Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1900-12-15
A MIDNIGHT BURIAL.
TRUE STORY OF THE FIRST MASONIC
FUNERAL IN ARIZONA.
Owing 10 u Sequence Of Peculiar In
cidents the Ceremony Was Delayed
ana Was Not Completed untn the
sun Pccped over the His.


cidents the Ceremony Was Delayed
ana Was Not Completed untn the
sun Pccped over the His.
The following true narrative Of the
first Masonic burial in Arizona, us re.
lated To me by my old friend, Colonel
w. NJ. williams of Cairo, Ills. will
doubtless interest your readers. give
II, rs nearly rs possible, in his own
words.
In lSG0 | was in Arizona as super.
intendent Of the st. Louis Mining com.
pany, located on the San Pedro river. a
known as Tombstone and 10 miles east
Of Fort Buchanan.
On one occasion | made visit to the
Santa Rita mines, located In another
part of the territory. These We're man
aged by Cincinnati parties and were
known as the IIeintZleman mines.
When | arrived there and introduced
myself. as none of us had ever met he.
fore, was greeted with that cordial
hospitality known only to those who
have lived on the frontier or in mining
camps by Mr. II. &. Grosvenor of Gin.
cinnati, the superintendent, with two
others who occupied positions at the
mines.
| One of these. Mr.. j. r. Mason. |
| found seriously indsposed; the other
sent to Fort 9lchanan to bring DR., J.
! Il. d, irwin, surgeon mt the post. !
then devoted my time to the sick man.
VINO was growing more fecbl" eacD
hour. He told mo If he died he wanted
to be buried with Masonic honors.
had "trrd' him and found him to
be bright third dcgrr" Mason. |
promised to do all could to carry Jut
his request. He died before morning.
and the messenger sent for the doctor
had not returned, and it was uncertain
as to when. if ever, he might return
As in those days there were tot over
G5 Americans in the territory outSid"
Of the troops, the taking of life by the
Indians was daily expected. In this
emergency it levolvcd upon mo to ar
range for the burial Of our friend.
sent pcon messengers to Tubac and
/ other places where Americans were
known to be to come TO my aid
During the day ! selected Il beautiful
spot overshahowcd by large mesquite
tree and there had Il very deep grave
dug, as in that country the coyote is a
kind OF hyena. that will unearth any
corpse IL not laid deep in the ground.
This work was done by poems, while
! stood guard to keep the Indians from
surprising us.
BY midnight the messengers ] had
sent out commenced returning with
the few who could come with them.
found among those who arrived Two
or three Masons. who. like myself
were ."rusty" in the Masonic burial
ritual, We opened the trunk of the
deceased. hoping to find something to
guide us in fulfilling his last request.
The only thing we discovered was an
Episcopal ritual. The following per-
sons composed the funeral cortege: DR.
C. b. Hughes, j. Howard Wells. vii.
liam s. Curry. II. G. Grosvenor, Colo
ncl Titus. S. Warner and myself.
We had determined to bury the body
at night. in the darkness, having no
light except Il candle in one OF the old
time perforated tin lanterns by which
! could read the service.
After lowering the body into the
grave commenced to read the serv.
ice. stood close to the head OF the
grave, and Mr.. Howard Wells held the
lantern behind me. \ rusting sound
was heard Ii was supposed to come
1;p
looked out for himself. The man hold.
Ing the lantern dropped it into the
grave, and | fell in after it.
There | was with the corpse in n
deep grave. had my pistols and
Sharp's carbine with me. and real.
lied that If the Indians peered into the
grave could ill it with dead bodies. |
listened. Not sound was heard. My
companions had, suppose secreted
themselves and no doubt thought
had done the same.
After the lapse of about four hours
day began to dawn, and rs ! stood
upon the corpse mo collins were in use
in Arizona at the time of this occur.
renee. the dead being simply wrapped
III luclI DltuhctSy anu CuUllOuSIt HUM
ed over the brink of the grave to take
in the surroundings.
! soon saw my comrades. one by one,
emerging from behind rocks. where
they had hastily secreted themselves.
no one knowing where the others were.
! called aloud for help and was soon
assisted from the prison in which |
had been confined for fully four hours,
and as this is the first Masonic funeral
that was ever held in Arizona I think
it deserves a record
After comparing notes we discovered
that the mesquite tree under which we
were holding our solemn service was
the roosting place of IL colony of crows.
our intrusion having disturbed them
and thereby causing us to stampede.
AS the sun rose above the mountain
tops we returned to the grave and
completed the reading Of the ritual
and covered our friend with the clOds
Of the valley and left him sleeping
where he will rest until the resurrec-
ton mOrn.-Evelyn b. Baldwin in New
York Masonic Standard