A Final Tribute for a Seattle Newsboy
Sixty members of the Newsboys' Union gathered to honor a fallen comrade in a moving funeral procession at the Seattle Undertaking Company.
The funeral services for Cecil Higginbotham, a young newsboy, were held at the rooms of the Seattle Undertaking Company. Sixty members of the Newsboys' Union attended in a body, wearing their badges. The casket was covered in white roses and smilax, with a special floral tribute in the shape of the Newsboys' Union badge, 'No. 9.' Reverend Wallace Nutting spoke to the boys about the value of life and the influence a single individual can have on their community. The pallbearers, also newsboys, carried the casket to the hearse, with the remaining boys following, each holding a newspaper under their arm. Interment took place at Mount Pleasant Cemetery.
“The pall bearers... carried the casket from the room and were followed by the other newsboys, each of whom carried a newspaper under their arm.”
Newsboys were the literal face of the city's information economy in the late 19th century. Their organized unions and collective mourning reflect a time when these young workers were a visible, essential, and often vulnerable part of the urban fabric.
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