Hitchcock, Harry M. 1870 – 1895

HITCHCOCK

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 5/19/2024 at 21:00:46

Source: Decorah Republican Aug. 29, 1895 P 4 C 4

DIED.
HITCHCOCK—At the home of his parents in this city, on Friday, Aug. 28d, 1895, of typhoid fever. HARRY M. HITCHCOCK, eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Hitchcock, in his 26th year.
No event of recent occurrence in Decorah has occasioned so much surprise and so many expressions of sincere regret as the death of Harry M. Hitchcock, Harry was born in Fremont township, this county, Jany. 20th, 1870, and in the fall of 1878 he came to Decorah with his parents and here his home has been ever since, save portions of two years which he spent in Washington, D. C.
Four weeks ago Harry was in the most robust health, and had one then said at this time he would be laid in his silent home the answer have been, “That cannot be.” The illness which came upon him is traced to a picnic he attended n short time before he was taken down, and at which he ate or drank something which brought on the attack. While not feeling well he went to Springwater with a camping party on the 7th of August, thinking it was only a slight illness which would pass with the bracing air and the rough and tumble of camp life. Instead he steadily grew worse. On the following Monday he was brought home and Dr. Barfoot was called but the disease, which was immediately recognized as typhoid fever, had so thoroughly engulfed itself into his system that death fairly feasted upon his strong physique. Before the week had passed he was beyond the help of the physician, though life lingered, first as if to sustain him until his brother Frank, the only one of the family not at home, could come to bid him good bye; then again as though there were still some small chance. But his time was near and on Friday when the end came it brought peace and rest after a struggle such as only the sufferer and those who attended him could realize.
The funeral services occurred on Sunday afternoon at 5 o'clock at the family residence on Broadway, and were very largely attended by both young and old. The sermon was preached by the Rev. G. W. Skilling. The pall bearers were Messrs. F. W. Thompson, M. J. Soukup, G. F. Baker, E. J. Curtin, C. A. Neufert and Geo. E. Smith. At the cemetery the Sons of Veterans had charge of the service, and Harry was laid away after the order of their impressive rites—the first of their number and one of the most enthusiastic in the organization of Geo. Q. Gardner camp. The grave was beautifully lined and on the casket lay the monogram of the Sons of Veterans, delicately designed in white flowers. The floral pieces were more than usually beautiful, From the Decorah Club came a pillow of roses and a broken shaft; old neighbors of the family, when the home was on Washington street, sent a large anchor, and there were wreaths and handsome bouquets from relatives and friends.
Were we to attempt to tell who Harry's friends were we would reply that it were far easier to name his enemies. His was one of those rare dispositions which makes friends and admirers for the possessor without a conscious effort. Bright, witty and entertaining, if he was in a company of either old or young he was the life of it; or sitting with a chosen friend or acquaintance it was a pleasure to listen to his conversation. He was always ready to respond to the call for assistance in any popular undertaking, and if it was an amateur entertainment it could not be complete without his presence in some portion of it. Possessed of a large-hearted liberality, he would do and work for others, taking little consideration of the fact that to those others the pleasure or profit he helped to attain would go. During the time he was in Washington his bright disposition and ready capability at grasping a thought or situation won for him the friendship and appreciation of all who came in contact with him.
It seems impossible even yet that “the places which knew him shall know him no more,” but the curtain of life has gone down for him, fairly before it had risen, and the friends and acquaintances who are left behind linger with a fond, sad memory of one of the brightest companions of their lives.

Phelps Cemetery
 

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