Obituary: Winnebago County, Wisconsin: Edwin CLIFFORD (aka Edwin Clifford ACKER) ************************************************************************ Submitted by Kathy Grace, 10 June 2004 © All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ************************************************************************ Daily Northwestern February 15, 1889 The Drama Closed Edwin Clifford Acts His Last Part. Edwin Clifford, the well known actor, died last night at Hastings, Neb., of rheumatism of the heart, after a brief illness. A dispatch to that effect was received this morning by Dr. W.A. Gordon. The latter was asked to convey the news to Mr. Clifford's children at their home on Jackson street. The death was not unexpected, although it was only yesterday that Dr. Gordon received a letter from Mrs. Clifford in which she expressed the belief that her husband was better and stated that she intended to start with him for Oshkosh today, Feburary 15. His demise therefore is believed to have been very sudden and to have occurred during one of the paroxysims to which his heart trouble subjected him. It is expected that the remains will arrive here tomorrow night. They will be met at the depot by a delegation of Masons, of which fraternity the deceased was a member, and will be escorted to the hall, where they will lie in state until Sunday afternoon, when the funeral services will occur, the remains being taken to Riverside cemetery for burial. A telegram received by one of the Masonic officers requested that the services at the funeral be according to the Masonic rites and that the escort to the cemetery be under the auspices of the Knights Templar. Other organizations of which Mr. Clifford was a member will also form in the procession, which will undoubtedly be a large one, for the actor was a member of the Masons, having taken his thirty-second degree, and also belonged to the Odd Fellow, the Knights of Pythias, the United Workmen, the Knights of Honor, the Elks and the Grand Army of the Republic. The real name of the deceased was Edwin Clifford Acker and he was born in Washington, D.C., about forty-four years ago. His parents, who are now dead, were people of considerable prominence in the capital city and quite influential. His uncle, Nicholas Acker, is a contractor there and built a part of the capitol. Walter Wyville, who married a sister of Mr. Clifford, is a hardware merchant at Washington. A brother of the deceased, Henry Acker, was a printer by trade, but married an actress and of late years has been on the stage. Beside these relatives the deceased leaves a wife, and five children as follows: Misses Carrie, Frankie and Millie and Masters Eddie and Walter. The youngest is only about seven years of age. It was about twenty years ago that Edwin Clifford Acker married Miss Millie Biddles, a daughter of Mr. Biddles, the proprietor of a show coompany in which Acker was a member. His bride was a sister of her whose stage name was Amelia Watts, and in subsequent years the latter was the leading lady for Mr. Clifford when he had a company of his own. The deceased was well known throughout the west, where he had traveled for many years as the leading man in his own company. He appeared in such plays as "Monte Cristo", "Davy Crocket," Enoch Arden" etc., with much success. Previous to his death he had been taking the dual character of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" in the play dramatized from Robert Louis Stevenson's novel of the same name. At the time he was stricken in Hastings, his company was there to present that play. It was a sad scene at the Clifford home on Jackson street this morning when a reporter called to secure a biography of the deceased. The news had just been broken to the sorrowing children and they were weeping in a manner that indicated a strong love for him who had passed away. Eddie Clifford, the oldest son, has been with his father for some time and it was he who sent the message a few days ago telling his mother to come at once to Hastings, Neb. The deceased was a man of fine presence and good-hearted gentleman who had many friends. He owned a house and lot on Jackston street and his family are well provided for.