Transcribed from Dallas Daily Herald, Dec. 05, 1882
A Brief Sketch of His Life
The funeral of Mr. John Knepfly took place Sunday at 2 o’clock p.m. from the family residence, 614 Main street, to the First Baptist church and thence to Trinity cemetery, where the remains were interred and the last sad rights (sic) and respect paid to him who, while living, had borne himself in such an exemplary and Christian manner. The remains, followed by the relations of the deceased and a large concourse of friends, were taken to the First Baptist church, where were already gathered a large assemblage composed of the best citizens of Dallas, who had come together to honor the memory of one so universally esteemed. The funeral was the largest that ever took place in this city, and there were a good many who failed to get admission to the church on account of its being overcrowded. Messrs. Howell, Henry, Plouts, Williams, J. C. McCoy and Marshall, acted as pall bearers. The casket was placed in front of the pulpit. Rev. C. C. Chaplin, of Bryan, preached the funeral sermon and the eulogistic terms of the many virtues of the deceased, his course as a good, kind-hearted Christian gentleman. After the sermon was finished the large concourse passed down one aisle and out the other in order to take a last look at one whom they knew but to love. The remains were then placed in the hearse and the cortege followed them to the Trinity cemetery, where the last sad rites were paid the departed.
Mr. Knepfly was born in 1810 in Baden, Germany. He acquired his profession as a jeweler under the most eminent workmen in Germany and Switzerland. He served a regular probation in the German army. He married a Swiss lady, and as has been most truly said of her, she proved a worthy helpmate indeed, and, though she has passed the meridian of her life, she is yet as beautiful a person as of character. Mr. Knepfly was a member of the Baptist church, with its cause and that of Christianity generally sincerely at heart. He came to America in 1837, and settled in New Albany, in Indiana, then a village of about 4,000 inhabitants, now containing a population of nearly 20,000. He lived there some thirty-nine years, and came to Dallas in 1876. Here, in co-partnership with his son Lawrence, in their building on Main street, he conducted their large jewelry business until his decease on last Thursday evening. The admirable deportment of Mr. John Knepfly in all the relations of life, his unswerving integrity, his constant and tireless attention to business, his genial manner and his Christian character, modest almost to maidenhood, were dominant traits recognized by all who came in contact with him. With these, it is no wonder that he had strong and appreciative friends and admirers, and those who knew him best were “knit to his true deserving with cables of enduring toughness.” To realize in thought his everlasting absence, or to depict in adequate language the shattered feelings that this creates, is most difficult to do. If to the domestic hearthstone the loss is irreparable sadness, to this community it is a calamity, save that by the bright example which trails behind he leaves a rich inheritance to those who would be guided by the true, the honorable, the good and just.
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