Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1881-03-26


! Church."
Mr.. Fort, in great excitement,
waving his hands, said; IF the
Episcopal Church had such small
soul, this repeated two or three
times) yield under protest. He
then left US and went over TO the
carriages and riders, at the fence,
where he evidently spoke with
great excitement, and got those
arodnd him in the same state OF
feeling. AT this time the old
mother came TO me. Mr. Fort not
being near, and said, she would
have preferred her own Pastor !;
"but the widows family had ask
ed Mr.. Fort" and asked me to let
it go on, as begun; as she was anx-
iouS her son should be buried by
his father. / replied to her. my
dear old friend, rather than hurt
your feelings. or those of the wild
ow, and family, | will waive all
objection, though | doubt my righ;
to give CONSENT i left her and
went over to Mr.. Fort and said to
him. Mr.. Fort, though / doubt
my right to give formal consent,
yet rather than wound the feelings
of the family and friends, / waive
all objections and leave the mat
ter in your hands; you are at per-
feet liberty to proceed as ii this
were your own church yard. He
replied in very surly tone, that
"they did not intend to have any
service but bury him without itu
Not word about any service
elsewhere that | remember, and
this way from Mrs. Cullison, be-
tween ourselves. To this / repIi-
ed at once, that he was at perfect
ly liberty to ofiiciate, and If he re-
fused to do SO, and Mr.. Culiison
was put in the ground without
prayer, | should certainly read the
service over him after they left
for l would not allow any chris
tian man to be put into the ground,
buried like dog, without prayer
over him. II then again urged
him to officiate and left him and
went back to the church."
After reaching the church, and
being just about to remove my
surplice, preparatory to leaving,
old Mrs. Cullison came TO me, cry
ing bitterly, and begged me not to
let them take her son away" that
"they were going to take the body
to Ebenezer, and," said she, "if
they do | will not 60 with it,
Again / went over to Mr.. Fort,
aud pleaded the old mothers tears,
and begged him to officiate there.
He disclaimed any further concern
in the matter. l was then excited,
and said to him, "Mr. Fort, If out
of spite, you allow this cruel thing
disregard this poor mothers tears,
you do an unjustifiable act, and
must say your whole behavior has
been unworthy of a Christian gen.
tleman. All this time, only few
minutes in all, the grave was not
ready, needing to be enlarged.
They did take the body away In
spite of the free permission given
before that contingency was men,
toned; in spite of the protestation
and tears of the mother, who, with
her Eother son, refused to go to
Ebenezer, and as far as am in
formed, did not go, but returned
to their home. The next day, in
a note sent over, requesting to
have the grave filled up, Mr.. Gull
lison stated that the act of remov-
ing the body to Ebenezer was un-
necessary and against his wishes.
/ cannot but think that MIR. Fort
could have controlled 1t, If he had
willed to do 30, and that the whole
was an act of unchristian spite.
Mr.. Fort has made statements in
regard to the matter from his pull
pits and has avoided mentioning
that in person J. had gone to him
In ample time; waived all Ooiec.
tions and urged him to act; though
really doubling my power, yet
willing to waive it, rather than
wound the feelings of the afflicted
ones. Upon him and his co-assist-
ants rests all the blame for an act
which the best part of his own
people condemn as wrong and
cruel and unnecessary.
We had been treated with gross
discOurtesy, our chnrch yard en-
tered without one word to either
Rector or Wardens. and / myself
allowed, up to the last moment,
with my congregation waiting in
their places, to think | was of
course to act, and after the first
excitement of surprise passed
away we waived for the sake of
the family all claims we had; and