Jesse A. Grice; sheriff and mayor, 1852-1915

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.ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY

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Public Library of Fort Wa

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Jesse A . G r i c e

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Sheriff and Mayor

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Jesse A. Grice

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Sheriff and Mayor

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The members of this Board include 1 1. e members of the Boord of Trus

the Fort Wayne Community Schools (with the some officers) togethe

the following citizens chosen from Allen County outside the corporo
of Fort Woyne.

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Gerald W. Morsche

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PO Box

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46801-2270

FOREWORD

Jesse A. Grice, twenty-first mayor of Fort Wayne, served
the Summit City as chief executive during the period 1910-1914.
The following publication outlines his life and accomplishments.
This pamphlet is the third of a series on Fort Wayne mayors.

The source materials were drawn from local newspaper
files, Fort Wayne histories, and personal interviews with Harry
G. Hogan, city attorney under Mayor Grice.

The Boards and the Staff of the Public Library of Fort Wayne
and Allen County present this biographical sketch in the hope that
the life and times of Mayor Grice will prove interesting and in-
formative to both Fort Wayne's older and younger generations.

The life of Jesse A. Grice is a typical, American
success story. While still a young boy he was indentured to
a family to work in return for room and board. From ob-
scure origins he rose by dogged determination, unfaltering
courage, and shrewd ability to become a successful busi-
nessman. Allen County elected him sheriff; later Fort
Wayne elected him mayor on the Republican ticket- -most
unusual in the days when Republicans were a minority in this
area; the honors were a glowing testimonial to his great
popularity.

0$M^iO EARLY YEARS OfM^

According to family tradition Grice' s ancestors set-
tled in Homeworth, Columbiana County, Ohio. His grand-
father joined a westward-bound caravan of eighteen wagons
in the Gold Rush of 1849. All disappeared without a trace.

Anthony Grice, Jesse's father, was born and spent
his boyhood in Homeworth. After his marriage to Susanna
Yeager, the daughter of a pioneer family in Henry County,
he lived in Homeworth. Here a son, christened Jesse, was
born to the couple on November 26, 1852. (Another source
gives his birthplace as Georgetown, Brown County, Ohio. )
Misfortune soon beset the family, for Anthony Grice died
while Jesse was an infant. Later, Susanna Grice married
E manual Detrich. The family then moved to Maysville (now
Harlan), Indiana. By her second marriage, Jesse's mother
had two daughters, Alberta and Belle.

For a number of years the family lived in Maysville,
where Jesse attended grammar school. Poverty kept him
from completing public school. Despite meager formal ed-
ucation, he learned from observation of men and from ex-
perience. He was accustomed to say, "I got my education
in the school of hard knocks." It was literally true. He
spent his early youth in hard and unremitting toil. At the
age of nine years, he began to support himself. Thereafter
he depended almost entirely on his own resources.

After working at various jobs he became a butcher
and livestock dealer. In his teens he won the admiration

and confidence of his fellow townsmen, for the people of
Maysville raised funds to buy him a horse and cattle wagon.
Thereafter, in competition with experienced dealers, he al-
ways secured his share of business. At sixteen he was pros-
pering in his own business.

Within three years, Jesse was sufficiently established
to ask Angelia Stopher to marry him. She accepted his pro-
posal, and the young couple were married in Maysville on
September 22, 1871. The marriage was happy but short-
lived; unfortimately, Mrs. Grice died two years later. The
couple had one child, John Grice.

After the death of his wife, Jesse moved to Hicks -
ville, Ohio, where he bought a meat market; he managed it
in connection with his trade of stock buying. On November
25, 1874, he married Dora B. Hall, a resident of Ohio who
had been born and reared a Hoosier. Two sons were born of
the union --Wallace, who died at the age of eighteen months,
and Vernon.

In 1878, after four prosperous years in Hicksville,
Grice and his family returned to Maysville, where he pur-
chased a farm near that village. Here they lived for four-
teen years. During this Jesse successfully engaged in stock
trading.

In 1892 he moved to Fort Wayne. He bought a meat
market on the southwest corner of Barr and Wayne streets.
His energy, good management, and reliability won the es-
teem and confidence of his customers. In 1898 he sold his
butcher shop and formed a partnership with Alex Lawrence
to deal in livestock. The two men became the leading stock
buyers of this community. In 1904, after a six-year part-
nership, they dissolved the business to enable Jesse to enter
politics.

ENTERING POLITICS

For years Grice had taken a lively interest in politi-
cal questions and issues. A devotee of Republican principles
and policies, he early became a zealous party worker. In
recognition of his faithful service, his party nominated him

He met the voters face to face

for sheriff in 1904.

Grice waged a vigorous campaign. He visited com-
munities throughout Allen County, including those known to
be traditionally and solidly Democratic. His recogn^'^ed
honesty and probity, his reputation for fair dealing, his per-
sonal magnetism, and his well-known charity won him many
votes. The tabulation of the election returns revealed that
he had won the contest by a gratifying majority.

Two years later, Mr. Grice broke all precedents.
Although he faced the strongest opposition, the people of Al-
len County re-elected him to the office of sheriff. No one
had ever before accomplished this feat in Allen County.
More significant, his re-election took place in the year of a
Democratic sweep; only two other Republicans attained of-
fice that year--one by a majority of 23 votes, the other by
193 votes. Mr. Grice, however, was elected by a majority
of 1, 757--clear evidence of his popularity and of apprecia-
tion of the uprightness and justice with which he had con-
ducted his office.

OS^M^O MAYORALTY ELECTION OF 1909 CMM^O

After his second term Grice retired from public of-
fice and on January 1, 1909, again resumed business. His
return to private life, however, was short-lived. Because
of his popularity with all classes of people, party leaders
persuaded him to run for mayor on the Republican ticket that
fall. His nomination, though contested, was a walk-away.

In a whirlwind campaign, marked by bitterness and
personalities, he disclosed remarkable abilities as a vote
getter. He lacked oratorical talents but displayed on the
stump a faculty for speaking blunt, plain common sense,
which the average citizen could understand. People invari-
ably crowded his meetings to overflowing. He met the vot-
ers face to face, appeared at meetings everywhere in the
city, and freely mingled with the people. His Democratic
opponent, August M. Schmidt, a college graduate, through-
out the campaign tried to make capital out of Grice' s lack
of formal education. Schmidt contended that no one could

properly serve Fort Wayne as mayor unless he had a college
diploma. He once asked Grice, "What would you do if the
President of the United States should come to Fort Wayne ?
How would you, a man without formal education, be able to
introduce him?" With rare humor Mr. Grice replied, "Why,
I would put him in a halter, lead him to the platform and
say, 'Ladies and Gentlemen, the President of the United
States.'"

Mr. Grice ran primarily on a reform platform and
maintained that the time had come to change parties and
clean out the City Hall from cellar to attic. He also stood
for the preservation and development of the city's physical
resources. On this platform, the businessmen and the cor-
porations supported Mr. Grice. As a group, he claimed, the
brewers, saloonkeepers, and policemen did not support him.

On November 2, 1909, the voters elected Jesse Grice
the fourth Republican mayor of Fort Wayne. The preceding
Republican mayors were Henry Sharp, Daniel L. Harding,
and Chauncey B. Oakley. Grice received 7, 440 votes--842
more than his opponent, Mr. Schmidt. The wave of Grice' s
popularity grew in volume as it progressed and swept prac-
tically the entire Republican ticket into office. The FORT
WAYNE NEWS on November 4, 1909, published a political
cartoon which showed Jesse Grice receiving a diploma in-
scribed with large letters, ELECTION.

CAREER AS MAYOR

Mr. Grice took the oath of office on January 1, 1910.
The FORT WAYNE NEWS of September 17, 1915, gave the
following account of him as mayor:

Every day he was at his desk or out on public enter-
prises giving them personal supervision that never waned
vintil they were finally completed. His tremendous nervous
energy kept his entire administration keyed up to a high pitch
and imbued his several boards with unbounded enthusiasm
that resulted in this community' s enjoying a period of public
activity unparalleled in its history.

Early in his administration Mayor Grice and the
Board of Public Works began a street -paving program. The
city paved thirty additional miles of streets with brick and
built fifty -three miles of sidewalks. Much of the street
pavement still serves as a base for the asphalt surface. The
pavement laid on Calhoun Street and Spy Run Avenue during
Grice' s term ranked with the best contemporary city street
paving in the Middle West.

The administration also planned an ornamental street
lighting system. Accordingly, the Western Gas and Con-
struction Company installed lampposts on Calhoun Street
south to Creighton Avenue, on Harrison Street from Supe-
rior Street to the Pennsylvania Railroad Station, and on the
streets in the area bounded by Superior, Clinton, Jefferson,
and Harrison streets.

In his annual message to the City Council in 1913,
Mayor Grice said:

Calhoun Street should not be considered as the only
main street of a prosperous, growing city, but the use of
other downtown streets for general business purposes should
be encouraged. To this end a plan has been adopted and is
now being carried out whereby ornamental lamps are being
installed along the streets. It will encourage merchants to
locate and purchasers to frequent the well-lighted streets
out of the high- rent district, hastening what is becoming a
matter of necessity, a city of more than one "main" street.

It has been said, "Cities, like human beings, are
judged by impressions. " The fleeting glimpse of a town
caught from the windows of a railway train that stops for a
few minutes at a station leaves an indelible impression upon
the traveler. If he sees nothing but forbidding gloom, punc-
tuated by an occasional flickering gas lamp, he inevitably
sets down that community as a third-rate municipality. If
he catches a glimpse of a main street ablaze with light, he
knows that here business thrives. Gloom means dirt, squal-
or, stagnation; light means activity, industry, life. From
the Lighting of a city its character can invariably be deduced.

The new ornamental lighting system advertised Fort
Wayne, for street light posts were then uncommon. The
lighting system brought hundreds of new customers to the
city light plant.

At this time, city beautification became a topic of
general interest. The city engaged a landscape architect;
he toured the community and made suggestions for improving
its aesthetic appearance. In April, 1912, the city govern-
ment created a Department of Forestry and appointed Carl
J. Getz, a graduate of Purdue University, city forester.
Functions of the department included conservation of trees
in parks and on city streets and instruction of citizens in
tree culture. Improvement in city sanitation also made Fort
Wayne a better place in which to live.

The growth of Fort Wayne's park system also re-
ceived a tremendous impetus. The efforts of the Grice ad-
ministration influenced the Indiana General Assembly of 1911
to enact a bill which providedpark legislation for Fort Wayne
similar to that which had already benefited Indianapolis.
Under this law the Board of Park Commissioners of Fort
Wayne possessed authority to establish boulevards, parks,
parkways, pleasure drives, and playgrounds. The Board
could now levy a tax (for the acquisition and improvement of
park lands) against the adjoining property but not in excess
of fifteen per cent of the assessed valuation of the land.

The Board of Park Commissioners enlarged Lake-
side Park in 1912 by a $2, 800 purchase and a gift of three
entire squares. The city bought Camp Allen Park, and the
respective owners donated the John H. Vesey Park, Pontiac
Place Park, and Hiron's Park. In the same year David N.
and Samuel M. Foster deeded to the city a beautiful tract of
sixty -four acres of wooded land bordering the St. Mary's
River, today known as Foster Park. The formal dedication
took place in July with a ceremony of speechmaking and mu-
sic. In 1912 the city spent $17, 500 to improve the park
lands it had received.

Other municipal departments made innovations and
improvements. The Water Department installed a system
of metering. The capacity of Pumping Station No. 3 was

nearly tripled. The Police Department acquired police
wagons and other necessary equipment. The office of City
Sealer was established.

During Grice's administration City Attorney Harry
G. Hogan and the Pennsylvania and Wabash railroads com-
pleted the negotiations for track elevation begun by the pre-
vious Hosey administration. Thereupon, the railroads ele-
vated the tracks over Calhoun Street, Fairfield Avenue, and
Broadway. The administration also began negotiations to
open Osage Street across the Nickel Plate Railroad and ex-
tend Harrison Street across the Lake Shore and Michigan
Southern Railroad.

rM^{0 THE FLOOD OF 1913 Of^MMP

Near the end of March, 1913, heavy rainfall drenched
the Fort Wayne area. A total of 4. 75 inches of rain fell be-
tween 7:25 a. m. , March 23, and 9:45 p. m. , March 25. The
Maumee River, which stood at 6. 7 feet on March 23, meas-
ured 19. 6 feet on the morning of the 24th. The crest came
at 11:00 p. m. , March 26, when the government gage at the
bridge on Columbia Street registered the all-time high of
26. 1 feet.

Flood waters covered the Nebraska, Bloomingdale,
and Spy Run areas. Owing to the tremendous pressure of
the water, two breaks appeared in the dike along St. Joe
Boulevard. The large residential section of Lakeside be-
came inundated so quickly that many people only escaped
from their homes with difficulty. Others were marooned on
roofs and in the second stories of their homes. Water filled
at least two thousand homes; for about a week some fifteen
thousand people were homeless. Fort Wayne experienced
the most disastrous flood in its history.

The flood wrought enormous property damage and
caused the loss of six lives. When the officials of the Allen
County Orphans' Home realized that the swollen waters of
the St. Mary's River threatened the safety of the children,
they attempted to transport their wards elsewhere. Unfor-
tunately, a boat, loaded with several children, capsized

while being rowed to shore; four young girls were drowned.
A man who helped to rescue families penned in by the flood
was drowned at the Main Street bridge. The sixth person
died of a heart attack. A distress call to Chicago brought
Captain Wallace and a crew from the government Lifesaving
Service. They brought the rest of the children to safety.

Mayor Grice and his administration swung into ac-
tion immediately. Their promptitude mitigated to some ex-
tent the seriousness of the situation. The city organized an
association to co-ordinate relief for flood victims by center-
ing it in one agency and dispensing aid from a central point.
Officers were Mayor Jesse A. Grice; City Attorney Harry
G. Hogan; Harry Kauffman, secretary; and City Comptroller
William S. Cutshall, treasurer.

On Wednesday, March 26, 1913, Mayor Grice pub-
lished the follov/ing proclamation in the FORT WAYNE
JOURNAL-GAZETTE:

The flood situation has become extremely serious,
and the entire water pumping facilities of the city have been
put out of commission by the high water. It may be forty-
eight hours or longer before the water recedes sufficiently
to permit their being put in operation; consequently, the city
will be unable to furnish any water, and the consumers will
have to use rain water. Consumers are urged to boil the
water before using it. The valve in the reservoir has been
turned off and will not be turned on except in case of fire.

All persons who have been driven from their homes
and have no place of shelter are requested to come to the
City Hall, where arrangements will be made to secure hous-
ing for them.

The Police and Fire departments are doing good
work in rescuing people who have been shut in their homes
and helping them to reach dry land. To assist in this work
of rescuing, the police seized twenty boats from Mr. Gunkle;
and they sent for and received two carloads of boats from
Rome City, which are being used in the flood district.

Owing to the equipment of the city power plant being
under water, the citizens will not be able to secure city cur-

10

rent for a day or so. At the end of that time, it may be as-
serted positively that service will be resumed. . . .

The controller will request the City Council to make
an appropriation of $5,000 to the high-water emergency fund
for the purpose of carrying on the necessary extra expenses
and providing shelter and food for the sufferers.

Weatherman Palmer has stated that he expects the
flood to reach its highest at nine o'clock tonight. After that
time it is expected that the water will recede; the important
thing that will then remain to be done is to take care of our
afflicted people, to set in operation the water supply of the
city, and to take strict measures to guard against typhoid
fever and other diseases that might follow in the wake of the
high waters. To this end I have instructed the Board of
Health to spare no expense and to call upon the entire medi-
cal fraternity of the city to assist those in authority in sug-
gesting ways and fixing plans of sanitation.

As to the rumored fears about the reservoir breaking
at St. Mary's, Ohio, word was received that no danger was
apprehended, and instructions have been made to keep the
city authorities in constant touch with the situation there.
Upon very reliable authority, I am informed that even if this
reservoir should give way it will not materially alter the
situation in our city.

In conclusion, I ask every good citizen to help us in
this civic disaster and to do all in his power to prevent the
spread of disease and sickness. I trust with everyone pull-
ing together we will be safe and free from all direct and
consequential dangers.

The city administration undertook practical measures
to meet the emergency. The relief committee sent boats
into the inundated areas to rescue people from second-story
windows and housetops. Homeless families were lodged
wherever possible. Churches and lodges set up folding beds
and provided cooking facilities in their halls. Many families
in private homes made guestrooms available. The furniture
dealers equipped the Princess Rink with cots, Foster Fur-
niture Company, Fort Wayne Outfitters, Fox Brothers &

11

Company, and Indiana Furniture Company placed the top
floors of their buildings at the disposal of the authorities;
they also supplied beds and bedding. Dispossessed persons
thronged hotels and rooming houses. After making the nec-
essary adjustments, the Wabash Valley Traction Company
furnished current to light the downtown streets.

Fund-raising campaigns provided resources which
eased hardships somewhat for the homeless victims. In ad-
dition to the $5, 000 which the City Council appropriated for
relief, the FORT WAYNE JOURNAL -GAZETTE turned over
its subscription fund, the traction company contributed
$1,000, the Berghoff Brewing Company donated $500, the
Indiana Lighting Company gave $500, and the Home Tele-
phone Company gave $100. Charitable organizations re-
ferred all applications for aid to the city relief association
which provided food, clothing, shelter, and medical assist-
ance. A total of 11, 187 persons received assistance. This
was a rather large proportion for that day out of a total pop-
ulation of 71,472.

Though the water supply was shut off for several
days, the situation could have become much worse if the
Mayor had not promptly taken steps to protect the water
works. He ordered a cofferdam built around the entire
building of Pumping Station No. 1 to keep off the flood water.
About four feet of water flooded the plant before the dam
could be built. The Mayor ordered two engines from the
Fire Department to be installed immediately to pump the
water from the interior of the station. When the water fell
to a depth of two feet, the engineers started fires under the
boilers, generated steam, and began operating the pumps.
The pumps at this station had a daily capacity of three mil-
lion gallons --slightly less than the average daily consump-
tion. Since the city restored the water supply in a relatively
short time, the danger of disease due to inadequate sewage
disposal was minimized.

By evening of March 26, Mayor Grice issued another
statement reassuring the citizens of Fort Wayne. The FORT
WAYNE NEWS-SENTINEL of that date quoted the chief ex-
ecutive as follows:

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The water in the pumping station has been lowered
several inches, and at this rate, if nothing happens, fire
can be started under one of the boilers in eight or ten hours.

Just as soon as steam can be generated at No. 1 sta-
tion, the municipal lighting plant will be in a position to re-
sume operation, and lights will be supplied to the business
houses and residence districts. By an arrangement with the
Wabash Valley Traction Company . . . the streets north of
the railroad and between Clinton and Harrison streets will
be lighted. Whether our street light system can be put in
operation at the same time depends upon the condition of the
sub-transformers and other equipment that has been sub-
merged in the water. In the meantime, all business houses
in the outlying districts and citizens having porch lights can
help out the street lighting by turning them on and leaving
them lighted all night.

While the situation is grave, Fort Wayne citizens
should not be imduly alarmed and should feel extremely
grateful considering the great distress and loss of life that
is being inflicted upon the neighboring cities and towns.

The Mayor declared martial law almost immediately
and kept it in effect until the end of the emergency. The
Mayor seized a railroad car loaded with meat, which was in
transit from Chicago, and kept it to prevent distress. How-
ever, the meat was not needed, and the car was later sent
on its way. Guards with orders to shoot anyone who diso-
beyed a command to halt patrolled the flooded districts in
boats. Since many doors inflooded houses had been left open
to let the water run out, strict measures were necessary to
protect property from looters. No one was permitted to visit
his home in the flooded area without a permit from Chief of
Police Dayton R. Abbott. The Mayor also issued a procla-
mation asking that all instances of overcharging for food,
bedding, medicine, and other necessities be reported to the
City Hall. Offenders were promptly prosecuted. During
the crisis the Mayor issued additional statements regarding
the dangers of the moment and the measures taken to miti-
gate the suffering of the flood victims.

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RETIREMENT

Mayor Grice retired from office January 5, 1914,
standing high in the public esteem, both as a citizen and as
a public servant. Just before the close of his term, he was
guest of honor at a testimonial banquet at the Anthony Hotel
attended by several hundred citizens.

Later serious weaknesses of his administration came
to light. The city government had failed to determine and
pay the city's portion of the elevation work at Calhoun Street,
Broadway, and Fairfield Avenue. The Street Paving De-
partment had overdrawn its account by $8,712.26. Afire
insurance contracton thefireproof market housefor $10,000
had been renewed. No plans or specific steps for flood pre-
vention had been made. Worst of all, a sad scandal existed
in the Police Department.

Commenting on this record, which he detailed in a
speech in the Ninth Ward on September 2, 1921, William J.
Hosey added.

Former Mayor Grice was very unfortunate because
the greatest police scandal ever known in the history of the
City of Fort Wayne developed under his administration. I
believe Mayor Grice was the victim of the men who sur-
roxmded him.

Upon leaving office, Mr. Grice purchased a large
farm near Leo; he intended to dispose of his beautiful home
at 1016 Ewing Street and reside on his farm.

DEATH AND FUNERAL OPcM^O

For several years he had suffered from a stomach
ailment. Injuries sustained in a fall down stairs at his home
aggravated his condition. Until he became bedfast on Sep-
tember 3, 1915, few of his friends realized that he was ill,
so successfully had he concealed his suffering.

On September 10, Mr. Grice' s illness became criti-
cal. After consultation, his physicians removed him to St.

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Joseph Hospital, but because of his condition the attending
surgeon, Dr. Maurice I. Rosenthal, refused to perform an
operation. On September 14, a day after Grice had entered
the hospital, Dr. Rosenthal permitted him to return home.
Mr. Grice spent these last days calmly discussing business
and domestic affairs with his family and associates. He did
not complain but retained the same cheery smile and warm
handclasp that had won him many friends. His consideration
for the feelings of others, his kindly interest in their pleas-
ures, and his deep sympathy in the sorrows of those about
him continued unchanged.

The frequent bulletins issued by the physicians indi-
cated that he was slowly sinking. On Friday, September 17,
1915, the doctors informed the family that the end was near.
With his loved ones at his bedside the former chief executive
passed away quietly at his home shortly after noon.

The FORT WAYNE NEWS of September 17, 1915,
listed the following survivors: the widow; the sons, John,
who conducted a meat market on East Creighton Avenue, and
Vernon; two grandchildren, Dorothy B. and Jesse Grice;
and two haK-sisters, Mrs. Alberta McLaughlin of Lisbon,
Ohio, and Mrs. Belle Wallace of Alliance, Ohio.

The following day the City Hall was draped in mourn-
ing in honor of Jesse A. Grice. At a special meeting on
Saturday evening, the City Council made arrangements to
attend the funeral in a body and unanimously passed the fol-
lowing resolution:

The death of former Mayor Jesse A. Grice is an
occurrence which saddens the hearts of our citizens. To
have removed by death a valuable citizen who so gracefully
adorned the office of mayor, will cause sorrow to a vast
majority of our citizens, who learned, during his incumbency
in office, to honor, love, and respect him. He was a good
citizen and an upright, honest man. He was a fair, just, and
progressive mayor, who appreciated the needs of our people
and the rights of our citizens. He was loved and honored by
our humble citizens, whose every little want was courteously
and efficiently attended to by him as mayor; and he was re-

16

spected and honored by all who came in contact with him in
the discharge of his official duties. He had a keen percep-
tion of the wants of the people and the necessities of the city.
Municipal problems were by him at all times intelligently,
successfully, and promptly met and solved. It is indeed a
great loss to this city that we have lost his advice in matters
of importance. He was a home-loving, affectionate, and
faithful husband and father, his character being unimpeach-
able and one that endeared him to his friends innumerable.

Therefore, be it resolved by the City Council of the
City of Fort Wayne that we express our deep sympathy with
his wife and children, who have lost such a valuable, good,
kind husband and father --his host of friends, who have lost
a genial, kindly, and pleasant friend and associate, and the
citizens of our city, who have lost an able, conscientious,
honest, and impartial citizen, and that a copy of these reso-
lutions be spread upon the records of this body and a copy
tendered to his family.

The fraternal orders to which Mr. Grice belonged
directed the funeral services, which took place on Septem-
ber 19, 1915. The Masons conducted the services at the
Scottish Rite Cathedral, while the Odd Fellows and the Elks
had charge of the graveside services.

The body lay in state at the residence the evening and
the morning before the funeral services. Rev. Edwin Q.
Laudeman of the First Evangelical Church conducted private
services at the home for the family. The funeral then pro-
ceeded to the City Hall, where a delegation, which included
officers of the current city government and of Grice' s ad-
ministration, joined the procession. A cordon of police
stood at attention along the east side of Barr Street at the
City Hall while the cortege was passing. Members of the
Grice Park Board and Board of Safety and the officers of the
Elks occupied carriages in the procession. Floral offer-
ings filled one carriage. Bells tolled as the cortege moved
through the streets, where thousands stood with bared heads,
to the Scottish Rite Cathedral.

Crowds thronged the Cathedral an hour before the

17

funeral. Special sections were reserved for those who ac-
companied the body from the residence to the Cathedral.
Rev. Arthur J. Folsom of Plymouth Congregational Church
preached the funeral sermon. After the obsequies, the re-
mains were removed to Lindenwood Cemetery where the
Odd Fellows and the Elks conducted the graveside cere-
monies before the ex-mayor was laid to rest.

The FORT WAYNE NEWS of September 20 reported:

Men from every walk of life, businessmen, profes-
sional men, and laborers alike gathered to pay their final
respects to the memory of the former chief executive. No
more eloquent testimonial as to the high regard in which
Jesse Grice was held could have been uttered than the at-
tendance of this great concourse at the last rites for the
departed.

Jesse Grice was known and respected for his un-
feigned cheerfulness and kindliness. Having known poverty
and deprivation in his youth, he was always ready to respond
to the cry of the needy and distressed. How many men,
women, and children he helped in time of need will never be
known. With a smile, a warm handclasp, and an encourag-
ing pat on the back, he dismissed each recipient of his boun-
ty. The matter was then put out of his mind. That others
did not soon forget was evidenced by the support he received
in his political campaigns and by the large attendance at his
funeral.

(WM^

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HECKMAN IX

BINDERY INC. |§

JAN 97

W-To-Ple.. N.MANCHESTER,