- Almonte Gazette - August 17, 1883 - Death of Mr. T. Coulter
Quite a sensation was created in town on Monday noon, as the intelligence circulated that our well known and respected town clark was very dangerously ill, and was greatly intensified a short time afterwards when from one to another was conveyed the sad news that 'Poor Tom is gone.'
At all times a familiar figure on the streets, and mixed up with every phase of public life, added to the fact that he was out and talked familiarly with on Saturday, gave to the news of his death a sharpness from which those who heard it seemed to recoil, and drew from all an expression of profound sympathy, which widened and deepened as the mournful tidings spread.
The deceased was preeminently a public man, and was associated with many institutions, municipal and others, and in which he held office at his death. Mr. Thos. Coulter was born at Clayton, in the township of Ramsay, on the 22nd Aug., 1830, so that at his death he was within a few days of being fifty-three years of age.
He grew up and settled in Clayton, and for several years kept a store and the post office in that village, where, by his business ability and courtesy, he made a host of friends. In 1856, he was appointed a commissioner for taking affidavits for use in the Courts of Ontario, and in 1860, he was appointed by the then Governor-General, Sir Edmund Head, an Ensign in the militia. In 1871, he was appointed Clerk of the township of Ramsay, and in order to give his family the benefit of the education Almonte afforded, he moved into the then village, and was appointed clerk to the municipality, in 1872. The same year he was elected to the office of Secretary to the North Lanark Ag. Society, and a little later was appointed Secretary-Treasurer to the Almonte Board of Education, and all these offices he filled at the time of his death.
It was noticed by his friends that he had been failing for some time, and last week he was severely attacked by dysentery, but was about as usual on Saturday. On the evening of that day, however, he was taken much worse, and alarming symptoms manifested themselves. At two o'clock in the afternoon of Monday, the end came, and death terminated the existence of as courteous an official as ever held office.
We have been told that when he kept the post office, he would get up in the night at any hour to give out a letter. The many positions he held made him widely known, and his genial manner made him respected by all, and the evidence of this was seen in the very large number that attended his funeral, which took place on Wednesday last, and which was in charge of the Masonic body, a large number of the fraternity from Pakenham and other places joining Mississippi Lodge in paying their last respects to the departed brother.
A short service by the Masons was held in the house, and the funeral cortege was then formed, headed by the Masons, and followed by the Mayor and Council and the Board of Education of Almonte, and the Reeve, Deputy-Reeve and Council of Ramsay. Immediately after the mourners a very large number from both town and country followed the remains, which were borne to St. Paul's Church, where the Rev. F.L. Stephenson conducted the funeral service, the church being filled, and numbers unable to get in.
The procession was again formed in like order, and wended its way through the town to St. George's Cemetery, near Clayton. The number of vehicles following was large, and was added to at every turn. The service of the English Church and the Masonic ritual were completed at the grave, and thus were laid away in their last resting place the mortal remains of one whose familiar figure will no more be seen in our midst, who had no enemies, and respecting whom the universal verdict was 'He was a real good-hearted fellow.'
The deceased left a widow and four children (three daughters and one son), who mourn the removal of a kind husband and father, and with whose loss the public deeply sympathize.
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1830 - 1883 (52 years)
