The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-07-09
HEAD Full Of THEN
Edward F. SearIes' Wheels
Grind on Gold.
-
WIDOW HOPKINS MILLIONS
Squandered on Fine Buildings
He Never Finishes.

fishes the following under a Methuen
Mass, date:
Edward F. Searles, who married Mrs
Mark Hopkins and inherited her 5000 900
has bewildered this city by his quee
freaks.
SearleS, who was a nartistic house dec
orator, created a national reputation wheI
he married Mrs. Hopkins, the septuagen
erian widow Of the Southern Pacific rail
road magnate. When he first obtained
control Of her wealth Searles attracted at
tention by his eccentricities in building
and spending money. Since her death the.
have taken other forms.
Searles now has the delusion that ne &:
real live lord. He imagfnes himself tC
be lord Searles Of Methuen." and re-
quires his army of servants and workmer
10 greet him accordingly.
He requires them TO address him az ''My
Lord" to remove their hats in his pres
ence and to bow as he passes by. None
of them may remain seated before him
He believes himself to be an actual mem
Der Of the British peerage. The eccentrici-
ties Of Mr. Searles have become more and
more pronounced during the past two
years. The most extraordinary of them
all. however. was perpetrated at the bur-
ial OF his wife.
Mrs. searles' death, on July Is. 1891. was
mysterious. It is said that the ravages OF
the grip Slapped her vitality. When her
death occurred the reporters who sought
information at the gates were turned
away. Those among the Methuen folk
who were fairly we'll acquainted with the
deceased. and who called to offer condo
lences. were met by barred gates.
Before the funeral service was read the
cause of death was changed from grip %
dropsy.
Mrs. Searles had been at Great Bar
rington earlier in the season and her hus-
band brought her TO Methuen just two
weeks before her death.
The funeral was strictly private. The
Rev. Charles F. Sweet, rector of st.
Thomas church, at Methuen, conducted
the funeral services and was assisted by
the Rev. c. II. Oliphant. Congregational
list. who read the responses.
Charles Hopkins of Brooklyn, a brother
Of the deceased woman's first husband, at
tended the service. He stopped at hotel
n Lawrence and rode I'D In time for the
funeral. after which he returned to the
hotel until train time.
There were only eleven persons present
at the services, including the bereaved.
the clergyman and the undertaken. The
service lasted forty minutes and the last
visitor had departed from the presence OF
the dead at Il o'clock noon.
At Midnight four Of Searles' workmen,
dressed as fiunkies. bore the casket con-
tanning everything mortal Of Mrs.
vi fO re Ia 81 MI In, h. a1d
Methuen cemetery. across the road from
the Searles house.
Few Methuen folk saw the funeral pro-
cession. Indeed the number may be mar
rowed down to five persons, one of whom
was a woman. They did not see the pro-
cession move from the house. but they saw
It issue from the gate. they saw 1t cross
the road and wend it's way down the
Grass-grown path to the entrance and
watched the weird group move slowly
through the cemetery, avoiding the other
tombstones. to the grave which had been
prepared for Mrs. Searles.
The procession to the tomb was headed
by Mr.. Searles. whose white hair and cur
ioUsly pale complexion were strikIngly re-
Elected by torch which he carried TO light
the way.
Strange to say the tomb had been fin
ished iust five days prior to the death OF
Mrs. searles. And 1t is the only thing
which Mr.. earles has been known to fin
fish during his control OF the fortune.
On that night, when those five awed and
amazed persons saw the procession move
before them. the town clock. after per-
forming its duty OF striking the midnight
hour. stopped, and fl has never started
since then. Probably no person Is cour-
aeeous enough to wind it.
The mortuary receptacle In which Mrs
Searle's remains lie is tbout twenty-five
feet long by twenty feet wide and twenty
feet high n the centre with a sloping roof
covered with red slate. The door opens
10 the east. and the entrance is made
down flight of six broad granite steps,
where open doors Of fine ironworks allow
a view Of the interior.
Mrs. Searles. In a rosewood coffin with
a glass top. rests upon the centre niche in
the front row.
Soon after the obsequies Searles began
TO do other strange things. BY his late
vife's will he receives everything. Young
Timothy Hopkins an adopted son. con-
tested the will on the ground that Searles
used undue measures TO warp his aged
wifes judgment The case was fought at
Newburyport Mass. and Searles subse-
quently settled It out of court because OF
the newspaper notoriety he was receiving.
He paid young Timothy, who was for
merry Pat Nolan, $S,OOo.OOO. and the lat
ter promised to leave earles in peace and
return to the Pacific coast.
SearIes never seems to be satisfied with
H. l. h-,N ,EwvAe
no sooner does he get project under way
than he directs a suspension. Even the
house he lives in-hIs biFthplace-is unfn-
ished. lie has spent hundreds OF thou
sands upon Il. yet above the stone for
tress which surrounds II can be seen I'M
finished patches where tar paper. becom-
Ing weather beaten, rattles like dry bones
whenever the wind sweeps under II.
Five years ago he commenced the con-
struction Of q block stone wall around his
grounds. As the work progressed he be-
came dissatisfied and began again on
larger scale. He caused an addition sew
en- feet high TO be built upon the top OF
the first wall. He has since added layer
upon layer. until now the wall. fortress IN
fact. is in some places over forty feet
high and still unfinished.
About four years ago he purchased
Sculptor Thomas Ball's masterpiece. a
statue Of Washington, which the veteran
sculptor made al Florence.
Sesrles paid sl25.eN and an additional
$500 for the statues % Lincoln, Grant,
Sherman and Sheridan, which are pu;
upon the four corners OF the pedestal
base.
The monument Is Sc; across the street
from the Searles estate. and is 'shrouded
~, L.