Milford chronicle., 1892-10-07
z .Al, sTo91 ME FUNERALS
sN LEADwLLE DID THE PROPER
THING" FOR DEAD MEN.

THiNe' FOR DEAD MEN
when ..resas Jack" was Buried the
whole Town turned out-rhsro Was
Brass Rand. chorus from an Opera
Company and Long Procession.
To one who passes along the streets OF
Leadville now there is just one ieatuls
IN particular which serves as a marx oi
comparison Of the Leadville OF touay
with the mining camp of thirteen years
ago. Ieadville now Is respectaDie'
staid and as solemn as mining cily
cam be. hnt IL isn't the solemnity IN tne
abstract which strikes one now. II Is
specifc solemnity which concerns
itself with funerals
To one who has lived in the past Wheh
every funeral was an occasion Ior as
much celebration as circus, the qulet
and sedate cortege moving along CheS'-
nut street today is something not 10 De
considered. 1t is too gloomy to sult tne
old timer; but, alas! the ola llinei Is io
more.
In 1879 the town was wlld EVERY
bodv carried n s'gun"-not in his pocket,
MIND Won. only the natural born fool
ala. and he rarely lived to repent OF 1t.
The weaDon was stuck in his belt right
HANDY for immediate action. As con-
seahence rarely day passed without
violent death. Added to this the work
of pneumonia kept the gravedlgger over
in the valley at work night and DAY.
This may sound like exaggeratlon, but
ssnt. The twinkling lights IN the
tAnoa' presented a grewsome appearance
9.Vr piecl at and 11rJrs SO when their purpose
- QS known. They Y the gravedlggers
y work. Pneumonia was a fearful
snemy. Men were strong5 fearless
healthy in the morning, and when, even
ing came with it was the physician and
5he next day the undertaken. No ac-
Recommendations fit to be called such were
iebtainable, and men after days Of hard
work in the mines were obliged to sleep
in that frosted atmosphere wherever
they could.
Rev. T. j. Mackey was the most pop
ular clergyman in town at tnat unie
He was loved by the good people and
respected. almost venerated, by the
gamblers and the miners, which dOesn
imply that miners were not in them
selves reputable people. Whenever a
miner or a sporting man or woman died
it was Parson Macl1ey who was called
in. There was one day in particular
when the parson held four funerals, and
that was the record. -Four was fire.
quently equaled, but it stood as the top
notch for one clergyman.
Mr. Mackey, who was an Episcopal
Clergyman, held services in the Tabor
opera house. Fifty dollars day was
the rent, and the collection never fell
short. 1t was necessary to close the
doors then long before the time for the
beginning of the service to keep back
the crowds. This four funeral day
spoken of was the day on which j. B.
Omohundro, known all over the worl@
as 'Texas jack" was buried.
Leadville never did funerals by halves.
A brass band was regular thing. No
funeral was held without one. The
band attending upon Jack was made up
of fifty pieces, being a combination OF
several. Fay Templeton's opera com
pany was playing an engagement IL
Leadville then, and Fay agreed to sup
1Dfy7her compaIly~ act as chOlr- l-Ae
coffin was set upon the stage loaded
with flowers, and flowers were rareI
than mines in Leadville, and Rev
Mackey appeared in his regimentals a:
chaplain of the Tabor Light Guards t(
preach the funeral sermon. AS he pro
ceeded. whenever he made an ILLUSION
CATION applauded as vociferously a
though they were approving fin
feature Of play There was no dis
order-these people meant it all. The,
wept at the preachers words and stamp
ed their feet in approval of his hope 10
Jacks chances over there.
Before the services Mr.. Mackey ha
been waited upon by the Tabor Ligh
Guards They recited to him the fac
that all the senior officers but the chal
lain were absent from the city, and tol
him that as he was ranking officer {
the dav he must don his regimenta
and lead the company At first he d
INJURED vigorously, but finally, equippe
with blue and gold and a sword thu
knew not its place and the propriety
keeping it, he marched upon the stal
to help Jack along. When the servlc
were over he foundethey had provided
horse for him to lead the column. 2
The preacher wasn't the most remar
able horseman III the world, but he VI
game, and he mounted and START
away. Directly the band struck up Il
iDead March in Saul" the preacher al
his steed became almost as prominent
the corpse-or they would have be,
elsewhere than in Leadville. He
evervthing went. The dominic waltz
to the graveyard on his fiery charger
actually waltzed, but nobody motto
that That was a regular thing, or
least not striking innovation.
At Omohundro's funeral, as at
funerals in Leadville, werk of
kinds was suspended. Men and WON
thronged upon the sidewalks-pack
them One could really have walked
the heads of the people and nobo
would have noticed it. In those da
the undertaken took great pride Ill t
turning out. Riding in the carriage wi
the preacher he wonld look back K
ingly and say:
s'Ah, now, this is funeral that i
funeral This is something like. Lo
at the crowds, parson, and we've {
seven more pieces in the band than
tended the Swede that McClOskey burr
yesterday. Cor. Omaha World-Hera