The Dickinson press., 1901-02-02
! MIDNIGHT BURIAL.
TRUE STORY OF rnE FIRST MASONIC
FUNERAL IN ARIZONA.

OWING to q Sequence of Peculiar In.
cIdents the Ceremony Was Delayed
and Was Not Completed Until the
Sun Peeped Over the Hills.
The following true narrative Of the
first Masonic burial in Arizona. us re-
lated to me by my old friond. Colonel
w. NJ. Williams Of Cairo. Ills. will
doubtless interest your readers. give
1t, as nearly as possible. in bis own
words:
In 1850 I was In Arizona as suuer.
intendent of the st. Louis Mining ccm.
pany. located ON the San Pedro river. q
short distance west of what is now
known US Tombstone and 40 miles east
Of Fort Buchanan.
On one occasion ! made q visit to the
Santa Rita mines. located In another
part of the territory. These were man.
aged by Cincinnati parties and were
known as the Heintzleman mines.
When l arrived there and introduced
myself, as none of Is 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. GsJsvenor Of Gin.
c%innati, the superintendent. with two
others who occupied positions at the
mines.
One of these. Mr.. j. r. Mason. l
found seriously indisposed: the other !
sent to Fort Buchanan to bring DR.. j.
B. 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. I
promised to do all could to carry out
his request. He died before morning.
and the messenger sent for the doctor
as to when, If ever. he might return.
AS in those days there were not over
65 Americans in the territory outside
of the troops. the taking of life by the
Indians vas daily expected. In this
emergency it devolved upon me to mr.
range for the burial of our friend. 7
sent peon messengers to Tubac and
other places where Americans wcr.
known to be to come to my aid.
During the day l selected a beautifN
spot ove%rshadowed by a large mesquite
tree and there had a very deep grave
dug, as in that country the coyote Is a
kind of hyena. that will unearth any
corpse If 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. l
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 cortcge: DR.
G. B. Hughes. :. Howard Wells. VIII
liam s. Curry, II. G. G%rosvenor, Colo.
mel Titus. s. Warner and myself.
We had determined to bury the body
at night, in the darkness. having no
light except a candle in one of the old
time perforated tin lanterns by which
I could read the service.
After lowering the body into the
grave l commenced to read the serv.
ice. I stood close to the head of the
grave, and Mr.. Howard Wells held the
lantern behind me. A rustling sound
was heard. 1t was supposed to come
from lurking Indians. and every one
looked out for himself. The man hold.
ing the lantern dropped it into the
grave, and l fell In after It.
There I was with the corpse in q
deep grave. I had my pistols and
Sharp's carbine with me. and l real.
lied that If the Indians peered into the
grave l could fill it with dead bodies. l
listened. Not a 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 as | stood
upon the corpse (no collins were in use
in Arizona ut the time Of this occur
renee, the dead being simply wrapped
In their blankets) and cautiously look
ed over the brink Of the grave to take
in the surroundings.
I soon saw my comrades, one by one,
emerging from behind rocks. where
they had hastily secreted themselves.
no n knowing where the others were.
I called aloud for help and was soon
assisted from the prison in which l
had been confined for fully four hours,
and as this Is the first Masonic funeral
that was ever held in Arizona I think
1t deserves a record.
After comparing notes we discovered
that the mesquite tree under which we
were holding u solemn service was
the roosting place Of a colony Of crows,
u intrusion having disturbed them
and thereby causing us to stampede.
AS the sun vose above the mountain
tops we returned to the grave and
completed the reading of the ritual
oAu SOtcISu OuE AIIeuu VIII Tue ClOU8
Of the valley and left him sleeping
where he will rest until the resurrec-
ton morn.-Evelyn B. Baldwin in New
York Masonic Standard.
Soft.
White-1 understand young Green
lost all the money his father left him
on the races, and he's now looking for
a job. He won't have so soft a thing
as he has had.
Brown-Oh, l don't know. He'll have
a soft thing as long as he doesn't lose
his head.-Chicago News.
Knew the Danger.
what makes you avoid that girl so,
even IL you do not intend to propose to
herr"
I'm afraid she'll take a notion to
make me propose."-Chicago Record.
Chinese children begin to learn their
A B C's at 8 years old and are ex-
pected to learn 1000 letters in three
months.
A -orr5 -,,