or marines in front of the house, nothing save drawn curtains and sad faces indicated anything out of the ordinary in the Stanton home. Previous to closing the casket and bringing it down to the parlor for the funeral, which occurred on the 27th, a few of those who had been most intimate with the deceased were permitted to have a last look at the strong but kindly features, now "scarred by the crooked autograph of pain."* The simplest form of the Episcopal burial services was then read by the Reverend Mr. Starkey, assisted by the Reverend Dr. Pinckney and the venerable William Sparrow, after which a corporal, a sergeant, and eight privates of Battery F, Fifth Artillery, in full uniform, bore the coffin to the hearse and attended it to the cemetery. Secretary of War Belknap, Postmaster-General J. A. J. Creswell, United States Senators M. H. Carpenter, Charles Sumner, Zachariah Chandler, and George F. Edmunds, Representatives Judd and Hooper, Associate-Justice Swayne, Justice D. K. Cartter, Generals J. K. Barnes, Thomas T. Eckert, and E. D. Townsend, and the Honorable Edwards Pierrepont acted as pall-bearers. Notwithstanding its simplicity, the funeral was imposing. President Grant and his official household, Vice-President Colfax and his retinue, the justices of the United States Supreme Courtt in a body; all officers of the army and navy in and about Washington in full uniform; the officers of the War Department and of the District of Columbia; delegations from patriotic bodies in Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York, and Pittsburg; special delegations representing the Union League; senators and representatives in Congress in separate bodies; and Federal officials as well as diplomats and distin *"As the casket was about to be closed," says Major A. E. H. Johnson, "several senators expressed a desire to possess a lock of the great War Minister's hair, and I too wanted one. Thereupon Surgeon-General Barnes, taking a pair of small scissors from his pocket, lifted the heroic head of the sleeping tyrant and clipped a compact curl from the back of it, which he enclosed in a white envelope and slipped into an inner pouch of his military coat. I grieve to say that I did not secure a part of it, and I never knew what became of this precious memento, snatched from the grave, of the most powerful, wilful, fearless, and disinterested patriot who ever lived on this continent." tJustice Grier had the unique experience of attending, in his official capacity, the funeral of his own successor. guished persons generally, gathered in front of the house and waited through the ceremony in a cold, drizzling rain in order to join the procession to Oak Hill Cemetery,* overlooking the Potomac River. The hearse was drawn by four gray horses draped in black and the coffin and the grave were heaped with floral tributes. And so the most gigantic and invincible patriot of the age, amidst censure, poverty, and humiliation, wrecked by superhuman labors to save his country, lay down to rest! * "When he requested me to act as one of his executors," says General E. D. Townsend, "Mr. Stanton said that he wished to be buried in Steubenville, where he was born, and that he had arranged in that city the spot in which his body was to lie. I never knew why his wish was disregarded and think that Mrs. Stanton may not have understood that he had expressed any desire as to his final resting-place." John McCracken of Steubenville, says: "The last time he was in Steubenville, in September, 1868, Mr. Stanton visited the cemetery and on returning came to my office much affected. Calling for the cemetery plat, he made a mark at a certain place on his lot, saying: 'There, John, is where I shall lie at last.'" CHAPTER LXIX. PROPERTY-LAST WILL. Stanton's life closed amidst extremely straitened and humiliating circumstances. Mrs. Stanton was wasting away with consumption and several times, notwithstanding the skill and persistency of Surgeon-General Barnes, was expected to precede her husband to the grave. He himself was unable to earn, and, having no money,* received the necessary medicine for himself and wife from the hospital stores of the War Department through the Surgeon-General, whose long-continued professional services were likewise without price. The estate was settled without controversy under a will drawn with his own hand, according to family custom for nearly two centuries, as follows: I, EDWIN M. STANTON of Washington, do make, publish, and declare this writing as and for my last will and testament, thereby revoking and annulling all other wills by me heretofore made. 1st. I direct all my just debts to be paid. 2d. The surplus of my estate (except as hereinafter expressed) real, personal, and mixed, and all my goods, chattels, moneys, and effects not otherwise herein disposed of, wheresoever situated, shall be divided as follows: 3d. I give, devise, and bequeath two-thirds thereof to my wife Ellen H. Stanton and her heirs forever to her sole use and behoof in fee simple, including in this bequest my plate and household furniture, charged with two-thirds of my debts. *Edwards Pierrepont, at a dinner in New York, mentioned Stanton's financial extremities as a matter deserving public attention. In a few moments a testimonial gift of $100,000 was subscribed and Mr. Pierrepont selected to present it in person. Stanton, who was found in bed, wept tears of gratitude over the generosity of his friends, but, in words that were scarcely equal to a whisper on account of the depth of his emotion, said he could "accept no gratuities." 4th. The remaining one-third of my estate I give, devise, and bequeath to my executors in trust for the use of my mother (charged with the payment of one-third of my debts) for the term of her natural life, and at her death the surplus, if there be any, to be equally divided between my three youngest children or the survivor of them as their mother may appoint; or she may apportion and distribute it according to her own judgment of their necessities and merits. One-fourth of my law-books I give to my son Lewis. I give my executors, or a majority of them, or a majority of the survivors, power to sell or rent or otherwise dispose of or convert to my mother's use, and to invest or reinvest according to their discretion. I appoint my friend Peter H. Watson of Ashtabula; the Honorable Andrew Wylie and E. D. Townsend of Washington, and my wife Ellen, executors of this my last will and testament. Edwin M. Stanton. Signed, sealed, published, and declared by Edwin M. Stanton as his last will, which we attest as subscribing witnesses at his request in his presence and the presence of each other, this 19th day of July, 1869. R. R. S. Harrison, Like the traditional Stanton will, the foregoing is exceptional for clearness and brevity. It is likewise notable for bequeathing one-third of his entire estate to his aged mother, and nothing, not even a portion of his law library,* to his oldest son, Edwin, who was also a lawyer. The court appointed as appraisers General J. K. Barnes and General Thomas M. Vincent, who listed the property of the estate so as to enable the executors to turn over one-third to Stanton's mother and two-thirds to his widow. The Steubenville house sold for $7,500; the K Street house in Washington for $41,000; other property for something like $5,000; Congress voted to Mrs. Stanton a sum equal to the annual salary of an associate justice-$5,000— and there was $10,000 life insurance, which was promptly paid. Besides, after Stanton's death, a testimonial fund of $100,000 was raised, mostly in New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburg, and Chi *R. T. Hunt of Pittsburg, who settled the affairs of Shaler, Stanton, and Umbstaetter and delivered the Stanton library and papers in Washington says: "Mr. Stanton had a fine library and especially a large and a very valuable collection of English reports. For several years he spent all his surplus earnings in buying anything that would help him in the great cases in which he appeared before the United States Supreme Court." |