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Bryant died in 1878, ironically because he’d become the park’s go-to guy for dedications and ribbon cuttings. Bryant always showed up, speech in hand. At the unveiling of a bust of Italian patriot Giuseppe Mazzini on the park’s west side near the sheepfold, the sun was blazing hot; as Bryant sat on the dais, he began to feel weak. He gave his prepared remarks, then walked across the park to rest at his friend James Grant Wilson’s house. As he mounted the front stoop of Wilson’s home, he collapsed, fell backward, and struck his head. Bryant lingered a few days before dying from his injuries.
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James Nevius (Footprints in New York: Tracing the Lives of Four Centuries of New Yorkers)