The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1910-01-20
TABLET ST|Rs Town
lnfideI's Epitaph May Cause
Removal from Cemetery.
inscription on Shaft OF Eccentric and
Wealthy Pennsyivanian Called
s%acrIlegIous and Causes Or
clais Much Worry.

..s-sE- u...4 - HEgEaH H.rUE-r fHH.
Trenton. N. J.-Agitation is on in
the little town Of Morrisville, Pa,
across the Delaware river from the
old Worthwhile cemetery, the head.
stone owe the grave of Samuel Nc.
Cracker. because Of an epitaph which
townfolk say Is sacrilegious.
1t Is a stone tablet, erected in the
midst of the graves of revolutionary
and civil war heroes. prominent
clergymen. and citizens. and bears
this inscription:
In memory of Samuel McCracken,
who died April 10. 1862.
If leading politicians and priests
All go to heaven then l I'm bound
To stop at some other station"
Officers of the cemetery association
are at sea as to what to do, as they
say they are legally bound to permit
the headstone to remain. In order to
get around the contract made by
McCracken with the cemetery asso,
citation, it has been suggested that all
Of the bodies be exhumed and re,
moved to q new plot Of ground, leav-
ing the McCracken plot the only one
in the cemetery. Relatives Of Nc.
Cracker assert that this would not
be legal.
McCracken, who, many years ago,
owned half the town and entertained
lavishly, posed as an old-time coun-
try gentleman, and was considered q
jolly good fellow by all who knew
him. He was lenient with his ten
ants, generous to their children, and
sympathetic with them in their dis,
tress. His home was filled with guests
almost continually, as the host loved
company.
In his boyhood he took a dislike to
religion, and in his manhood was an
infdel. He despised politics and poll
ticfans. mo decent gentleman Is a
politician" was his contention. His
hatred for the clergy in general was
intense. He also believed that when
a nan became mortally i'll he should
not wait for death.
His wife was a Christian woman
attended religious services regularly
and her charities we're extensive.
From the day his wife died Nc
Crackers health began to fail. He
prepared for death. and confded to
friends he was soon to leave, V to
return, but wen then he was jovial
and spoke merrily of his coming de-
parture.
He made secret arrangements with
an undertaken for his burial. He or
dered that his body te placed in a
canoe-shaped casket. built Of light
wood and canvas. This repository
was completed before his death. He
bought a large interest in the GENE.
terry and made a contract that what.
ever headstone should be placed over
his resting place should never be re-
moved. no matter what inscription it
bore.
On April 16, 1852, he committed sui
eide by cutting his throat, and was
buried, according to his instructions,
in a grave adjoining that of his wife.
After his headstone was erected,
church workers became indignant, not
only because of the epitaph itself, but
because 1t should be placed over Mrs.
McCracken's grave. and both head.
stones are side by side in the most
conspicuous part Of the graveyard.
This is the inscription v e he
grave of Mrs. McCracken:
in memory of Phoebe. wife of Sam,
uel McCracken, who died March 80,
1860 She died a firm believer in
Christ. her Saviour