The Life of Clara Barton, Founder of the American Red Cross (Vol. 2 of 2)Barton, William E. (William Eleazar)
History
The Life of Clara Barton, Founder of the American Red Cross (Vol. 2 of 2)
Barton, William E. (William Eleazar)
American National Red Cross -- Biography; Barton, Clara, 1821-1912; Nurses -- United States -- Biography
On Sunday afternoon a brief service was held at Glen Echo. The
Reverend John Van Schaick, Jr., pastor of the “Church of our Father,”
Universalist, of Washington, read the Scripture and offered prayer.
The Reverend W. W. Curry, a veteran of the Civil War, paid her a brief
and heartfelt tribute, which was followed by three addresses, by
Chaplain Coudon, of the House of Representatives, Mrs. John A. Logan,
and the Honorable Peter V. De Graw.
The body reached Oxford in the early morning of April 16th, accompanied
by Mr. and Mrs. Stephen E. Barton; Francis Atwater, of Meriden,
Connecticut; Dr. Eugene Underhill, President of the Nurses’ College
of Philadelphia; and Dr. Julian B. Hubbell. It had long since become
apparent that no church in Oxford would contain the congregation. The
service was held in Memorial Hall, which was filled to overflowing,
and it was estimated that as many as five hundred people were unable
to secure admission. Delegations were present from many cities, and
representatives of various patriotic organizations were in attendance.
Floral tributes had been received from many parts of the Nation, and a
magnificent wreath was sent by the Grand Duchess of Baden. The casket
was almost hidden with flowers. Above it was a great red cross made of
carnations, and upon the casket was a large bouquet of red roses, the
flowers which all her life she most had loved and which had belonged to
her family since the days of the Wars of the Roses.
Appropriate music was rendered by the Schumann Quartet of Boston,
who sang sympathetically Tennyson’s “Crossing the Bar.” The opening
words of Scripture, “I am the Resurrection and the Life,” and of the
comforting sentences, “Let not your heart be troubled,” were recited by
the Reverend William E. Barton.
The Reverend John P. Marvin read the Bible lesson. Mrs. Allen L. Joslyn
read a beautiful tribute from the Town of Oxford, and Mr. J. Brainard
Hall, of Worcester, a veteran of the Civil War, represented the Woman’s
Relief Corps in a tribute which included the placing of a silk flag
upon her breast as she lay in the casket.
The two formal addresses were then delivered by the ministers whom she
had chosen, the Reverend Percy E. Epler, pastor of the Adams Square
Congregational Church of Worcester, and the Reverend William E. Barton,
of Oak Park, Illinois.
For an hour after the service, the people filed through the hall and
past the casket for a last look at her face.
The body was then borne to the hearse, escorted by a guard of the Grand
Army of the Republic, its chaplain, H. A. Philbrook, and the color
sergeant leading the procession.
The North Oxford Cemetery has a beautiful and sightly elevation,
containing the largest lot in the enclosure where for generations the
Bartons have been buried. There her body was laid to rest, the hands of
old soldiers lowering it to its last resting-place.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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