The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-04-24
DRHEW|TT'S FUNERAL
Occurs From Presbyterian
Church Today.
WAS TEN YEARS A PASTOR
In Wichita and His Body viii
be Laid in Maple Grove.

The body Of Rev. j. D. Hewitt arrived
to the residence of H. w. Lewis. The fun
eraI services will be held this afternoon
at o'clock in the First Presbyterian
church. The following obituary notice of
! Dr. Hewitt appeared in Fridays Emporia
! Republican:
Dr.. Hewitt was born in Bradford coun-
| ~, Pa, in 1888. At the time of the great
| civil war he was a student at Princeton.
| n. j., and enlisted in the northern army,
| serving TIL the close of the war. He
was graduated from Princeton IN 1855,
| after which he served for two years as
| principal Of the Susquehanna collegiate
institute at Towanda, Pa
In 1870 he was graduated from the
! Princeton Theological seminary, after
which he served the Kirkpatrick Memoir
ial church at Ringoes, n. Y. From 1877
| to 1879 he served the First Presbyterian
church of Helena, Mont. In 1879 he be-
came pastor of the First Presbyterian
church of Wichita, where he remained IN
til 1889. During his pastorate here ne
secured the establishment Of five Presby-
terrain churches and Lewis Academy in
this city.
On June Is, 1887, he was married to Miss
Julia S. McCabe daughter of Dr.. z. s.
McCabe of Topeka
From Wichita he went to Arkansas City
to the pastorate of the First Presbyterian
church. From there he came to En-
poria-
1t is now nearly six years since DR..
Hewitt was elected vice president of the
College of Emporia. At that time the
whole burden of caring for the finances
Of the college was put upon him, and 1t
was no light burden An old, and relative
ly heavy, debt was resting upon the col
lege. The current expenses for the pre-
cedng year were only partially paid and
it was an open question whether the col
lege could continue its work.
DR.. Hewitt realized the difficulties OF
the situation so fully that he said to his
wife while considering the acceptance of
the position: ST want you to understand
that if accept this post and undertake
the work it will shorten my life ten
years" Yet having weighed all the cir
cumstances, he accepted it and went to
work. He put all his energy into it and
by earnest effort and wise management
he succeeded in keeping up the current ex-
penses and greatly reducing the debt.
Once he had arrangements completed
for paying the entire debt but owing to |
the failure of an important factor in the |
case to meet it's obligation the plan was |
defeated. Again, during the current year |
he had a scheme perfected for the pay
ment Of the debt at once and to this he |
was giving his whole energy when sud |
denly he broke down and the end came.
What he bore in his efforts to secure |
money, both in Kansas and the east, no |
one can tell who has not done similar |
work. But it was all borne in the spirit |
of devotion to what he felt was the Mas |
ters work. Not long after he entered |
upon the financial work. the president of /
the college resigned, and DR.. Hewitt was |
elected to that office. This brought him
in closer touch with the students and as
far as was possible he kept in touch with
them. Whenever he was at home it was
his delight to meet with them; and, in /
chapel worship. his instructions and ex- |
hortations were always received with the |
utmost cordially; and always their in
fluence was to build up the students into a
nobler manhood and womanhood.
He was a man of fine executive ability, |
a prudent and successful manager of the
college finances, an able representative of
western educational interests, command
ing the confidence of many people in the
east, and an untiring worker for the col
bo hall tic 70 ha
vital to the success of Presbyterianism in
Kansas.
In the relations he sustained to the
faculty of the college he was genial, kind
ly, courteous, helpful-a thorough Chris
tan gentleman, exhibiting a warm inter
est in the comfort and success of every
member.
His Christianity was a practical thing.
He lived to do the work given him to do
and he sought to do it for Christ and His
kingdom at all costs to himself. To live
for Christ according to the example of
Christ was his highest ambition.
A good, strong, true and faithful man
is gone from Our community-a man who
VIII be missed in the city, the college. in
the councils of the church, everywhere.
But he has left the memory of a strong,
clean, manly. Christian ia whereby he
being dead yet speaketh."
The funeral services viii be held in
the college chapel on Saturday at 10
o'clock a. m, and will be conducted by the
Rev. Theodore Bracken, president of the
board OF trustees. The address Will be
by the Rev W. ". Curtis, of
FL Dorado. a classmate OF DR.. Hewitt.
The remains VIII be inferred at Wichita,
where a large part of his ministerial work
was done.
There viii be a meeting Of faculty and
students at the college Friday morning
at o'clock. instead Of 1879 as previously