San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1877-12-08
I. r. JULIAN, Editor.
A VENERABLE MYSTERY.
Was Old Lawyer Thomas Colds Funeral
Mock Ceremony? H D. . .

- 7 "
Was Old Lawyer Thomas Colds Funeral a
Mock Ceremony? r D. ~.
The Pittsfeld (Mass.) Eagle gets up
"a mystery over the death and burial Of
odd Lawyer Thomas Gold that makes. at
least very interesting reading. ! Mr..
Gold was smart young lawyer who
came to Pittsfield in 1882 when 22 years
old, and became afterward with Ezekial
Bacon the leader Of the county bar. He
was as much respected as old Parson
Allen, and was prominent in all town
matters. His fine house on East Street
is the same now owned BY the family Of
the late Thomas F. Plunkett, and the
one pictured by the poet I.ongtellow,
who married a granddaughter Of MI.
Gold, in his "Old, Clock on the
Stairs" .-,,sh vw En- mM
Somewhat back on the village street
Stands the old-fashioned country seat'
Across this antique portico
Tall poplar trees their shadowsthrow,J 8
In that mansion used to be ,,.,s,,,...,,
4
His great fires up the chimney roared,
The strangerfeasted at hisboard 4
But Lawyer Cold in the heightiof his
prosperity took to specializing, and
though losses came to forging paper to
tide himself over his troubles. When
discovery of his crinlet became ineyita7
BILE, the wretched man took to his bed,
and his son-in-law, DR.. Wright,ii was
called. His gradual decline was an
,nounced to the public and at last his
death. Touching obituaries in the local
papers and an imposing funeral follow
ed. 1t was. only a few, days after the u g,
funeral that it was revealed that 5Thos:
Gold was implicatedin forgery. Notes
had matured,D had been presented Tor
payment, were protested as forgeries.
1t WIS easy to trace it back, but too late;
Thomas Gold was dead, and his prop
4erty in the hands of his family. W
We have all reason to believe that our
narrative so far, says the Eagle, is strict
ly true. What follows, we have obtain
ed as facts from responsible persons,
and believe it was the common report
at the time. A servant of the Gold
family at the time spoke in the village OF
a stranger man who was locked into
chamber over the front entrance during
the funeral. This man, it was said, sat
at the window and saw the process
sion leave the house. After the funeral,
under cover of night, this same gentle
man left the Gold place alone, driving
eastward in the family carriage, drawn
by pair of horses long owned by Mr..
Gold. He drove to Boston, where the
carriage and horses were sold, to the
knowledge of the family, and the man
disappeared. 1t is a strange story, but
it was supposed by those who knew the
circumstances that this mysterious gen
,tleman was MIR. Gold himself.
There had been, in previous days, in
Colds parlor, plaster bust OF Mr..
Gold, but since his funeral it had not
been seen. Some one had remarked,
,after the funeral, that the face in the
coffin, although very natural, was very
unlike flesh and bones. 1t was remark
ed that the coffin "was as heavy as lead"
to the pall-bearers, heavier than human
bodies generally are. These several
items being put together by those vii
layers who were given to gossip, there
was fabricated and circulated a. story
that had a fair showing for truth. 1t
was that Thomas Gold, fearing the ex-
.posure of his crime, caused the report to
be circulated that he was dead. Funeral
services were held over plaster bust,
and other weighty material, in an ele-
giant coffin. He sat in his chamber and
saw his funeral eortege leave the house.
That night he fled. .'l 10 ,,e -
Considering the mans social station,
and the morality of the deed, it seems
wild to believe such a story. But we
are told it came to be generally believed,
and moreover that the family never di-
rectly denied it. Perhaps there were
other and fuller proofs then known than
those we have cited. Wee but think
that there must have been, VI the ale
CATION would never have been credited.
1t was a whispered truth, never until
now openly published But there re-
main two things to be added. For sew
-eral years after the reputed death of her
husband, Mrs. Gold spent a considerable
time in England. No one knew why
i -. .l,ora Af.ar bar;n1 mazda