J. B. Houston, Vice-President of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, and Mrs. Houston; Austin Corbin, President of the Long Island Railroad Company and a Western Union Director; S. W. Fordyce, President of the St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company; John G. Moore, a Director of the Missouri Pacific road; Henry B. Hyde, President of the Equitable Life Assurance Society and a Union Pacific Director; George G. Williams, President of the Chemical National Bank; J. Edward Simmons, President of the Fourth National Bank; Edward H. Perkins, Jr., President of the Importers’ and Traders’ National Bank; A. S. Frissell, President of the Fifth Avenue National Bank; ex-Judge John F. Dillon; W. B. Doddridge, a Director of the St. Louis Southwestern Railway; Washington E. Connor, Gould’s former partner; Samuel Sloan, President of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company and a Director of the Missouri Pacific and Western Union companies.
Chauncey M. Depew, President, and H. Walter Webb, Third Vice-President, of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad; H. G. Marquand, Collis P. Huntington, a Director of the Western Union Telegraph Company; John Bigelow, Addison Cammack, Henry Villard, Henry Clews, Simon Wormser, a Director of the Manhattan Elevated Company; Herbert H. Dickson, Mr. Gould’s personal lawyer; J. Pierpont Morgan, a Western Union Director; William H. Blackford, representative of Charles F. Mayer, President of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad; Whitelaw Reid, John H. Inman, William D. Bishop, of New Haven, a Western Union Director; Jesse Seligman, Mr. and Mrs. James Seligman, Mrs. Helman, Dr. Virgil P. Gibney and mother, Dr. Jarrett Baldwin, Mrs. B. S. Clark, ex-Senator and Mrs. John J. Kiernan, Judge Rufus B. Cowing, of the Court of General Sessions; Dr. Matthew D. Field, Sidney Dillon Ripley, William H. Kissam, J. Seaver Page, ex-Governor Alonzo B. Cornell, a Western Union Director; J. H. Villard, Alexander Miller, Frank Kernan, J. M. Morgan, James Gurnie, John D. Crimmins, J. C. Pierce, Gen. G. M. Dodge, A. S. Hopkins, Gen. Louis Fitzgerald,. Ogden Mills, C. C. Baldwin, F. K. Sturgis, Cornelius N. Bliss, Benjamin Brewster, William Rockefeller, E. P. Vining, Maughan Carter, a relative of Mrs. Gould, and Reid Northrup and Daniel Northrup, nephews of Mr. Gould.
Every one of those who saw the face remarked afterward upon its extreme naturalness. The beard had been cut rather shorter than Mr. Gould wore it in life, and that and the displacement of the swarthiness of his complexion by the death pallor were the only changes in his appearance. The many rare flowers were placed surrounding the casket. The most beautiful was a floral cross which Miss Helen Gould had ordered. It was composed of pink orchids tied with a silk ribbon, and was placed on top of the coffin. Next to it was a bunch of bride roses from Howard Gould. A five-foot broken column of white roses, crowned by violets, with the word “Father” in violets at the base, stood at the head of the coffin on a table. It was from George Gould. Miss Annie Gould sent a bunch of white orchids, Edwin Gould a wreath of lilies of the valley, bride roses and orchids; Frank Gould a bunch of lilies of the valley and orchids, and George Gould’s children an enormous pillow of orchids, roses, lilies of the valley and violets, with the word “Grandpa” in the center. This rested on the floor beneath the coffin.
A handsome wreath of lilies of the valley, orchids and bride roses was received from Mrs. Hall of 559 Fifth avenue. Mrs. Herbert sent a bunch of lilies of the valley and roses. Gen. Thomas Eckert sent a wreath of orchids and roses. Mrs. Dillon Brown sent a bunch of lilies of the valley and orchids. J. B. Houston sent a full-rigged ship made of lilies of the valley, roses and violets, with two flags flying and this inscription in violets: “The Voyage Ended—Safe in Port.” The ship was placed on a gilt cabinet in the northeast corner, and the other pieces were disposed about the room. A large number of persons had been expected, and arrangements had been made accordingly. Many camp chairs had been piled up in the hall, the second drawing-room and the dining-room.
After all the visitors had gone, the members of the family, including Mr. Gould’s brother, Abraham, and his sisters, Mrs. Palen and Mrs. Northrup, took a last look at the features, and the casket was closed.
Although it grew bitterly cold in the late afternoon, the crowd outside did not diminish while the services were in progress. Occasionally the onlookers crowded up to the gates so that the four uniformed policemen had to get together and push them back. A picturesque feature, but by no means a pleasant one, was the presence of several unwashed, long-haired individuals, supposedly Anarchists, raggedly clothed and with red cotton neckerchiefs, who stood muttering and cursing to themselves and glaring fixedly upon the house.
A wily speculator had obtained possession of some visiting cards of Edwin Gould, and had sold them at a premium. Many of his customers presented these to the policemen, and they seemed quite surprised and chagrined when they were told they would not be recognized.
One elderly woman, in a black bombazine dress, with an old-fashioned bonnet, became extremely indignant because she was not allowed to enter the mansion. She said she lived “up in the state,” and that she had traveled sixty miles especially to attend the funeral of Jay Gould. “It is a shame,” she cried, waving a rusty parasol and speaking to the crowd in the street. “They’re rich enough. Why didn’t they hire a church?”
Another peculiarity about the sidewalk spectators was that nearly all the men and boys were either German or Russian, while the greater part of the women were also foreigners. The crowd climbed up the stoops of the adjoining and neighboring residences until they were driven away by servants with the aid of the police. Every time the great glass doors opened at the Gould residence there was a craning of necks and a rush for the stoop. There was absolutely nothing to be seen except the undertaker’s assistants.
One woman told a little circle around her that she had seen the casket, and seemed very proud of her achievement and the distinction which it conferred upon her in the eyes of her auditors.