The Faithful Mourner of Front Street
A beloved local dog known for attending every funeral in the city passes away.
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.
Old 'Rose', a dog that probably attended more funerals than any other dog in the United States, died yesterday afternoon at Bonney & Stewart's in his 11th year. 'Rose' was on duty to the last, but for several weeks has been growing feebler. The pedigree of this well-known canine is not well known, but he has been looked upon as combining the good points of both water spaniel and pointer. As a puppy he was owned by George Shorey, but in 1881, when C. C. Shorey went into the undertaking business at the corner of Front and Columbia streets, 'Rose' left his home to follow the undertaking business. Since that time, notwithstanding the changes in the firm, 'Rose' has stayed with the business. He considered it his duty to attend funerals, trotting along for a short time under the hearse, then ahead of the procession. When the entrance to the cemetery was reached he would sit down at the gate and wait until every carriage had entered.
“He considered it his duty to attend funerals, trotting along for a short time under the hearse, then ahead of the procession.”
Seattle’s early businesses often felt like family, and the presence of a 'funeral dog' speaks to the intimate, slightly macabre social fabric of the city’s frontier days. Today, we still love a local legend, even if they have four legs.
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