Death of the (1887) Grand Treasurer of the Masons

DEATH OF THE GRAND TREASURER OF THE MASONS.

Augusta Chronicle (Georgia)
15 December 1887, pg. 8
>> Viewed online at GenealogyBank

Joseph E. Wells (1812-1887)
Photo by James Allen

Burial at Rose Hill by the Grand Lodge of Masons.
The funeral of the late Joseph E. Wells occurred yesterday afternoon.

Shortly before 2 o'clock the grand lodge of Masons, of which Mr. Wells had been treasurer for over forty years, was escorted by Macon Lodge No. 5 and St. Omer Commandery, No. 2, Knights Templar, from the grand lodge building to the late residence of the deceased on Second street, and thence to the First Presbyterian church.

As the doors were opened Beethoven's funeral march was played on the organ by Mrs. S. A. C. Everett, and Revs. W. B. Jennings, pastor of the church, and Robert Adams, pastor of the Second Presbyterian church, walked slowly down the aisle to the pulpit. Following them were the elders of the church, Dr. P. H. Wright, Dr. J. P. Stevens, Judge Clifford Anderson, Judge John J. Gresham and Mr. E. H. Link. Then came the pall bearers, George B. Turpin, T. L. Massenburg, Jas. Boon, John G. Deitz, C. M. Wiley and Geo S. Obear, bearing the casket. Then came the grand lodge, Macon lodge and the Knights Templar, and following them were the members of the bereaved family.

After a prayer by Mr. Adams, Mr. Jennings read a selection from the Bible -- 1st Corinthians, 15th chapter, and then was sung the hymn beginning:

Asleep in Jesus, blessed sleep,
From which none ever wake to weep,
A calm and undisturbed repose
Unbroken by the last of foes.

Mr. Jennings took for his text the 18th verse of the 28th chapter of Matthew: "And Jesus came and spake unto them saying, All power is given unto Me in Heaven and in earth." Then in a brief sermon he alluded most touchingly to the life of the deceased and of his connection with the church.

The 330th hymn was then sung, and after a prayer, the pastor announced that the services would be concluded at the grave.

The large congregation arose as the remains were taken away by the Masons. The procession wended its way to Rose Hill, where the beautiful and impressive Masonic services were conducted by Hon. John S. Davidson, of Augusta.

The music at the church was rendered by Mrs. DeJarnette, Miss Brooks and Messrs. Irvine and Everett.

The following members of the grand lodge were present and officiated in the burial service:

Hon. John S. Davidson, grand master, Augusta; George W. Adams, deputy grand master, Forsyth; Charles E. Damour, grand senior warden, Macon; Charles R. Armstrong, grand junior warden, Eastman; Rev. James R. Winchester, grand chaplain, Macon; C. T. Latimer, grand treasurer, Eastman; A. M. Wolihin, grand secretary, Macon; E. B. Roger, grand senior deacon, Gibson; W. B. Daniel, grand junior deacon, Macon; George S. Dasher, grand marshal, Macon; J. T. Colcord, first grand steward, Eastman; C. Masterson, second grand steward, Macon; W. W. Solomon, third grand steward, Macon; Charles H. Freeman, grand tyler, Macon.

The grand commandery of Knights Templar was represented by Sir Knight Thomas W. Chandler, of Atlanta, past grand commander of Georgia. -- Macon Telegraph.

Major Wolihin Dead

Wolihin Plot
© 2011-2013 S. Lincecum

A large monument stands in the Eglantine Square section of Rose Hill Cemetery. It is full of Masonic imagery, dedicated primarily to two men: Andrew Martin Wolihin and his son William.

Andrew was born at Leesburg, Virginia 1 October 1831. He married Emily Francis Wilder (1840-1921) in Dougherty County, Georgia 20 December 1860.¹ She was a daughter of Mr. W. H. Wilder, once a mayor of Albany.² Emily rests beside Andrew in Rose Hill Cemetery.

Andrew also fought for Georgia during the Civil War. He is most noted, however, for his contributions to the Masonic Order, serving as Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Georgia.

An obituary will follow, but I thought you might be interested to know how Mr. Wolihin was a victim of a stabbing when he was 48 years old. In June of 1880, literally days after arriving in Macon, Andrew Wolihin was working as a manager of the National Hotel. Three men entered the establishment requesting a room with three beds, "stating that they had three women they wanted to carry up there." Mr. Wolihin denied the request, remarking that "he did not keep such a house." A bit of badgering was begun by the men, and one made the mistake of saying, "speaking in a slow and deliberate manner, and emphasizing each word,

"I think you are a d__d old s_n of a b___h."

(Yep, that's how it was printed in the newspaper.³) As you might imagine, a fight ensued. Mr. Wolihin actually initially got the better of his attacker, but right before the police might have arrested the perpetrator, he lunged at Mr. Wolihin with a knife. Many thought Wolihin would surely die, but he survived, returning to finish recovery at his home in Albany a couple of weeks later.

From "Grand Lodge of Georgia",
31 Oct 1893 Macon Telegraph

Andrew Martin Wolihin died 22 February 1897. Here's the promised obituary from the Jackson Argus (Georgia), contributed by Don Bankston to the USGenWeb Archives:

"Major Wolihin Dead

Major Wolihin died at his home in Macon on the night of the 22nd inst after an illness of about two months.

Maj. Wolihin enjoyed an extensive acquaintance among the Masons of the state and especially of this section. He has visited Jackson and rendered valuable services in conferring Masonic degrees. The brethren here regarded him as one of the grandest old men in the order and his death causes much sadness.

He was a consistent member of the Baptist church, having accepted that faith many years ago. As a Mason Major Wolihin took second place to none in his love and enthusiasm for the order. For the past ten or twelve years he was the grand secretary of the order and performed the duties of that office as a work of love. He loved the order for its ennobling effects on mankind and no man did more than he to help keep up its high teachings. Major Wolihin was also grand secretary of the grand chapter of Georgia of Royal Arch Masons and deputy inspector general of the Southern Jurisdiction of the Thirty Third degree of Scottish Rite Masons. In his daily walk he practiced charity and benevolence towards his fellow man and although one of the most courageous of men he was as gentle as a woman. Those who knew him best loved him most. No man had more warm personal friends that [sic] he and the announcement of his death will be learned with profound regret through the jurisdiction of Georgia."

© 2011 - 2013 S. Lincecum

Note: If you're interested in all the Masonic imagery found on the monument, jump over to the Southern Graves blog and peruse Wolihin Masonic Monument.

A few footnotes:
1. Dodd, Jordan, Liahona Research, comp. Georgia Marriages, 1851-1900 [database online]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2000.
2. "The Deadly Knife," The Macon Telegraph (Georgia), 22 June 1880; digital image, GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed July 2013), Historical Newspapers.
3. ibid.

To the Memory of James Croghan, Aged 15 Years & 9 Months (Tombstone Tuesday)

TO THE MEMORY
OF
JAMES

youngest son of
OWEN and HANORA CROGHAN
Born in Milford Co. Galway Ireland
and died in this City on the
19th of July 1841
Aged 15 years & 9 months.

As he looked with love and fondness
on his parents and brothers,
he was suddenly called away
by his Eternal Father,
and left them to deplore their loss.

May he rest in peace.

Erected by his affectionate Brother.

The Melancholy History of John and Mary Hodgkins

It's been many years since I began transcribing the stones in Rose Hill Cemetery. This was before I had a nice digital camera with a decent size memory card, so I literally was going stone by stone and writing down the inscriptions with any applicable notes. Anyone who has done this knows it's painstaking work.

What's more aggravating than not having a library of personal photos, is seeing a fairly recent photo of a stone that seems to bear less information than when I saw and transcribed it. Stones have since been broken, stones have sunk further into the ground, and stones are more overgrown now than before.

James Allen took photos of thousands of stones in Rose Hill Cemetery and uploaded them to the Bibb County, Georgia GenWeb project. He kindly sent me CDs containing these photos, as well. His photo of the stone of John C. Hodgkins is here:

John C. Hodgkins (1837-1874)

What can barely be seen at the bottom of the broken stone is the beginning of information for John's wife, Mary E. Artope. While I noted the stone was broken many years ago, I was able to then see her birth and death dates: May 11, 1838 ~ Nov 8, 1871. Discovering the following article detailing the death of John and the depth of love he had for his wife, really makes me wish I had a photo of their two names together on one stone.

"Death of Mr. John C. Hodgkins.
We regret to announce the death of Mr. John C. Hodgkins, which took place at five o'clock yesterday afternoon, at the residence of his father. He has not been in good health for some time, and he was taken suddenly ill Tuesday morning and he continued to grow rapidly worse until he expired as above stated.

About two years ago Mr. Hodgkins lost his wife, and he never recovered from the blow. He has been a different man ever since, giving little attention to affairs of any kind, and living almost the life of a recluse; and during the whole of that time his grief has been nurtured and kept warm by daily visits to the cemetery, where repose the remains of his beloved one, beside which his remains will be laid to-day. It is a bit of melancholy history, but very beautiful in its melancholy as illustrating the noblest quality of human nature.

Mr. Hodgkins was about thirty-nine years of age, and leaves a family of small children. His funeral will take place from Christ Church at 5 o'clock this afternoon." [Macon Weekly Telegraph (Georgia), 14 July 1874, pg. 4]