Richmond planet. [volume], December 07, 1929, Image 1

About Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938

Image provided by: Library of Virginia; Richmond, VA

                
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0 —" RICHMOND, VIRGINIA; SATURDAY
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THE PLANET’S EDITOR SUCCUMBS AFTER
HALF CENTURY IN JOURNALISTIC FIELD.
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Dr. IV. T. Johns “ ' ‘ Grand
Chancellor 7 _ wing Tribute.
By B. P. Vandervall
The funeral of John Mitchell, Jr.,
who entered into rest Tuesday, De
cember 3, 1929, at 6 A. M., just as
the sun was peeping over the horizon,
letting the world know that another
day had dawned the soul of this war
rior, chieftain and race defender,
leaped from this tenament of clay
and he passed into that great beyond,
where no battles are to be fought
took place at Fifth St. Baptist
Church Thursday December 5 i929.
The news quickly flashed over the
city and the public was dumb
founded, because very few knew of
his illness. While he has not been
in the best of health for some time,
still it was only on Thanksgiving
Day, November 28, 1929, that he
gave up and had to be carried from
his newspaper office, “The Richmond
Planet”, to his home, 515 N. Third
Street. Medical skill and the tender
nursing of loved ones and friends
could not ward off this blow. His
remains laid in state until Thursday,
1:30 P. M., a:<d was viewed by many
thousands, after which the cortege,
in charge of Funeral Director A. D.
Price, Jr., was formed and escorted
by the Imperial Order of King David,
Old Dominion Court I. 0. 0.
Calanthe, Venus Lodge K. of P., Sir
Paul Carrington, C. C., and Friend
ship Lodge, A. F. and A. M., No. 19,
Mr. Charles Wesley, Master, wended
its way to the Fifth Street Baptist
Church, of which the deceased has
been a member for a number of
years. At the church this immense
edifice was crowded with friends.
Colored business men, professional
men and women touched elbows with
their less fortunate brother and
sister ami all came to pay the last
sad tribute of respect to one who had
stood out and fought for the rights
of his race. The services were
opened by Rev. C. A. Cobb, of the
Mt. Calvary Baptist Church, lining
the hymn, “Abide With Me Fast
Falls the Evening Tide.” The choir
under the leadership of Prof. Joseph
Matthews, leader of the Sabbath Glee
Club, led the singing and the con
gregation joined in. Reading of the
scriptures by Rev. S. C. Burrell,
General Secretary of the Y. M. C. A.,
116 Psalm, “I love the Lord”. A
very fervent prayer was offered by
Rev. O. B. Simms, of the Rising Mt.
Zion Baptist Church. A very touch
ing solo was then rendered by Prof.
Joseph Matthews, entitled “I Am
Weary of Bearing My Burdens”, and
it moved many to tears. The follow
ing resolutions and telegrams were
read by Prof. J. H. Blackwell: Old
Dominion Court I. 0. 0. Calanthe,
No. 114, from Mr. W. C. Brown and
Mr. C. A. Brown, of Staunton, Va.;
Mr. James M. Frayser, of Richmond,
Va.; ex-Governor Montague, Virginia
Baptist Sunday School Convention,
by Prof. Nelson Williams, Jr. (Mis
sionary) ; Mrs. Fannie Ash, Newport
News, Va. A personal letter was
sent to the family by Judge Edmund
Waddill, senior judge of the United j
States Circuit Court of Appeals.
Solo, “We Shall Meet Beyond the
River,” was sung by Prof. W. B.
Smith.
The family letter expressing their i
sorrow and his tender care of them ,
was read by Rev. A. A. Hector, pas- 1
tor of the First Presbyterian Church.
Rev. W. T. Johnson, pastor of the ,
First Baptist Church, was selected to
preach the funeral, as the Fifth
Street Church was at present with
out a pastor. He called attention of
the display in the Lawntown Shoe
window, by Mr. W. H. WTalton, man
ager, to let the city know that a great
man had fallen. He continued his
remarks by saying that he was a
citizen of no mean ability, a political
leader, business man, the champion
of human rights, who frequently ap
peared in our conferences and
churches has fallen. The best way
to consider him was as a Christian
warrior. He took his text from
1 Samuel, 20 chapter, 3 verse:
“There is but a step between me and
death.” First—Our nearness to
death. Second—The necessity ot
our reliance on God, we must meet
death. Third—To submit to His
will. Like David, he discovered his
inability to escape death and he saw
the necessity of relying upon God
and at the close he calmly submitted
to the power of His Heavenly Father.
He was bold, loyal to his God, as was
the servant David, and in his repre
sentative way, represented our
brother as a warrior, battling for
what he conceived to be the rights
of his race and broad enough to
battle for the human rights of all the
people.
Man is a frail, mortal and is a
sinful creature. Man is to consider
three things: Mortality, he has a
few days to live, a long si le o
eternity. Sixty-eight years was a
short time compared to eternity.
Suffering: We are born in sin, and
we must consider suffering. That
man born of a woman was full of
trouble. Un,rest is the natural man
daily feeling, not satisfied With the
accomplishments of a few years ago.
He pushes on. The names of the ex
ternal troubles of man are legion.
He quoted the familiar hymn,
“Blessed Are the Dead Who D ue In
the Lord". Man as a flower. Origin
of the flower is the earth, it is deli
cate, its frailty, its end. Man as a
shadow. Time was measured by the
shadow on a dial, it never stands
still, so is man journeying and ever
going onward. True estimate of the
enjoyment of time and eternity. He
can see that time will pass away.
We learn to improve the spiritual
opportunities as our stay here is get
ting short. If you are walking with
your hands in God's hand when death
comes, you will walk with Him for
ever. He liked to do things. He was
self-willed, fought in the open, and
The Late John Mitchell, Jr.
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of dauntless courage, and believed
that eventually the race would come
into its own. He was bold and a
great warrior, but religion would
soften his heart and he believed in
the old fashion religion.
To the family, he said: Call upon
me in the day of your trouble and
I will deliver you. This finished a
most masterful delivery, and he in
troduced the Rev. W. H. Stokes, Ph.
D., pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist
Church, who said: What was John
Mitchell, Jr.’s contribution to his
people. I remember years ago he
snatched some of our race from im
pending death, he made a conti'ibu
tion for law and order. He did not
purposely plan to deceive any man.
He played his part in the City Coun
cil. A noble man has fallen and it
will be a long time before Richmond
will produce another John Mitchell,
Jr.
T . 1_* C . 1- -11 T_ -1 • ,1_: 4.1~
</UUU ~vi.ni U L.) Uitu nivil
boots on. Why should one fuss be
cause a door is open for a fuller life.
He has fought a good fight, he had
his opposition and he had foes. Rev.
A. S. Thomas, former pastor of the
Sharon Baptist Church, recited the
23rd Psalm. The choir sang very
sweetly one vei’se of “I Am a
Strange- Hers; Heeven Is My Home“
Rev. Junius L. Taylor, rector of the
St. Phillips P. E. Church, said that
in the States he had traveled, John
Mitchell, Jr., had given the people in
the rural districts great inspiration.
The greatest monument to him is in
the hearts of the men and women he
has led. Only when you know both
sides of a man’s life are you in posi
tion to critize, then only spiritually.
He has walked into a higher life.
Remarks by Rev. A. W. Brown. D.
D., pastor of the Sixth Mt. Zion Bap
tist Church: That he was his per
sonal friend and deserved a front
rank place in any audience and was
a practical Chidstian.
My friend is not dead, btt is li'-'
ing on; Dr. Gordon B. Hancock, pas
tor of the Mooi’e Street Baptist
Chui’ch, said. We met hei’e to pay
our l-espect to our defendei’, our
chieftain, not only for Richmond,
Va., but for the nation. John
Mitchell, Jr., i-eturning from the bat
tle of life with his shield dented,
sword bent, his sandals slit and his
armor pierce both front and back,
by friends and foes, but like John
Brown of old, his spirit will go
marching on. Rev. J. T. Hill, D. D.,
pastor of the Second Baptist Church,
said: Iknew so many grand and
glorious things of our fallen hero
and hope the eulogy delivered would
bring us to that conception of his
great worth. Hon. Thomas H. Reid,
Grand Chancellor of the K. of P.,
1 had made the trip here to pay
this tribute to his father’s friend, for
both had fought the battles of the
order for forty years together. The
choir softly chanted as the procession
moved out of the church, the familiar
hymn, “Shall We Gather Af the
River.*
He was buried in the family ac
tion in Evergreen Cemetery Wkfc
his mother. He was buried und^r
Masonic rites, performed by iVst
Master L. C. Corbett.
The honorary pallbearers were:
Dr. A. A. Tenant, Messrs. A. W.
Holmes, B. P. Vandervall, A. L. Mor
ton, Edward F. Johnson, James Bar
rett, R. W. Whiting, B. L. Jordan,
D. P. Bragg, Miles B. Debriss, ^V.
Henry Walton, J. A. Beard, Thomas
H. Reid, Henry Mallory, Dr. J. M.
G. Ramsay.
The active pallbearers were: C. U.
Drew, E. L. Williams, E. C. Smith,
Julius Creech, R. W. Evans, John
Winston.
Among the out-of-town visitors
that attended the funeral and fol
lowed the remains to the cemetery
was Hon. T. C. Walker.
Mrs. Maggie L. Walker, Grand
Secretary and Treasurer of the St.
Luke, on account of her inability to
attend the services at the church,
drove to the cemetery and witnessed
the last sad rites.
DR. JOHN H. HOLMES DIES SUD
DENLY IN WINCHESTER, KY.
News reached the city Monday of
the sudden death of Dr. John H.
Holmes in Winchester, Ky. Dr.
Holmes was a former Richmonder
and made annual visits to this ci|y.
He was the son of the late Dr. Jamjps
H. Holmes, who for many years pgs
tored at First Baptist Church, dnd
brother of Mrs. Julia Holmes Daw
son, of this city, and Mrs. Mabel
McCree, of Harrisburg, Pa. They
left for Winchester Tuesday night to
attend the funeral.
FULTON NOTES
The pastor delivered a very in
structive sermon at Mt. Calvary last
Sunday morning. Subject: “Anger
and Revenge.” The Golden Anni
versary of the church and tbe tenth
anniversary of the pastor, Ret. C. A.
Cobbs will begin Sunday and con
tinue through the week. The Missfbn
Circle will sell refreshments in the
basement.
Communion at Zion at 3:3?.
CUBAN BASCISTS MURDER
NEGRO WORKER
Havana, Dec. 2.—The body of the
negro working-class leader, Santigge
Brooks, was found in a district of
the port of Tarafa, riddled by re
volver bullets. Local working-class
organizations accuse the Caban dic
tator, President Machada, of insti
gating the assisination of Brooks be
cause of the latter’s militant 'opposi
tion to the bloody reign of terror
inflicted by the dictator upon the
Cuban working-class.