Durham is waiting for Sunday. On that day the populace will pay their final tribute to their beloved friend and citizen, Gen. Julian S. Carr, before the body is committed to the earth from whence it came. At 3 o’clock in the afternoon the funeral services will being at the home after which the body will be carried from the home down the city’s main thoroughfare, which will be draped in mourning, and to Maplewood cemetery for the final ceremony.
Saturday the home was thrown open to the public. Hundreds upon hundreds of people passed through the gateways onto the spacious lawn of the home and into the house where the body lay. Sorrow was written on every face. Silently they filed past the pier for their last glimpse of the familiar and beloved face. People from every walk of life, including many of the city’s colored population, made their way into the home and by the casket containing the body of the illustrious dead. The rich and the poor mingled together in paying their tribute to the man.
The casket was placed at the northwest corner of the room on the same side of the house. Around it were placed many beautiful floral tributes received from many sections of the country and this city. On the casket were draped two Confederate flags, while at the head, standing on the floor, was a large Confederate flag, a floral offering. In the casket lay the body, stately and dignified. He looked to be only sleeping rather than dead. Dressed in the uniform of a Confederate general, which he loved to wear on all occasions where it was appropriate, he presented a familiar figure to those who had seen him in the full splendor of his rank. On the lapel of his coat was placed a white carnation, his favorite flower, which he most always wore. As the people passed by the casket they walked on their tip-toes as if they feared they might awaken him from a refreshing sleep.
The floral tributes received at the home throughout Saturday were many and beautiful but the number was not so great as it would have been had it not been for the oft repeated request of General Carr that his friends send books to the local public library rather than send flowers. Several volumes of books have been received by members of the general’s family from friends who, in conformance with that request sent books to be given to the library instead of flowers. The library, too, has received several volumes while the chairman of the board of trustees has also received books to be added to the library and which will be known as the Julian S. Carr memorial library. The general’s name will be perpetuated through this memorial. In each book will appear a label stating that it was given in memory of General Carr. The largest offering of flowers in the city’s history is expected to mark the funeral tomorrow, despite the general’s preference.
Tomorrow afternoon the funeral services will be conducted, and it is expected that the crowd which will attend will fill the lower floor of the spacious home and overflow to the lawn. People from out-of-town have already begun arriving in the city and Sunday several score others are expected for the funeral. Already they have arrived from as far north as Massachusetts and as far west as Illinois. North Carolinians by the score will arrive during the morning hours tomorrow. This number, augmented by hundreds of local citizens, will make the funeral the largest attended in the history of the city.
Those in charge of the funeral will be confronted with a serious problem in caring for the immense throng expected to attend. It will be physically impossibility to accommodate them all in the home for the services. Hundreds of people, including some of the family’s closest friends, will be forced to remain outdoors during the services, it is expected. There will be room on the inside for only the Confederate veterans, the Daughters of the Confederacy, the Masons, the Elks, and all other organized bodies of people. When these people shall have entered the home, it is expected that all available space will be taken. Seats for the old soldiers will be necessary, and this will take up considerable room. All others will be required to stand. This, it is thought, will be the only solution to the problem.
Hundreds of people are expected to line the main thoroughfare down which the funeral cortege will pass. Main street will be in mourning, with black decorations being placed for eight or nine blocks over the street and on the store fronts. Under this symbol of the public’s sorrow, the body of the illustrious dead will be carried where but a short time ago he was a familiar figure. The funeral party will pass many places of business and commerce in which the general’s hand was felt during his active life in the community.
The Confederate veterans will form a part of the escort of honor. All of the members of the local camp will take part, as will a majority of the inmates of the old soldiers’ home in Raleigh. The veterans from the home will come to the city in the morning in automobiles furnished by citizens of the capital city. The general loved all veterans of the Civil war and these men who will act as an honorary escort were his special friends. When head of the board of trustees of the Old Soldiers’ home, the general performed many deeds which endeared him to them. He never lost an opportunity to extol the virtues of the veterans. In local camp he was actively interested.
The Julian S. Carr chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and visiting Daughters will also act as honorary escorts to the deceased.
The United Confederate veterans will be represented at the funeral. Col. Benehan Cameron, lifelong friend of the deceased, will represent General Halderman while Col. Sam W. Small, assistant chaplain, of Washington, D.C., will represent5 the staff of chaplains.
Many telegrams of sorrow over the death of the nationally known man and expressions of sympathy to the bereaved survivors have been received from all parts of the country. Among those sending messages were President Calvin Coolidge, Governor Morrison, and General Halderman, commander-in-chief of the Confederate armies. They represent the heads of the nation, the state and the Confederacy.
The order of the funeral procession has been completed in detail. There will be 60 cars in the procession proper before the cars of the general public. The traffic situation will be in charge of local police officers under the direction of Chief W.F. Doby.
From Dillard street the cortege will proceed westward on Main street to Milton avenue, thence to Chapel Hill street and to Maplewood cemetery. Traffic officers will be posted at street intersections to prohibit interruptions.
The cortege will be in 12 divisions, forming on the block around the villa. The order is as follows:
1. Ministers will lead in one car on the west side of Dillard street next to Main street.
2. City and county officials will occupy the next five cars, on Dillard street.
3. Masons will take the next five cars, following the city and county officials.
4. Elks will take the next five card, parked on the east side of Dillard street, next to Main street.
5. Next comes the Daughters of the confederacy, occupying 10 cars following the Elks.
6. Twelve cars will take the Confederate veterans, following the Daughters.
7. Honorary pall bearers will follow the veterans in the next 12 machines.
8. In the private grounds there will be cars for the active pall bearers.
9. The hearse will follow.
10. Eight family cars will come next.
11. Special guests will occupy cars following the immediate family of General Carr, these to form on Ramseur street east of Reams avenue.
12. Cars for the general public will form on Main street east of Dillard and on North Dillard.
At the cemetery only the cars in the immediate funeral party will be permitted to enter the grounds. From 3:30 o’clock till the funeral is over, traffic coming to the city from Chapel Hill road will be directed by Morehead avenue.
Dillard street will be closed at the intersection of Main for traffic. W.J. O’Brien and W.T. Minot compose the automobile committee. Their job will be to place all cars at their proper locations to receive the members of the funeral party. A request has been made by the committee for all those furnishing cars to enter by way of Peabody street at the intersection of Dillard street and report to the committee who will place them.
All railroad traffic will be held up on the Southern railroad line Sunday afternoon from 3 to 4 o’clock in order that the crossing at Milton avenue will not be blocked by trains to cut off the funeral cortege on its way to Maplewood cemetery. A telegram was received in the city Saturday night from the Southern headquarters stating that the trains had been ordered to cease operations for the hour.
From the front page of the Durham Morning Herald, Sunday, May 4, 1924
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