Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1900-12-12

TRue STONY OF r1a F,ner MASONIC
FUNERAL m ARIZONA


Son Peere1 over iAs aaalls.
The following true narrative Of th<
drst Masonic burial In Arizona. as re
lated to me BY my old friend. Colonel
w. NJ. Williams Of Cairo. Ills. will
doubtless interest your readers. I give
It. as nearly rs possible. in his own
words:
In 1860 ! was In Arizona as super
intendcnt Of the Sc Louis Mining com.
pany. located ON the San Pedro river. q
short distance west Of what Il now
known as Tombstone and 40 miles east
OF Fort Buchanan.
On one occasion I made visit to the
santa Rita mines. located In another
part OF the territory. These were man.
aged by Cincinnati parties and were
known rs the Hcintzleman mines.
myself. MS none OF US had ever met be-
fore. l was greeted with that cordial
hospitality known only to those who
have lived on the frontier or In mining
camps by Mr.. II. c. GrosvenOr Of Gin
cinnnti. the superintendent. with two
others who occupied positions at the
mines
One Of these, Mr.. J. T. Mason. I
found seriously indlsposed: the other
sent to Fort Buchanan to bring d.. J,
r. d. Irwin. surgeon at the post. ]
then devoted my time to the sick man.
who was growing more feeble each
hour. He told me II he died he wanted
to be buried with Masonic honors.
had tried" him and found him to
be a bright third degree Mason.
promised to do all could to carry out
and the messenger sent for the doctor
had not returned. and Il was uncertain
as to when. II ever. he might return.
AS In those dnys there were not over
65 Americans In the territory outside
Of the troops. the taking Of life by the
Indians was daily expected. In this
It devolved upon me to ar
range for the burial Of our friend. l
sent peon messengers TO Tubac and
other places where Americans were
known to be to come to my aid.
During the day selected q beautiful
spot ovcrcLnd"wed by n large mesquite
tree and there had very deep grave |
dug. as in that country the coyote Is q |
kiEd OF hycna. that will unenrth any
corpse II no, laid deep In the ground. |
This work was done by poems. while
stood guard to keep the Indians from /
us.
by midnight the messengers hai |
sent out commenced returning with |
no f.,,1 t,n Sx-is l,rp 7
found among those who arrived two
Dr. three Masons. who. like myself,
were "ru2ty" In the Masonic buria!
ritual. We opened the trunk Of the
deceased. hoping to fiud something 20
guide US ir 't'ling his last request.
The only tx we discovered was az
Episcopal ritual The following per-
Ons composed the funeral cortcgc: DR.
;. B. Hughes. J. Howard Wells. VIII
IAN S. Curry. II. C. Grosvenor. Colo
lcl Titus. s. Warner and myself.
We Ind determined TO bury the body
t night. In the darkness. having no
light except n candle In one of the old
line perforated tin lanterns by which
could read the service.
After lowering the body into the
rave ! commenced to read the serv.
&c. stood close 10 the head Of the
rave. and Mr.. Howard Wells held the
,ntern beI.nd me. "A rustllng sound
rns heard. II was supposed TO como
rom lurking Indians. and every one
,Oked out for himself. The man hold
o. the lantern dropped II into the
rave. and fell In after II.
There I was with the corpse In g
ecp grave. had my pistols and
Earp's clibine with me. and l real
ed that il the Indians pcercd Into the
rave could fill II with dead bodies. l
Stened. Not sound was heard. My
had. suppose. secrrted
and no doubt thought
ad done the same.
After the lapse Of about four hours ,
ny began to da and as | stood ,
pom tie corpse (no collins were In use
Arizona ut the time of this Occur ,
,ncc. the dead being simply wrapped ,
! their blapkets) and cautiously look
J oyer .ns l.,i.,, ~ III" grave TO take (
Inc SURROUNDINGS. "
/ soon saw my coEi:ade.. one py 0..a ! I;
merging from behind rocks. where |
ley had hastily secre,ed themselves. 9
D one knowing where the others were. I
called aloud for help and was soon 6
SISTED from the prison In which ! o
I'd been confined for fully four hours. 1
I'D as this Is the first Masonic funeral ,
lat was ever held In Arizona think
deserves n record.
After comparing notes we discovered
lat the mesquite tree under which we c
ere holding our solemn service was 9
le roosting place Of q colony Of crows.
II Intrusion havin. disturbed them
nd thereby causing us to stampede.
AS the sun rose above the mountain I
ps we returned to the grave and
,mpleted the reading OF the ritual I
1d covered our friend with the clOds
the valley and left him sleeping
here he will rest until the resurrec-
on Inorn.-Evelyn b. Baldwin In New
ork Masonic Standard.
1