This article was part of 1870s-80s campaign of stalking. Attempts by friends of Morphy vouching for his sanity & to stop such false rumors (New Orleans Republican 11/21/1875; Tennessean Nashville, 5/05/1877, "The Truth About Mr. Paul Morphy. He has Never been Insane"; Detroit Free Press 11/30/1880, etc). 1884 at age 47, Mr. Morphy "suddenly died". The stalker's press release claimed 'due to a bath on a hot day.' Forensic toxicology was still in its infancy and no investigation ever performed.