ERWIN, J.N. – Tribute of Respect (1869)
Tribute of Respect – At a meeting of Rock Spring Lodge, No. 313, F. & F.M., the following preamble and Resolutions were received and adopted, on the 15th day of July. WHEREAS, God in his providence saw fit to remove by death, our esteemed and much lamented friend and brother, J.N. ERWIN, thereby severing from the mystic chain another link. Therefore,
Resolved, That we bow in humble obedience to this dispensation of Providence, acknowledging God’s right to rule his creatures and that we submit, feeling, that he “doeth all things well.”
Resolved, That we have lost one of our most efficient and useful brothers, being an active, untiring, and sacrificing man. In piety and Christian charity, not often passed and seldom equaled. He was a friend to the poor, and a helping hand was ever extended to the widow and orphan.
Resolved, That we sympathize with and offer our condolence to the bereaved ones he has left behind him, assuring them that the builder of the great Temple will bind together his faithful ones, where ties never more are severed
Resolved, That we, his survivers [sic], recognize in this, the chastening hand of God, and that we be more zealous in our respective duties to our God, to our neighbors and ourselves, so that in after life we may enjoy the happy reflection consequent upon a life well spent, feeling that we have not been idlers about the Temple, and “die in the hope of a glorious immortality.”
Resolved, That a copy of this preamble and Resolutions be sent to the Columbia Herald for publication, and also a copy furnished the family of the deceased.
Committee. – F.M. VAUGHN, W. BRAZIER, and Wesley LAFLIN