The 18th-century Bostonian who was jokingly told to go home and die - and did just that

J.L. Bell recounts and considers the story of Solomon Davis, who after a night of plum-cake eating and drinking at John Hancock's Beacon Hill place after an Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company election in 1791, meandered home following one final toast from a fellow bon vivant:

As was the natural habit of Mr. Davis, he set the table in a roar; and in one of his puns being specially felicitous, Col. Orne remarked, “Go home, Davis, and die; - you can never beat that!”

Mr. Davis, on his way home, fell dead, in a fit of apoplexy, near King’s Chapel, and his pockets were found filled with plum-cake.