Omaha daily bee., 1899-07-24
Forecast for Nebraska
Continued Warm; Possibly owe
Trmncrutur nj Omnbn Nc~stcrdnyt
MEMORIAL TO COL. INGERSOLL
Five HundScd Of the Dead Orators
Friends Praise Courage aud
Charitable Works.

ifOklA, ILL.,, July 23.-Meinorlal Services
to the memory Of the late Colonel Robert G.
1ngersoll, WHO was for many years a promi-
rent resident of Peoria, were held in the
Tabernacle here this afternoon. over 300
OF the dead orators old-time friends were in
attendance, quite a number being members
Of his old regiment, the Eleventh Illinois
cavalry, of which he was colonel. from ont
OF tn eEity. Addresses were delivered by
about twenty of his old associates, ~neighbors,
comrades and friends, and lengthy resolu-
tions, lauding his works of charity ana his
courage in upholding his belief concerning
freedom of thought and speech on all Ques-
lions and extending sympathy to his be-
reaved family, were adopted by a rising vote.
A movement toward the erection OF a mon
ument to his memory in Glen Oak park in
this city by popular subscription was in
augurated by The appointment NJ a commit
tee of fifteen to be known as the 1ngersoll
memorial committee. to take charge of the
soliciting Of funds and the erection of a suit
able monument.
Body Lies in state.
NEW YORK, July 23.-The body of Rob-
ert G. Ingersoll lay on an improvised bier
today in the bedroom in which he died at
the home OF Walston II. Brown, his son-in-
law, in Dobbs' ferry. Many men of all sorts
and conditions, but mostly humble toilers,
made the pilgrimage to Dobbs' ferry in the
hope that they might be permitted to gaze
once more upon the noted a~gnostic. In no
instance was the request refused. No ar
engagements whatever have yet been made
concerning the funeral. Mrs. lngersoll and
her daughters, Mrs. Brown and Miss Maude
1ngersoll, are still too much overcome with
sorrow to consider the matter.
''They cannot tear themselves from the
beloved Dead said Mr.. Farrell tonight.
'They have not left the chamber since he
passed away except to go into an adjoining
room when visitors who wished to see him
called. They cannot reconcile themselves
to the idea that they must part with him,
&1d all illusions to the removal of the
body only cause distressing outbursts OF
grief. 1t may be a few days before they
are calm enough to discuss the steps that
necessarily soon must be taken for the re-
moval Of the body"
Mr.. Farrell expressed the conviction that
the. body will be cremated. If it is not it
viii be buried in Sleepy Hollow cemetery at
Tarrytown, where Washington Irving rests.
If any funeral exercises are held it is eX-
pected that John Clark Ridpath will deliver
the eulogy.
At the request of the family George Gray
Barnard, the sculptor, who was a warm per-
sonal friend of the colonel, will visit the
house tomorrow and make a death mask.
Colonel Robert G.. Ingersoll died a COM
paratively poor man. There is, it Is said,
an insurance of s100, 900 on his life; that is
all. Yet the great agnostic made from $780,
600 to $50, 900 a year every year since the
war. But what he did not spend on his
family he gave away
He had a moderate account at the Bank
of New Amsterdam, in this city. He owned
no real estate.
IngersoII Leaves No Will.
81 don't think the colonel left a will
said his brother-in-law and private secre-
tary, G. p. Farrell, at the Dobb's Ferry
home today. "If he did l don't know of it.
Colonel Ingersoll died poor. He was a
great money Garner. but a poor money
saver. For years and years, perhaps thirty
years, his income was immense. | can't
recall any lawyer who is his equal at earn
ing money. Others have made larger fees
at times, but no lawyers fees that l know
of have run so high in the general average.
"He has not left any estate worth speak
ing of. Others have had the benefit of all
that he earned in the law and in lecturing. |
What he did not spend on his loved ones he
gave away to charity"
Colonel Ingersoll knew he was ill-worse
than he told a soul. His physician, DR.. A. |
Alexander Smith, had told him that his
trouble, angina p%ectoris, might carry him
off at any moment. So he made all the pro-
vision he could in the short time that was
left him.
"A check received at the Office of the Equit-
able Life Assurance society today proved
that. 1t must have been mailed the day be-
fore from Dobb's Ferry. 1t was dated ahead,
and was for $156 40, the amount of a pre-
MUM on a $4,000 policy due August 4.
N0IARI r ARRAY QE PREF AIES