The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1902-04-04
BURIED BY BROWN.
ecCENTRlCITIES OF NEW YoRK,s
MOST NOTED SEXTON.

ehe Arfstocraoy of the City mt
8race Church, and HIS Name
AAorns a Tablet on Its Walls.
1t used to be said that stranger who
was visiting New York for the first
tme and asked his hotel clerk for nd.
vice as to what he should do on Sun
Gay morning would find his doubts
quickly reduced to the alternative, go
over to Brooklyn and hear Beecher'' or
10 to Grace church and see Brown"
No prelate OF the Episcopal church was
70 widely known either in or beyond bis
New York diocese as this valiant
guardian Of old Grace, whose income,
IT was estimated, was greater than
that Of any man In the cloth and whose
power In society was even more feared
than that OF any bishop
He received his appointment ms sex.
ton from the Rev. DR.. Thomas House
iaylor, and, while DR.. Taylor has been
long forgotten, Sexton Brown is still
almost as much remembered in the
great city as Jim Fisk, A. T. Stewart or
Charles Delmonico.
Brown would cultivate the acouaint.
ance Of head walters and cooks. secur.
Ing the latest information as to the
social plans Of their masters and mis-.
Tesses, and whenever he learned that
party or ball was under considera-
cion he would offer his services to de.
liver the Invitations or look after the
comfort Of the guests or superintend
their arrival and departure in their
carriages. Beginning in this humble
way, 1t was not long before he gained
the good will of distinguished patrons.
Ills authoritative manner, too, was
admirable for such occasions. Indeed
the host himself could hardly issue q
command to his menials with the
suavely peremptory emphasis which
Brown employed. Such was his de-
pertinent and such his trustworthy
zeal that 1t was said that no one in
Grace church could be properly feasted
or buried or could even say his prayers
without the assistance Of Brown, and
eventually It became something like a
olctum In large portion Of society
tpat nobody could be married in New
York In truly first class style unless
Browns presence blessed the bridal
party.
Nor did any detail that might be
wanting for the personal comfort of
the congregation escape his vigilant
eye. 1t was a habit Of old Peter Stuy.
Vesant, for example. to keep in his pew
thermometer. AS soon as he had tax.
en- his seat he would consult it. One
winter morning when the temperature
was extremely low the furnaces of the
church got out Of order, and Browns
assistants were able to force through
them only enough heat to lessen the
chill little. 1t occurred to Brown that
the condition OF the atmosphere would
not be conducive to either the piety or
the comfort of the aged Stuyvesant.
When the old gentleman arrived with.
In the porch OF the church, he was
shivering with the cold, but without
attracting his attention Brown, who
knew that the first thing he would do
would be to step into his pew and ex.
anime the thermometer, slipped in
ahead, pressed one Of his fat fingers to
the little glass bulb and chuckled as he
saw the mercury ascend to 72. When
Stuyvesant reached the pew, he con-
suited the thermometer as usual, look.
ed around wonderingly, but evidently
concluded that the church must be
warm enough and that therefore It
must be himself who was cold.
Browns funeral was marked by
much OF the pomp and circumstance
which he himself had SO often provided
for the rich and the great. The wits
said that 1t was the first In forty years
that had been perfectly correct per-
formanse without his Individual guild
ance. He bad died in the little town of
Brandford one August night In 1880.
There he had been In the habit of TAX
Ing bis summer rest. He had been
overcome by the hent while attending
a wedding nt Brandford. and that sum.
mer he complained. probably for the
nrst time In his life. Of i'll health. One
of his orders was that his body should
be placed in a casket Of polished Span
ish cedar
A more ponderous casket had never
been carried up the aisle Of Grace
church. 1t was rich with silver and
velvet 1t was 20 heavy-its interior
being large enough for two ordinary
corpses-that the eight knights Tenn.
plars who bore It into the church al.
most staggered with their burden.
Upon 1t lay their cooked hats with way-
ing ostrich plnmes Within the chancel
stood four of tle clergy. In the pews
were the representatives Of some of the
proudest families Of the city, and n
long line Of men and women fled into
the church showing all the signs of sor.
row for an old friend and neighbor.
On the left hand side Of Grace church
as one turns after entering the porch