist in Ohio. That same year, young Kennicott began corresponding with Spencer F. Baird, curator of the Smithsonian Institute and a well-known zoologist. He studied throughout Illinois and the Midwest, discovering a species of snake near The Grove and writing a book on Illinois animals.

In 1857, Kennicott helped found the Chicago Academy of Sciences and helped establish a natural history museum at Northwestern University.

He died in the Russian American wilderness – an area along the Yukon River in what is now Alaska – while serving as the chief member of the Overland Telegraph Expedition. Speculation as to his cause of death followed.

Rumors about murder, suicide and hypothermia were spread. Some stories said Kennicott was shot or stabbed by other explorers. Others described a scene in which Kennicott jumped into freezing water and developed hypothermia. Still others said Kennicott ingested a number of chemicals in order to kill himself. This was eventually ruled improbable as the level of chemicals in his system was not high enough to cause death.

The exhibition celebrating the 175th anniversary of Robert Kennicott's birth opened on June 5 and can be seen Saturdays and Sundays through the first weekend of October. It will officially close after The Grove's Folk Fest on Oct. 3.

Sunday afternoons are the best time to visit, Swanson said, when guides are on hand to give tours of the exhibition, Kennicott's laboratory and the Kennicott House, built by Kennicott's father in 1856. Visitors also can see a bust that was based on a reconstruction of Kennicott's skull and photographs of the explorer.

The details can be found in an exhibition at the Grove National Historic Landmark, 1421 Milwaukee Ave.

For more information, call 847-299-6096 or go to www.thegroveglenview.org. (See our events calendar for more information about happenings at the Glenview Park District.)