Whereas, The death of Mr. John T. Brush, president of the New York National League Base Ball Club, comes as a sad blow to organized professional Base Ball and particularly to us, his associates in the National League.
As the dean of organized professional Base Ball, his wise counsel, his unerring judgment, his fighting qualities and withal his eminent fairness and integrity in all matters pertaining to the welfare of the national game will be surely missed.
He was a citizen of sterling worth, of high moral standards and of correct business principles, and his death is not only a grievous loss to us, but to the community at large as well. Be it, therefore,
Resolved, That the members of the National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs, in session to-day, express their profound grief at the loss of their friend, associate and counsellor and extend to the members of his bereaved family their sincere sympathy in the great loss which they have sustained by his death. Be it further
Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be spread on the records of the league.
In connection with the death of Mr. Brush, Ben Johnson, president of the American League, said: "Mr. Brush was a power in Base Ball. He will be missed as much in the American League as in the National League."
More than three hundred friends, relatives, business acquaintances, lodge brothers and Base Ball associates attended the funeral of Mr. Brush, on Friday, November 29, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Indianapolis. Fifty or more of Mr. Brush's Base Ball associates and acquaintances, principally from the East, were present.
The service was conducted by the Rev. Lewis Brown, rector of St. Paul's, and was followed by a Scottish Rite ceremony in charge of William Geake, Sr., of Fort Wayne, acting thrice potent master, and official head of the thirty-third degree in Indiana. The Scottish Rite delegation numbered more than 150. There were also in attendance fifty Knights Templars of Rapier Commandery, under the leadership of Eminent Commander E.J. Scoonover.
The Grand Army of the Republic, the Indianapolis Commercial Club and a number of local and out-of-town clubs and social organizations of which Mr. Brush was a member also were represented.
The Episcopal service was given impressively. The Rev. Dr. Brown, in reviewing the life of Mr. Brush, spoke of him as one of the remarkable men of America, who, in his youth, gave no promise of being in later life a national figure. In the course of his remarks Dr. Brown said:
"The death of John Tomlinson Brush removes from our midst one of the most remarkable men of our generation. His life was that of a typical American. He began in the most unpretentious manner and died a figure of national importance.
"He went through the Civil War so quietly that the fact was unknown to some of his most intimate friends. He was mustered out with honor and entered the business world in Indianapolis. His labors here put him at the forefront for sagacity, squareness, honorable treatment and generosity.
"His love of sport made him a patron of the national game. In a perfectly natural way, he went from manager of the local team to proprietor of the New York Giants. He was a Bismarck in plan and a Napoleon in execution. His aim was pre-eminence and he won place by the consent of all. The recent spectacular outpouring of people and colossal financial exhibit in the struggle for the pennant between New York and Boston were but the legitimate outcome of his marvelous skill.
"He was an early member of the Masonic fraternity. He took his Blue Lodge degree in his native town and to demonstrate his attachment he never removed his membership. Where he had been raised to the sublime degree of a master there he wished to keep his affiliation always.