Col. Astor is Buried, First Wife is Absent

Service at Rhinebeck and Interment in Trinity Cemetery.

BODY PUT BESIDE FATHER

The Third of This Name to Rest in the Family Vault.

The funeral of Col. John Jacob Astor was held early yesterday afternoon in the Church of the Messiah at Rhinebeck, and within a few hours after the conclusion of the simple ceremonies his body was laid by that of his father in the family vault in Trinity Cemetery, at 155th street and Amsterdam avenue.

Only Mrs. Madeleine Force Astor, his widow; his children, Vincent and Muriel; his sister, Mrs. Orme Wilson, and a few intimate friends were within the cemetery when the brief committal service of the Episcopal Church was read by the Rev. Dr. William T. Manning, rector of Trinity Church, but standing in the side streets, along Riverside Drive and clinging to the iron railing that tops the cemetery wall were thousands of curious persons who had stood for hours awaiting the cortege and who observed every movement made by members of the funeral party.

This crowd was in direct contrast to the smaller gathering that greeted the arrival of the funeral party at Rhinebeck. Deputy Sheriff Witherwax of Dutchess county and six of his men, reenforced by men from the Astor estate, were there armed with heavy canes to prevent the curious from venturing beyond the ropes that were stretched about the church. But for the most part the villagers remained on the opposite side of the street until after the services had begun. Then many of them stood close to the church and heard the singing of the choir and the voices of those who read the service. More than half of the seating space in the church was taken up by residents of Rhinebeck who had known Col. Astor well. In the Sunday school room adjoining the main body of the church sat the servants and estate employees.

The chancel was banked high with flowers. In front of the large chancel window, a memorial to Col. Astor’s mother, were large wreaths of roses. On either side of the choir stalls were tall potted palms. The rest was a bank of wreaths of roses, lilies of the valley, orchids, forget-me-nots and violets. To the left of the entrance to the chancel was a broken column, twined with roses, the gift of the employees of Ferncliff. Near it was a heavy wreath, caught with the colors of the Prince of Wales and sent by the direction of King George. Large wreaths hung from the pulpit, another gift of Col. Astor as a memorial to his father.

Among the first of the funeral party to arrive was Mrs. Orme Wilson. She took a seat in the second row to the right of the chancel. In a few moments Alice Muriel Astor entered with her governess and there passed a low murmur through the church as the little girl sat down with Mrs. Wilson. She showed much feeling and shortly after the services began a nurse took her place beside her. It was just four minutes after the noon hour that the church bell tolled and in a moment Vincent Astor came through the door of the adjoining Sunday school room. Close behind him came Mrs. Madeleine Force Astor. She walked unassisted to a place beside Mrs. Wilson, her stepson sitting beside her. Directly behind them were her parents and sister, Miss Katherine Force. Mrs. Ava Willing Astor did not attend the funeral services, nor did she go to the cemetery.

Those who had been invited to attend the funeral arrived in Rhinecliff on a special train from New York shortly before noon. They were driven in automobiles directly to the church. There were nearly a hundred of these friends and relatives of Col. Astor, among them:

Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Douglas Robinson, James Roosevelt Roosevelt, Mr. and Mrs. R. Fulton Cutting, Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Astor Wilkes, Mr. and Mrs. Orme Wilson, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Frederick W. Vanderbilt, Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt, Mr. and Mrs. John Steward, Mr. and Mrs. Augustus Jay, Mrs. F. E. Dodge, Mr. and Mrs. Levi P. Morton, Mrs. Frederick Bronson, Douglas Robinson, Nicholas Biddle, Richard Aldrich, Rosmer Barrett, Thornton Wilson, Edmund L. Baylies, George C. Boldt, the Rev. Dr. Frank Cookman, John G. Milburn, Nikola Tesla, Charles A. Munn, W. A. Dobbyn, L. C. Ledyard, Dr. Richard Peters, Warren Delano, William M. Cruikshank, Thomas Hastings, C. M. Haan, Henry Harnickle, Hamilton Fish Kean, Robert B. Van Courtlandt, G. Creighton Webb, Benjamin Welles, Robert S. Chanler, Campbell W. Steward, Stephen H. Olin, Miss Catherine Hammersley, the Misses Kane, Lewis Gordon Hammersley, Mr. and Mrs. John J. Chapman, Henry B. Montgomery, Robert B. Sukeley, James Armstrong, Herbert C. Pinkham, Thomas Hale, P. C. Browne, W. E. Blanchard, Henry Greenberger, E. D. Coulter, James McWalter, John F. Kane, E. M. Van Buren, Stephen Reed.

There was also a delegation from Poughkeepsie composed of the Hudson-Fulton celebration Committee of that town, among them Clarence Reynolds, Peter H. Troy, Elmer Gildersleeve, George V. L. Spratt, Judge Charles Morschauser and County Judge Frank Hasbrouck.

Harry Irwin Metzger, organist of the church, played Chopin’s funeral march as a prelude and then the choir from Trinity Chapel entered singing “The Pilgrim of the Night.” Preceded by the Rev. Ernest Saunders of the Church of the Messiah and the Rev. Dr. Manning of Trinity Church they met the casket at the vestibule. The honorary pallbearers were Richard Delafield, Lispenard Stewart, Edward A. Wickes, Charles H. Hoffman, Stuyvesant Fish, Peter Cooper Hewitt, Dr. James F. Goodell, a senior warden of the Church of the Messiah, and Dr. E. N. Miller, one of the vestrymen. The casket was covered with a blanket of orchids and hung with a large wreath of orchids, the gift of Vincent Astor. Behind the casket followed six older employees of Col. Astor.

As soon as the casket had been placed Dr. Manning read the Episcopal service for the dead, after which “Peace, Perfect Peace” was sung. The casket was not opened in the church, the family having had their final look at the face of Col. Astor before the body was removed from Ferncliff.

The funeral party left the church at the conclusion of the service and were conveyed to Rhinecliff by automobile. They boarded a special train for New York. The body of Col. Astor, followed by members of the family and a few intimate friends, then was taken back to the Ferncliff estate to the Central New England. There another special train, composed of two private cars, a dining car and the funeral Pullman, was waiting. When the casket was placed on board the train started for New York.

The body was taken from the cemetery by the gate near Riverside Drive. A large force of policemen kept the crowd from following into the cemetery. Those in the carriages were Vincent Astor, Mrs. Madeleine Force Astor, Miss Alice Muriel Astor, Mrs. Orme Wilson, James Roosevelt Roosevelt, Nicholas Biddle and W. A. Dobbyn. The body was laid in a niche above that of William Astor, the father of Col. Astor. The floral pieces that had been brought down from Rhinebeck were massed around it and the members of the family and the few friends passed inside. Two brief prayers were recited by Dr. Manning and then the members of the party were taken away in automobiles. The vault in which the body was laid is near the tomb of the first John Jacob Astor and there are two others of that name there. The graves of Mrs. William Waldorf Astor and of two of the Astor children also are in the same plot.

Dr. Manning will deliver a eulogy of Col. Astor at Trinity Church to-day. It had been prepared for the funeral, but Vincent Astor desired that it be not given then.

Regarding the will of Col. Astor and when it would be read there was considerable comment yesterday, both at Rhinebeck and in this city. When inquiry was made at the home and also of the lawyers who are interested the only information forthcoming was that the will was not opened directly after the burial, as appears to have been the custom in the Astor family, and that it probably would be a week before anything is done in the matter.