A second service was also held at St. Peter’s church, at which Rev. Dr. James Moore officiated, assisted by Rev. Geo. Carter, of Cleveland.
The procession then formed, which was arranged in the following order:
Marshal Fassett and Coroner Richards; Clergy, in sleighs; Bearers, in sleighs; Assistant Marshal; Masonic Association; Friends of deceased, in sleighs; Assistant Marshal; St. Joseph’s Society; Ashtabula Light Guard; Ashtabula Light Artillery; Citizens generally.
Arranged in a long line in front of the churches and along the main street, with the different badges and insignia of office, this procession formed one of the most impressive pageants ever witnessed in the place. It was more than a mile long, and as it moved at the toll of the bell and with the impressive sound of the funeral dirge from the bands present, every one was affected with the solemnity of the occasion.
Contrasted with the white snow which covered the landscape, this array of mourning and sympathizing friends and citizens moved slowly to the last resting place of the dead. As the head of the column entered the cemetery where were gathered the sacred remains which were to be deposited in the graves, the members of the Masonic societies divided, and, acting as pall bearers, silently took up the coffins which had been arranged in a line for them, and bore the precious freight to the open graves, amid the tears of the spectators, who were touched by so unusual a sight. “It was, indeed, a scene which appealed to the heart with sombre power and deep sympathy.” The nineteen coffins—containing the secrets of death which will be given up only at the resurrection—carried between the slow-moving ranks of uncovered men; the sad faces and intent gaze of the silent witnesses; a few mourning women, in black, standing apart, made sacred by their sorrow—one gray-haired man, whose wife and child had been swallowed up in the gulf, among them; a dull, gray sky overhead; the fitful wind sweeping through the bare branches of the trees; the shroud of snow, broken only by those yawning graves; the sad strains of the funeral dirge, in time with the sobbing of the women; the solemn hush which men feel always in the presence of death. The exercises at the grave were opened by the Rev. Mr. Moore, who read the burial service of his church. A selection of Scripture was read by the Rev. Mr. McGiffert, after which the Masons proceeded with their ritual, and at its close the assembled thousands, dismissed with a benediction, proceeded to their homes or to the evening trains which were to convey them out of the city.
CHAPTER XXII.
THE SUICIDE.
