Winfield Courier Archives

Winfield Daily Courier - October 27, 1893.

PERSONAL POINTERS.

Penciled Paragraphs Concerning Individuals Coming Under the Watchful Eyes of Daily Courier Reporters.

Note: Listed a number of people coming to Siverd Funeral:

Harry Farrar, Arkansas City; Ed. G. Gray, Arkansas City; Charlie Betts, Arkansas City; J. G. Crawford, Burden; Captain Rarick, Arkansas City; George McIntire, Arkansas City; Jesse King, Vernon; William Olmstead, Udall; Commissioner Guthrie; E. T. Berkey, Blackwell; Judge Litton, Burden; Amos Snowhill; Mr. and Mrs. W. E. Seaman, Udall.

Sheriff Nipp returned from Wichita this morning where he had been to take Norton and Wright to the Sedgwick county jail for safe keeping.

Army Evans called on the COURIER this morning and stated that he was not with Wright and Norton when the arrest of Norton was made. The COURIER regrets that it did Army an injustice.

Sheriff Nipp, of Cowley county, arrived in the city last night with Morgan Wright and Kid Norton, the murderers of Captain Siverd of Winfield. The drove up in a carriage and arrived at a late hour. The prisoners are now in our county jail and are gloomy, stubborn, and reticent. They were brought here to avoid a lynching, as several people at Winfield contemplated making a raid on the jail last night, notwithstanding the advice of the leding citizens of that city, who exhorted the people to leave the law take its course. Wichita Eagle.

The Winfield Daily Courier, Friday, October 27, 1893.

THE FUNERAL.

The Remains of Captain H. Hi Siverd Laid to Rest in the Union Cemetery.

Thousands of Friends and Citizens Follow the Murdered Officer to His Grave.

Beautiful Flowers and Sympathetic Mourners Pay Tribute to His Memory.

All that is mortal of Hugh H. Siverd has been laid to rest in the Union cemetery. The assassin's bullet has done its work. A true man, a brave officer has passed away to satisfy the villainous hatred of the defiers of the law. Never more will sunshine greet Hugh H. Siverd, but in that place from whose bourne no traveler ever returns, Hugh H. Siverd will rest in peace and quiet.

At 2 o'clock this afternoon the remains of Officer Siverd was taken from his late residence on East Twelfth Avenue to the Baptist Church, where Rev. Parker, assisted by Father McKernan and the other ministers of the city, preached the funeral sermon. The remains was followed from the family residence to the church and thence to the Union Cemetery by thousands of people from all parts of the county. The business houses were closed and all citizens hastened to pay their respects to the memory of a brave and noble officer who died in the performance of his duty.

THE LINE OF MARCH

was formed as follows:

Ministers in carriages.

Hearse and pall bearers.

The family of the deceased.

Order of the G. A. R.

The Masonic Order.

Odd Fellows.

A. O. U. W. Lodge.

Ladies Circle of the G. A. R.

County and city officials.

The procession was followed by hundreds of friends in carriages and on foot. G. A. R.

posts and other societies came from all parts of the county to pay respect to the memory of their beloved brother and comrade. Arriving at the church, those who were fortunate enough to get inside listened to an eloquent sermon by Rev. Parker. The casket containing the remains was literally covered with

BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS

placed there by kind friends with loving hands demonstrating their respect and love for the brave and noble officer who had so long stood between them and the law defying element of the county. The floral designs were beautiful, a further description of which will be given in tomorrow's COURIER.

Arriving at the cemetery the body was lowered to its last resting place under the impressive ceremonies of the G. A. R. post of this city of which Captain Siverd ws commander.

RESOLUTIONS OF THE MINISTERS ALLIANCE OF WINFIELD.

The following paper was adopted by the Ministers Alliance, at its meeting yesterday, and ordered published.

We, the members of the Ministers Alliance of Winfield, desire to express our profound respect for the personal and official character of the late Capt. H. H. Siverd, who but yesterday in the full light of day, and in the most public place of our city, was wantonly murdered while in the faithful performance of his official duty.

We solemnly avow as our judgment, that no more faithful officer ever swayed the scepter of official trust and power, that no man with higher sense of honor has been associated with the interest of our city, that no stauncher friend of the poor ever tred our streets, than H. H. Siverd.

In his death the cause of "Law and Order" and christian charity have sustained a loss that seems to us now irreparable.

We charge the guilt of this awful crime not only upon the man who fired the fatal shot and his debauched accomplice, who without mitigating circumstances, are deliberate murderers; but most of all upon all those engaged in the illegal traffic in intoxicants, whether as druggists, "jointists," or "bootleggers."

And we do hereby brand with special infamy, Frank Manny, and his associates in the "joint" business as the chief instigators and promoters of the lawlessness and debauchery which has resulted in this most atrocious murder.

Recognizing the difficulty in enforcing law where public sentiment is divided, we nevertheless,, in the name of a bereaved family, in the name of an outraged public sentiment, in the name of Almighty God, protest against any further compromise with these outlaws, or connivance with their business, on the part of our city government.

And we demand of the officers of our city honest and persistent effort in the enforcement of law, pledging them our hearty support in all such efforts.

Inasmuch as the enforcement of law is dependent upon public sentiment; and believing as we do, that many of our law abiding citizens have been and are culpably indifferent as to the presence and operation of "joints" and other agencies of vice and crime in this city, we earnestly call upon all decent people to bestir themselves in the interest of sobriety and good order; and with determined purpose see to it that the blood of H. H. Siverd shall not have been spilt in vain.

[Names very hard to read of persons signing. Paper in poor condition.]

J. C. MILLER, President.

A. O. RERIGHT [?], Secy.

W. H. PARKER,

GEORGE KITTERING,

D. E. HOOVER.

MASONIC RESOLUTIONS.

The following resolutions were adopted this 27th day of October, 1893, by Winfield Lodge, No. 58 A. F. & A. M.

To the Worshipful Master, Wardens, and Brethren of Winfield Lodge No. 58, A. F. and A. M.

Your committee appointed to express the sentiments of this Lodge on the untimely death of brother Hugh H. Siver, beg leave to submit the following:

IN MEMORIAM.

In the strife and conflicts of life, the good and true fall before the unsparing sickle, which cuts the brittle thread of life.

The untimely death of our brother, Hugh H. Siverd, at the hands of an assassin, while in the performance of his official duty, throws a veil of peculiar sadness over our Lodge, and a gloom of sorrow surrounds our altar.

Brother Siverd was a Mason imbued with the most excellent tenets of our institution. He was ever ready to spread the broad mantle of charity over the foibles and weaknesses of an erring brother, whispering good counsel in his ear, and reminding him, in the tenderest manner, of his faults and aid in his reformation.

He would untiringly travel on foot and out of the way to serve a needy Mother, and possessed in an eminent degree that charity which extends beyond the grave, through the boundless realms of eternity.

As a member of Winfield Lodge No. 58, Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons, Brother Siverd was always faithful to any trust imposed upon him, and was beloved by every member, and by them his death is deeply deplored, and his memory revered.

To those of his immediate relatives and friends, who are most heart-stricken at the loss we have all sustained, we have but little of this world's consolation to offer. We can only sincerely, deeply, and most affectionately sympathize with them in their afflictive bereavement. But we can say, that he who tempers the wind to the shorn lamb, looks down with infite compassion upon the widow and fatherless, in the hour of their desolation and that the Great Architect will fold the arms of His love and protection around those who put their trust in Him.

Thou art gone to the grave; we no longer behold thee,

Nor tread the rough paths of the world by thy hand;

But the wide arms of mercy are spread to enfold thee.

And we'll meet thee again in the heavenly land.

Thou art gone to the grave; and its mansions forsaking,

Perchance thy weak spirit in doubt lingered long;

But the sunshine of heaven beamed bright on thy waking,

And the sound thou didst hear was the Seraphim's song.

Thou art gone to the grave; but 'twere wrong to deplore thee,

When God was thy trust, thy guardian and guide;

He gave thee, He took thee, and soon will restore thee.

In the blest Lodge above, where the faithful abide.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

Brother Hugh Hicks Siverd was born December Twenty-eighth, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-nine, at Cochransville, Pennsylvania, being in his fifty-fourth year at the time of his assassination. He was married March Sixteenth, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Sixty-eight.

He was made a Mason in his native State in March One Thousand Eight Hundred and Sixty-Six, and was admitted to Adelphi Lodge, No. 110, A. F. & A. M., Winfield, Kansas, November One Thousand Eight Hundred and Seventy-Six, and taking his demit there from February Seventh, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Eighty-Eight, he identified himself with Winfield Lodge, No. 58, A. F. & M., at Winfield, Kansas, of which body he has been an honored member ever since.

While in the army fighting for the preservation of our Union, his chivalry and patriotism gained for him the rank of a captain. After the war was over he came to Kansas and became a resident of Winfield in September.

He was commander of Winfield Post, No. 58, G. A. R., at the time of his death, and was made an honorary member of the Ladies Circle of G. A. R., No. 40, the day before he was shot. He was also a member of Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Ancient Order of United Workmen, to all of which organizations he was an honest, earnest, conscientious, and respected member.

It was his lot to be foully assassinated while at his post of official duty, Tuesday, October twenty-fourth, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Ninety-Three, at 3:15 p.m., at the hands of Morgan Wright, an accomplice of Wilbur Norton, whom he had under arrest at the time.

Finally

"When he finished, all were dumb,

And each man turned and gazed upon his neighbor;—

Who with a like silence answered him."

Therefore we recommend, that his many excellencies be embalmed in our hearts, and as tokens of esteem that his name be inscribed in our record, and that the memorial be published in our city papers, and copied in full on the records of our lodge, and that a copy thereof be suitably engrossed, framed, and presented to the bereaved family of our departed brother.

B. F. SADIL,

Com. H. B. BUCK,

P. A. HUFFMAN

I. O. O. F. RESOLUTIONS.

The following resolutions were passed last evening at a meeting of the Odd Fellows.

WHEREAS, Bro. H. H. Siverd, a worthy member of this lodge, on the 25th day of October 1893, on the streets of Winfield, while in the discharge of his official duties, was foully and brutally murdered, and it now becomes the duty of this lodge to give expression to its appreciation of the worth of Bro. Siverd, as a Brother, and a citizen of this community, Therefore be it

Resolved, That in the death of Bro. Siverd, his wife and family have lost a loving husband and father, the community an upright, honorable, and conscientious citizen, and an officer who knew his duty and dared to do it. And this lodge has lost one of its most active, energetic, and beloved members. And be it further

Resolved, That the charter of this lodge be appropriately draped for a period of thirty days.

That a copy of these resolutions be spread on the records of this lodge and that a copy be given to the family of the deceased, and a copy given to the various papers of the county for publication. Fraternally submitted,

JAS. H. VANCE,

M. B. SHIELDS, Com.

L. H. ADAMS.

The Winfield Daily Courier, Saturday, October 28, 1893.

Who Will Take His Place.

EDITOR COURIER: While reading the articles from the intimate friends of H. H. Siverd, I thought, who will miss him most? It was not the privilege of the writer to be thus intimate in a social way. Yet I wsill miss him perhaps as much as they. For him have I often called upon to help care for those too poor to hire a nurse, and the night was never so dark or stormy that Captain Siverd would not respond to the appeal for help, and either go himself or get someone to go and care for the sick and dying. Since the death of J. W. Alberts there has been scarcely a day that he has not been to my office to ask if he could help his widow in any way, and he has written several letters for her, and assisted her in every way he could. But this was the natural impulses of the man, and words are inadequate to convey the regret that such a wanton murder could thus be perpetrated in our very midst in the light of day. His name has been a benediction in many a poor home. Who will take his place? Yes, who? We fail to think of one.

DR. E. B. EMORY.