Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1884-01-18
4 STRANGE q NERAL
a Husband q fffciates as Minister. !
the Obsequies OF His Wife.


the Obseq Jules Of His Wife.
Not many weeks since q gentleman /
we'll known in Cincin natl lost his wife |
BY consumption Is sim pie announce i
alent was made in the. newspapers when
She died, but no notice was given as to !
when the funeral would take place. It
seems that it was omitted at the special
request OF his wife, sen mad before her
demise, as she only desired her mos in
innate friends to attend that ceremony.
She said she had horror Of her house
being crowded with people toon such an
occasion, who really cared little or moth
ing for her. She only wanted certain
ones present whom she knew well, and
whom she felt sure would regret her
death, and these were notified to at-
tend at particular hour snsa given day.
This departure from the usual custom
was hardly made more conspicuous than
that Of her husband officiating in the
place of minister, which WIS also done
at his wife's request. Alter the friends
assembled to the number of twenty-five
or thirty, the husband, who was sitting
beside her coffin, with head bowed in
grief upon it, rose up and. delivered the
following address:
DEAR FRIENDS: It was the dying re-
Quest OF my dear companion tina, no min
lister should be called upon TO ofiiciate
at her obsequies, but that I should speak
few works 10 her special friends who
would be invited toabe pre-en 1need not
say that do SO with reluctance, and can
hardly find words to express my sorrow
and grief at the loss I have sustained by
her death. This request was not made
bv her because of want Of faith in relis
ion or in holy things, but simply because
neither of us was member, OF any
Christian church, and have not been in
the habit of attending religious services,
and we knew no minister upon. whom,
meet or proper, under the circumstances,
to have some one come here and deliver
a sermon who did not know her.
I need not tell you that Clara was
faithful wife and loving mother, and
that she possessed every TRAIT Of char"
acter necessary to constitute her child
of God. She made no professions of re-
| hyion, but she showed by her daily life
and walk that her every Impulse was
pure and good. I never saw her turn
the needy away from her door without
q gift, and I never heard her speak
| lightly of her friends. she made her
home her palace, and she was always
| the happiest when she was surprising
me win some special manifestation of
her love. She has gone to her reward,
and it l can train un our little
! daughter to follow in the footsteps Of her
| mother 1 shall have accomplished my
mission upon earth. The flower Of earth
shall ever bloom in my memory, and
| whether I 1--we long Or die soon, her
| sweet influence will follow me to my
! grave. can scarcely realize that she
| whom I love so passiolately> now lies
! within the narrow confines Of this cof-
! fin, and that I shall never again hear her
voice or see her at toe window on my
| return home, giving me welcome such
as was as her custom. But though she
has gone never to return. her influence
| will be felt, and will be as enduring as
! life itself.
You will all please come forward, and
| take last farewell, after which We viii
! sing her favorite hymn.
would DOT live Away,
| I ask not to stay"
! A gentleman who was present and
witnessed the proceedings says they
were exceedingly impressive, the ladies
! being especially demonstrative III their
grief. The singing WAS led by a particu-
lar lady friend, who also p' ,ye1 the or
gan.
The funeral may be regarded as a de
| rided new departure, and it would not
be surprising if others followed the ex-
alnple.-Cincinnati Enquirer.