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IS tOIDUGT SERVICES
The funeral services of Jphn
Quincy Adams, veteran editor.of AP
PEAL, who died Sept. 4thr, as the
result of injuries received in an auto
mobile accident, were held Friday,
Sept. Sth^afPilgrim Baptist Church,
under the auspices of Gopher Lodge,
No. 105, I. B. P. 0. E. W., of which
Mr. Adams was a charter member.
The edifice was crowded to the doors
with friends who came to pay their
last respects to the esteemed editor,
many of whom were from out-of
town.
The casket containing the body ofi
the deceased editor was escorted to
the alter by the following active pall
bearers: John Coquire, Nels Casey,
S. W. Wright, Elbert Gilbreth, James
Grissom, and Felix Reines. The hon
orary pallbearers were: James H.
LoomiSj_W. A. Hilyard, R. C. Minor,
W. T. Francis, R. M. Johnson, Thos.
Hickman J. W. Milton, J. E. Johnson,
St. Paul, John M. Allison, and W. R.
Morris, Minneapolis, Mr, A. T. Hall,
Pittsburgh, and Mr. C. W. Scrutchin,
Bemidji, Minn.
Mr. Geo. W. Stewart presided at
the service which was opened with a
song by the choirVLead Kindly
Light," followed by an invocation by
Reverend T. J. Carr, of St. Paul Bap
tist Church. The choir then sang
"Nearer My God To Thee": then the
Ninetieth Psalm as the Scripture Les
son was read by Rev. John W. Kelly,
of St. James A. M. E. Church.
Rev. Carr then read the obituary
follows:
'John Quincy Adams, editor and
publisher of THE APPEAL, St.
Paul, was born in Louisville,
Ky.,!strength
May 4, 1848, the son of Reverend-.
Henry Adams and Margaret Adams
(nee Corbin). His father was the i
founder of Fifth Street Baptist
Church, Louisville, and was its pas
tor for thirty-three years.
John Adams received his schooling
in Fond du lac, Wis., Yellow Springs,
Ohio, and completed his education at
the college in Oberlin, Ohio, of which
he was a graduate. He went to
Arkansas to teach school and taught
in two of the smaller towns, and
later in Little Rock. He then became
assistant to his uncle, Hon. Joseph C.
Corbin, the then Superintendent of
Public Instruction of the State of
Arkansas. He was next elected En
grossing Clerk of the Arkansas
State Senate. While serving in the
Senate, the famous Brooks-Baxter
political battle took place, after
which Mr. Adams returned to Louis
ville and became a teacher in the
public schools. After several years'
servicers at- school teacher, he was
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istration he was separated from this
service.
In 1879, Mr. Adams began the
publication of The Bulletin, in Louis
ville, a weekly newspaper^ which soon
became .famous in the Fourth Es
tate for its enterprise. One of the
exploits of The Bulletin was the pub
lication in 1883 of an' issue dated
198one hundred years in advance.
It contained ajoi of imaginary hap
penings which were supposed to
cccurin^l983, and many of the wonr*
derful facts. The inter-planetary
communication, which he also pre
dicted may yet come to pass by
1983,
Mr Adams continued the publi
cation of the Bulletin until 1886,
when, believing that. there was no
future for him in the South, he de
cided to make his home in St. Paul,
Minn.
Arriving in this city on August 6,
1886^ he began work on THE WEST-
ERN APPEAL, a weekly paper,
which was being published by Mes
srs. Thos H. Lyles and F. D. Parker,
both deceased. In January 1887, he
became manager of THE^ WESTERN
APPEAL, soon after acquiring com
plete control of the business, and
changing the name of the paper to
THE APPEAL.
Xn 1892, Mr. Adams was married
to Ella B, Sm^ith. of St. Pal who
sui^yes.'jTi-ini."v/Their^\unipii was a
happy one, and.. four- children were
born to them, of WTOH! three-are,
living, a son and two daughters!
Aside from his newspaper work,
Mr. Adams, held several appointive
political positions.
On September 3, 1922, returning
home from a Gospel meeting which
he had attended, about to board a
street car, Mr. Adams was struck by
an automobile, receiving injuries
which resulted in his death' seven
hours later at the City Hospital.
During Mr. Adams' management
of THE APPEAL it has never missed
an issue, and has never been a vehi
cle for scandalous publication, ftor
attacks on the characters of private,
individuals. On account of the
and vigor of the editorials,
THE APPEAL is acknowledged by
the press to be one of the most pow
erful organs in defense of right and
justice hi the United States. Mr.
Adams was absolutely fearless in
his denunciation of those he be
lieved to be in the wrong, or whose
policies were inimical to the good of
all Americans.
In September, 1911, on the occasion
of the twenty-fifth anniversary of his
editorship of THE APPEAL, in his
address before several hundred of his
friends who had gathered to help
him celebrate the occasion he said:
Little did I think when I came here
in 1886 and did some work on THE
APPEAL the same day of my arrival,"
that I would be here twenty-five
years afterward and still be working
on THE APPEAL. But one never
knows what Fate has in store for
him. If, however, I have earned the
Silent God, Thou whose voice afar in mist and mystery hath
left our ears an-hungered in these fearful days^
Hear as, good Lord!
L'sten to us, Thy children i our faces dark with doubt, are made
a mockery in Thy sanctuary. With uplifted bands we front Thy
heaven, O God, crying:
We Beseech Thee to hear as, good Lord!
We are not better thanour fellows, Lord, we are hut weak and
human men. When our devils do deviltry, cutse Thou the doer and
the deed: curse them, as we curse them, do to them all and more
man ever they have done to innocecce and weakness, to womanhood
and home.
Have mercy apon as, miserable sinners I
o* J* And yet whose is the deeper guilt? Who made these devils?
Who nursed them in crime and fed them on injustice? Who ravished
and debauched their mothers and their grandmothers? Who bought
and sold their crime, and waxed fat and rich on public iniquity?
Thou knomest, good God!
J* J* Is this Thy justice, O Father, that guile be easier than innocence,
and the innocent crucified for the guilt of the untouched guilty?"
O Judge of men 1
J* jft Wherefore do we pray Is not the God of the fathers dead?
Have not seers seen in Heaven's halls Thine hearsed and lifeless form
stark amidst the black and rolling smoke of sin, where all along how
hitter forms of endless dead?
Awake, Thoa that steepest!
J* j* Thou art not dead, hut flown afar, up hills of endless light,
thru biasing corridors of suns, where worlds do swing of good and
gentle men, of women strong and freefar from the cozenage, black
hypocrisy and chaste prostitution of this shameful speck of dust!
Torn again, O Lord, leave as not to perish in our sin I
J j From lust of body'and lust of blood
Great God deliver us! ***"-J^
right to be paid the compliments that
have been bestowed upon me tonight
I ought to pat myself on the back
and, if it will be necessary for me to
use a shoe horn in putting on my hat,
in the future, I cannot be very seri
ously condemned.
These words, by Howard Arnold
Walter, very aptly express how I feel
about the matter:
"I would be true, for there are those
who trust me
I would be pure, for there are those
who care
I would be strong, for there is much
to /suffer
I would be brave, for there is much to
dare.
I would be friend of allthe foethe
friendless
I would be giving, and forget
gift
va
Defective Page
At
4 the
JOHN Q. ADAMS
I would be humble, for I know my
weakness
I would look upand laughand love
and lift."
My friends, I assure you that this
occasion is one of the happiest periods
of my life among you, and I hope I
may ever maintain the place that
this large and representative gath
ering, coupled with the encomiums
extended, warrant me in believing I
have in your esteem. There are
very few persons who do not care for
the good opinion of their fellow men,
and I assure you I am not in the
minority class.
For the past quarter of a century,
dbspite all counter infflencesand
they have been not a fewI have
maintained THE APPEAL, it never
having missed an issue in all that
time THE APPEAL may not have
J* J* From the leagued lying of despot and of brute.
Great God deliver as I
d A city lay in travail, God out Lord, and from her loins sprang
twin Murder and Black Hate. Red was the midnight clang, crack
and cry of death and fury filled the air and trembled underneath the
stars when church spires pointed silently to Thee. And all this was to
sate the greed of speedy men who hide behind the veil of vengeance!
Bend as Thine ear, O Lord! v:-
j* In the pale, still morning we looked upon the deed. We stopped
our ears and held our leaping Aands, but theydid they not wag their
heads and leer and cry with bloody jawx: Cease from Crime I The word
was mockery, for thus they train a hundred crimes while we docure one.
Turn again our captivity, 0 Lord!
J- j Behold this maimed and broken thing dear God it was an humble
black man who toiled and sweat to save a bit from the pittance
paid him. They told him: Work and Rise. He worked. Did this man
sin? Nay, but some one told how some one said another did-one
whom he had never seen nor known. Yet for that man's crime this
man lieth maimed and murdered/ his wife naked to shame, his
children, to poverty and evil.
Hear as, O heavenly Father!
j* Doth not this justice of hell stink in Thy nostrils, O God How
long shall the mounting flood of innocent blood roar in Thine ears and
pound in our hearts for vengeance? Pile the pale frenzy of blood-
crated brutes who do such deeds high on Thine altar, Jehovah Jirch,
and burn it in hell forever and forever!
Forglbeas, good Lord wknvw not whaivje say 4
J* j BewUdered we are, and passion-tost, mad with the madness of
a mobbed and mocked and murdered people straining at the armposts
of Thy Throne, we raise our shackled hands and charge Thee, God,
by the bones of our stolen fathers, by the tears of our dead mothers, by#
the very blood of hy crucified Christ What meaneth this Tell us
?the Plan give ut the Sign!
Keep not thoa silence, OGod\
been and, may not be now, all that
some of you have thought it should
be and, in fact, it never was all I
might, could, should or would have
had it. No man has ever yet con
ducted a newspaper, or anything else,
for that matter, that completely suit
ed everybodyand never will.
I know not how long I will be per
mitted by the Ruler of the Universe
to encumber His footstool, but I shall
in the future, as in the past, endeavor
to merit the good will of the people of
this commonwealth by doing as I
have always donethe best I can
Then Mr. Adams read an original
poem to express the impression he
wished to leave upon his fellow men,
as follows:
"When.I am dead, if men can say
He helped the world upon its way.
With all his faults of word and deed,
Mankind did have some little need
Of what he gave"then in my grave
No greater honor shall I crave.
If they can sayif they but can
"He did his best, he played the man
His ways were straight his soul was
clean
His failings not unkind nor mean
He loved his fellow men and tried
To help them"I'll be satisfied.
But when I'm gone, if even one
Can weep because my life is done,
and feel the world is something bare
Because I am no longer there
Call me a knave, my life misspent
No matter. I shall be content.
Resolutions from The Sterling
Club, of which Mr. Adams was an
honorary member, were then read by
Mr. O. C. Hall as follows:
St. Paul, Minnesota, August 8,
1922.
Among the recent demands of the
grim monster has been his call for
our friend and brother, John Quincy
Adams, a part of whose very active
life was that of being charter, honor
ary- member of \he Sterling Club, of
which club he expected expression of
highest social and civic ideals.
When, as friend Adams, an indi
vidual has spent over 30 years in a
community as faithful husband, gen
tle father, proud home owner, conser-
ity and Chesterfieldian manners the
path of life was open to our friend
and brother to choose his pleasure
and comfort where he would, he chose
the more' useful but rougher course
where he must take unkind rebluffs
with his fellows in a world that rates
character largely by color.
His life calling placed him in the
fore rank of his group as spokesman.
There he functioned long and well.
Always gentle, but atoays contend
ing, never offending but always in
sisting to those other than his Tace
he said, "Tf we are wrong, you made
us so. We are better than we were
yesterday. Give us a man's oppor
tunity not sympathy."
Therefore Be It Resolved:
That we the Officers and members
of THE STERLING CLUB make men
tion to the family of the unexpress
able feeling of appreciation of the
life and works of our friend and
brother John Quincy Adams and of
our grief because of our loss.
That we pray to a merciful heav
enly, father that as descending mantle
of an ascending Elijah fell upon a
gazing Elijah, may the spirit of John
Quincy Adams fall upon his son,
inspiring him to lead as father led.
That collectively and severally the
hands of the Sterling Club members
be- outstretched to in any manner
alleviate the grief of the family now
or in the future.
That a copy of these resolutions be Tis well that not again our hearts
spread upon the.minutes of the Club,
Continued on Second Page,.
IT no longer blind, Lord God, deaf to our prayer andvdumb
our dumb suffering. Surely Thou too art not white, O Lord, a
pale, bloodless, heartless thing
Ah! Christ of all the Pities!
j* Forgive the thought! Forgive these wild,Blasphemous words.
Thou art still the God of our black fathers, and in Thy soul's soul sit
some soft darkenings of the evening, some shadowings of the velvet
nigh t.
j* jft But whisperspeakcall, great God, for Thy silence is white
terror to our hearts! The way, O God, show us the way and point us
the path.
J Whither?' North*is greed and South is blood within, the
coward, and without, the liar. Whither? To death?
Amen! Welcome dark sleep!
j J* Whither? To life? But not this life, dear God, not this. Let
the cup pass from us, tempt us not beyond our strength, for there is
that clamoring and clawing within, to whose voice we would not listen,
yet shudder lest we must, and it is red, Ah! God! It is a red and
awfoi shape.
Selahl
J* In yonder East trembles a star.,
Vengeance is mine Ituillrepay, satth the Lord!
J J Thy wttf, O Lord, be done!
Kyrle Eleison! **_
j* J- Lord, we have done these pleading, wavering words.
We beseech Thee to hear us, gcod Lord!
j* J We bow our heads, and hearken soft to the sobbing of worsen
and little children. ,4 A
?s\/"' We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord I
J jf Our voices sink in silence and in night.
i* J?P? Hear as, good Lord i'^- \/-*_ ^"i"-.
J In night, O God of a godless land!'
Amen!
In silence, O Silent God.
and that copies be sent the press and
family. W. E. Alexander, President.
R. H. Anderson, Chairman Board of
Directors.
J. E. Johnson,
Committee.
Resolutions from Gopher Lodge
No. 105 were then read by Mr. Geo.,
W. Stewart, as follows:
St. Paul, Minnesota.
September 6, 1922.
Whereas it has pleased Almighty
God, The Ruler of the Universe, to
take out of our midst our beloved
Friend and Brother, and whereas for
that reason we have met here this
afternoon in the Temple of Him who
teaches the Humility and Nobleness
of Charity, and here in the Sanctuary
of Him who is the great Exemplar of
Justice, to gather in, and commem
orate, the fruits of the splendid life
of achievements so indelibly im
printed upon life's pathway, and so
beautifully wrought upon the shields
of humanity by Brother John Quincy
Adams, and whereas it is little we
can do for the dead and whereas the
voice of praise cannot delight the
closed ear nor the violence of cen
sur
vative business man, true friend and The Improved Benevolent Protected
leader of an unpopular people, death' Order of Elks of the World, with
is not a lament but a triumph, and hands clasped and encircling the
pretty Words nor high sounding! globe with our free hands, spreading
phrases can express the person's light and happiness, and comfort and
activities or the loss of family or, good will, and with our feet cemented
community. to the Eternal fellowship of Brotherlyt
Though by native endowment, abil- ev
vex it, yet whom of us here
today could encompass such a thought
about the life of him whose death has
made a community among us to
mourn.
Therefore be it resolved that we
members of The Gopher Lodge 105,
rededicat ourselves today
unblemished record and the
soothing remembrance of this de
parted Brother, and may the sweet
tones of the muffled gong echo and
re-echo in the hearts of all mankind
unto Eternities end, and be it further
resolved that a copy of these reso
lutions be sent to the bereaved fam
ily, a copy spread upon our Minutes
and a copy sent to the Afro-Ameri
can Press.
Committee,
.-vim. &m&mER^
JOHN F. COQUIRE
G. W. STEWART
Chairman.
Following the above resolutions,
Mr. Stewart read an original poem
dedicated to the memory of John
Quincy Adams:
TIS WELL
Yes tis well
The Evening Shadows lengthen
Homes Golden Gate shine on our
ravished sight,
And though the tender tides we
strove to strengthen
Break one by one at Evening time, tis
light!
Tis well the way was often dull and
weary
The spirit fainted oft beneath its
load,
No sunshine came from skies all grey
and dreary
And yet our feet were bound to
tread that road!
to
3T
Li
Done at tf*. i. BuacaAiDT BOIS.!
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