Dayton Daily Journal April 5, 1905 v. 42, iss. 216 : pg. 6, col. 5. He is mentioned in an article about his mother.
Dayton Daily Journal April 5, 1905 v. 42, iss. 216 : pg. 6, col. 5 SIMPLE Were the Services Attending Funeral OF MRS. JEFFRIES, VENERABLE EGYPTIAN Who Was One Among the Last of a Race That is Rapidly Becoming Extinct - Rev. Berger Officiates. "May the blessings of God descend upon you and your generation and bring comfort to you in this hour of afflictin when you mourn the loss of her who was to you a mother, sister and friend, and may He grant unto you life everlasting, through the blood of Jesus, for the sake of His Son. Amen." With these comforting words of distinct Christian spirit and with simple service the body of Mrs. Phillis Jeffries, hardy leader of a stalwart clan, and among the last of a race that is fast disappearing from among the ethnic peculiarities of the world, was gently consigned to the grave yesterday afternoon at Woodland cemetery on a plot of ground where sleep fathers and mothers that had gone before, and other kith and kin of the famous Stanley, king of the gypsies, and Queen Matilda. A bit of printed paper attached to the box in which was contained the casket announced that the deceased was Mrs. Phillis Jeffries, 70, the wife of Henry Jeffries, and that she had died at Arkansas City, Ark., October 3, 1904. Death was attributed to senile heart failure. Her husband had preceded her in death and their bodies now lie side by side in the graveyard with a beautiful marble shaft to mark the spot and tell the casual observer that not only two human beings, but an entire people has passed the way to extinction and the pretty marble but coldly points to the inevitable way that calls men and races alike. The body of Mrs. Jeffries was sent to Dayton immediately after death and deposited in the public vault at Woodland. There were no services at the time and nothing announced the departure of a soul beyond the inscription on the casket, "At Rest." Yesterday afternoon the body was interred. At 1:30 four carriages enterred Woodland. These contained 30 gypsies, surviving members of the famous Stanley tribe, several relatives of the dead woman and friends, a few coming from far away Arkansas, the remainder coming from Hamilton county. Another carriage entered the burial grounds and this contained Mr. S. E. Kumler and Rev. D. D. Berger, who conducted the obsequies. Rev. Berger has by some strange operation of nature officiated at every gypsy funeral held hereabouts for the past 30 years and to these innocent yet hardy tribemen his name is a benison. The cortege, joined by a hearse, awaited the reception of the casket at the vault and then proceeded to the newly dug grave. Here all was serene, save for the sobbing of the women, the chief mourners, which was itself the requiem. Many interested spectators stood by. Rev. Berger, after the casket, had been deposited in the grave, selected a text from the Revelations of St. John and then briefly testified to the uncertainties of life, the hope of the future, and the resurrection. He touchingly related the fact that 30 years ago he had officiated at the first gypsy funeral held in this section of the state and that the deceased was a little tot, a son of the woman over whose bier he then stood. He recounted the deaths that had weakened the ranks of the Stanley tribe, of these there having been about 30 in as many years, and then he offered prayer. Mr. Kumler then sang We Shall Meet Bye and Bye and Rev. Berger closed the service with a benediction as above indicated. The funeral, in charge of Berk, Fry, & Co., undertakers, was the personification of simplicity. The mourners returned to the city and left at once for the respective camps. Among the mourners there were Mrs. Molly Jeffries Harris, daughter of the deceased; William Jeffries, a son; Georgie, wife of Tom Pierson, one of the few surviving members of the Stanley tribe.
