Middletown transcript., 1895-02-09
|ReV. N. N. BROWNE
His Sudden Death on Monday Night
A Brief Sketch of His fifes and a
Tribute to His Memory.

q He waa apparently in his usual healtl
HHaving on Sunday night closed series
&extra meetings of five weeks duration, i
(which he had worked with untiring ze,
for the conversion of souls. Naturally L
was worn out with the continued effort
s but there was no indication by word O
manner that he felt anything more tha
natural fatigue.
E Sunday was day that will long be re
membered. He took his missionary collec
ton that morning, and was overjoyed will
Athe hearty and liberal offering with whicl
sAhis congregation responde to the CALL H
8 was in every service of the day, and wa
Anever seen in better spirits. On Monda,
:3he went in and out among the people a
3usual, making pastoral visits. and every
8where expressing his delight with Sunday
8missionary collection. He took a sleigh
Aride at noon to visit a parishioner ant
q ater in the day again went for little ride o.
5only few miles, but upon returning home
Comp aimed of being very cold. A warn
Il dinner, and comfortable fireside soon re.
astored him to his normal temperature how.
sever, and he was as we'll and happy as we
CHAD ever seen him when about 7.3O O'Clock
che called at the TRANSCRIPT office. That
awas the last visit he made We talked for
Ia half hour or so ON various topics, and
when he said good night,w had no premo-
snition that it was his last good night, He
Ispent the evening at home talking to his
Swife and at 10 80, their usual bed time, they
sprepared to retire. Mrs. Browne hal
scarcely closed her eyes when she was
saroused by hearing him in the bathroom
coughing very hard. She hastened to him
J and found him ashen pale and breathing
zwith difficulty. He told her his lungs
! were filling up, and to summon a physi-
sc1an with all possible speed.
1t so happened that their son, Hugh C.
Browne, was called to Dover on important
business that night, and they were alone.
TO summons help was the work of but an
instant, for neighbors were neal, land though
zall the town was asleep there was an instant
response to Mrs. Brownies agonized cry for
5help. After sending for doctor she hast
Iened to do all she could to relieve her hus-
band, and on again reaching his side found
that he had fallen from his chair to the
Hoor. Strong men had by this time come
to her aid and as they lifted his PROSTATE
body, ne gave his last expiring breath and
before the physicians arrived life was ex-
|tinct. Congestion Of the lungs and heart
failure were what the physicians declared
|the immediate cause of his death. Like AMI
electric current the sad news was trans
United, and sympathetic friends thronged,
the parsonage to offer help to the strickenI
|ones. A telegraph dispatch was sent to]
Dover conveying the dreadful tidingsI
to the son, but there was no way for himl
ito reach home until $50 in the morning,
and through the long midnight watches he|
waited, alone with his grief and sorrow[
for the loss of the best of fathers. The!
grief of the stricken wife and son is pitifulE
in its intensity.
The town and community were dazedg
when the awful truth was known that thiss
good man, whose life seemed so necessary.
whose usefulness was SO apparent, had pass
ed away. Letters ofloving sympathy poured !!
in from every direction, and friends from
everywhere came to sorrow with the sorrow
ing. This whole community is in mourning.
The whole Wilmington Conference is in !
for the loss of one of the best
and ablest men within its bounds.
The funeral took place on Thursday
afternoon at l.30 o'clock, in the Methodist
Episcopal church Of this town. The dayE
was one of the widest OIL record, the blind h
Ing snow drifts. and intense cold, made it'll
almost insufferable, but for all the badS
weather there were men and women from
one end OF the peninsula to the other who
came to pay last tribute to his memory.
1t was the largest funeral ever witnessed
here. The cortege was led by the pail
bearers, Revs. T. E. Martindale, w. L. S.H
Murray, 7. E. Terry, C. T. Prettyman,
Adam Stengle and Snowden Thomas, with
IN escort of ministers, the Official Board of
Bethesda Church and an honorary guard of
Free Masons, of which order Mr., Browne
was a member.
Rey. Alfred Smith, D. D., Presiding
Elder of the Easton District. had charge of +
he service. Prayer was offered by Rev.
;, F. Shepherd and the scriptures were
read by L. E. Barrett and Rev. Mr.. Cork
'an. The following ministers spoke: Revs.
2uigg, Martindale, Murray, Stengle,
Thompson, Prettyman, Terry, Hill, Moore,
Theodore Stevens and DR.. Todd, of Phila-
leldhia.
The tenderest and most beautiful tributes
ever paid to mortal man were paid to him
by his associates, especially fitting and ap- Il
were the words of Mr.. Martindale n
DR.. Todd, C. H. Hill, Rev. F. H. Moore. The 6
after for the past four years has been his
as pastor of the Presbyterian
church of this town. Is
Several of his favorite hymns were sung
With tender pathas, and there was every
expression of the high regard in which he
vas held.
The floral tributes were beautiful, gar
ands were upon his grave and flowers r
lpon his hearse. The offering from Scott II
>hurch of Wilmington was beautifuls:
larp. Other appropriate tributes,were sentN
rom Salisbury, and Wilmington friendse
'esldes the many tributes from Middletown. Il
The Middletown Sunday school and church
presented 81 beautiful rosesftypical of the
re ars of his life. The interment was made
It Forest Cemetery near town. 8
The funeral was carefully arranged by
uneral director ]. H. Emerson and every
letail was perfect, which Especially worthy q
'fnote on account of the large concourse z
# people and the severe weather.
All the places of business in town were
losed during the hours of the funeral. g
Nicholas Manly Browne was born I'M
'orth East, Cecil county Maryland, Seps5
ember 18th, 1887, and was the third son of g
Iugh and Eliza Browne, the former with
ia family hoviu q hSf,t tr4a f~S1 l., a. Z: