Obituary: Hughes, John  1894, Oil City, Venango County, PA

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Newspaper clipping, 12/  /1894 - believe to be from the Derrick:

"A TOUCHING TRIBUTE.

The Funeral Services of the late John Hughes
 

            Hundreds of friends, fellow workmen and relatives of John Hughes, 
the well known W.N.Y. & P. railroad yard conductor, who was killed while in the 
discharge of his duties on last Thursday morning, were present at St. Joseph’s 
church on Sunday afternoon at 3 o’clock 
when services were conducted in his memory.  

The occasion was a memorable one.  Every seat in the large edifice was filled and 
even the aisles, corridors and church steps were crowded with friends anxious to 
pay their last tribute to the worth of the dead man.  In addition to the relatives 
from this city and immediate neighborhood, others were present from Altoona, 
Conemaugh, Latrobe, PA and Bolivar; every railroad employee in the city, who 
could possibly leave his duties, was present, and the members of branch No. 5 
C.N.B.A., of which the deceased was a valued member, was present in full regalia.

            The services were conducted by Rev. Thomas Father Carroll, pastor of 
St. Joseph’s Church, and his eulogy of the dead man was as pathetic as it was 
earnest and eloquent.  The pastor spoke of the almost quarter of a century that 
the deceased had been a resident of Oil City, and of the respect and regard that 
he had earned for himself by his earnestness as a Christian, his faithfulness as 
an employe [sic], and his sterling integrity and manly character as a citizen. 
His voice faltered as in earnest words he spoke of the sudden summons that had 
come and the readiness in which it found the deceased.  He admonished his hearers 
to be as ready and so live their every day life that death’s summons would find 
them also up and ready.  He referred again to the worth of the deceased as a man 
who owed no man a dollar; a father loved and reverenced by his children, and whose 
good name was to them a priceless heritage, and a husband, steadfast and loving.  
The address had a remarkably, solemn effect on the vast assemblage and was received 
with a silence that was only broken by the sobs of friends.  At the conclusion, 
the body was taken in charge by the members of the C.M.B.A. and escorted to 
St. Joseph’s cemetery, where the internment took place in the presence of almost 
every member of the vast congregation that had attended the services in the church.  
The pall bearers were: Morris Drohan, Thomas Nolan, James White, James H. Carey, 
Wm. Dwyer and Joseph Spellacy.