The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 63, July 1959 - April, 1960 Page: 389
684 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Death of Senator Coke
The physicians announced that he is moribund, and will pass away
within the next hour or two.
The senator is surrounded by friends and relatives. Postmaster John
H. Harrison, Hon. Waller S. Baker, Dr. D. R. Wallace, S. J. Quay,
James Horne and several others are beside him. He is breathing heavily
and is past all knowledge of earthly affairs. He was bright and cheerful
at 9 o'clock tonight, but stated that his end was near at hand and ex-
pressed a preference for sudden death.
"This lingering," he said, "entails suffering on me and others."
He is propped up on pillows and his long white beard reaches to
his waist, giving him the look painters give old patriarchs.
After midnight Senator Coke is faintly breathing, death being near
at hand. The fire department has arranged to toll bells at the instant
of his death. The news that he is dying has spread and the senator's
old friends and neighbors are stirring around. Knots of citizens are on
the street corners sadly waiting for the announcement of his death.
At 12:50 Senator Coke was inarticulo mortis.12
Before the papers went to press the former senator had died, so
the May 14 issues also carried notices of his death. He died at
1:15 A.M. on May 14, 1897, and the bells of the fire stations began
tolling ten minutes before 2 o'clock. They tolled for a while and
then were silent to resume tolling again later in the morning.
Funeral plans were announced: the funeral and interment to be
on Sunday, May i6, 1897. It was to be a state funeral. The body
would be embalmed and lie in state at the family residence until
Sunday morning when it would be taken to the Baptist Tabernacle
for the funeral service. Interment would be at Oakwood Cemetery.
During his lifetime, Senator Coke had expressed a fear of being
buried alive. Remembering this, Dr. D. R. Wallace, his close
friend and family physician, remained with the body until the
embalming process was completed.8 The embalming was done
by John G. Fall of the firm of Fall and Puckett, Undertakers.14
According to the newspaper
The men who did the embalming made a perfect success of the
undertaking. The expression is perfectly preserved. Every feature is
laGalveston Daily News, May 14, 1897, p. 2; Dallas Morning News, May 14,
1897, p. 1.
IsLilian Wallace Breustedt Riley to M. M. D., signed statement, September 15,
1959 (MS., Archives, University of Texas Library).
14W. W. (Billy) Fall to M. M. D., signed statement, September 15, 1959 (MS.,
Archives, University of Texas Library.)389
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 63, July 1959 - April, 1960, periodical, 1960; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101186/m1/489/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.