"The Council adjourned without the transaction of further
business.
"DANIEL H. WELLS, Mayor.
"ROBERT CAMPBELL, Recorder.
"Council Chamber,
"June 23rd, 1868."
A full account of the funeral of President Kimball is reserved for the next and final chapter.
CHAPTER LXVIII.
OBSEQUIES OF PRESIDENT KIMBALL—TRIBUTES AND TESTIMONIES OF HIS BROTHER APOSTLES—"HE WAS A MAN OF AS MUCH INTEGRITY AS ANY MAN WHO EVER LIVED"—EARTH RETURNS TO EARTH AND THE SPIRIT UNTO GOD WHO GAVE IT.
The day set for the funeral of President Kimball was Wednesday, the 24th of June. The place, the large Tabernacle, Salt Lake City. His own desire, expressed many times before his death, was that it should be held at his private residence, and with as little display as possible; but out of deference to public sentiment, and to accommodate the great multitude of his friends who desired to be present, it was found necessary to hold the services in the Tabernacle.
Throughout the city on that day, all ordinary business was suspended, and draped flags, at half mast, swung to the breeze from the tops of public and private buildings. It was a general time of mourning. The very heavens seemed weeping in unison with the earth. The skies were hung with black clouds, the solemn thunders roared, the wind sighed and moaned, and the rain fell heavily.
Long before the hour for the commencement of the services, thousands were on their way to the Tabernacle to pay the last tribute of respect to the memory of the mighty dead; one whom all Israel revered and mourned as a father and a friend. Notwithstanding the pouring rain, fully eight thousand people assembled within the vast auditorium. Many of the settlements and counties throughout the Territory were represented by their leading men.
While the masses congregated at the Tabernacle, Presidents Brigham Young and Daniel H. Wells, with the Apostles and many others, representing general and local authorities in the Priesthood, repaired to the late residence of President Kimball, where the funeral procession formed under the personal supervision of President Young.