A Community's Last Act for a Murdered Man
When immigrant Julius Scherbring was killed for his meager savings, his German countrymen stepped in to ensure he received a proper burial rather than a pauper’s grave.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
As soon as it was announced that Julius Scherbring was dead, some of our German citizens determined to give him a Christian burial. Notwithstanding he was murdered for his money, it was found that he only had $10, and this was not available, and but for the action of the Germans he would have been buried by the County. As it was, a large sum of money was raised among his countrymen, sufficient to buy a lot in the Masonic Cemetery, pay all the funeral expenses and erect a slab with a proper inscription over the grave. The funeral ceremonies took place yesterday afternoon at Turn Verein Hall. The discourse was delivered by Rev. John F. Damon, and was listened to by several hundred persons. The music was furnished by the Arion choir, consisting of sixteen trained voices. The services at the hall closed with the singing of 'The Grave,' after which the pall bearers, Messrs. Knoer, A. B. Smith, P. Sondgerath, S. Rampf, G. Koech and O. Benninghausen placed the remains in the hearse. A large number of friends and acquaintances in carriages followed all that was mortal of Julius Scherbring to his last resting place. At the grave Rev. Damon made some appropriate remarks and the choir chanted a requiem as the body was lowered into the cold ground. An order for the headstone has been given and as before stated, all these expenses will be borne by our German fellow citizens. Father K. Dumont, a priest, states that Julius Heberbring died within the rights of the Catholic Church, in which he was born and brought up, and he feels that this will be of great consolation to his parents and relatives in their sad bereavement.
“Not withstanding he was murdered for his money, it was found that he only had $10, and this was not available, and but for the action of the Germans he would have been buried by the County.”
This 1887 story of mutual aid among the German community highlights the vulnerability of itinerant laborers in early Seattle—a struggle for dignity in death that persists in the city’s contemporary discussions about homelessness, burial equity, and the lack of social safety nets for the city's most precarious residents.
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