Eulogy of Franklin Chamberlain Wells, Jr. (1969)

An audio recording of F. C. Wells's eulogy was made after his death on December 1, 1969. I found a reel-to-reel tape of it in a box labeled "Mrs. Howard Hopkins" that was in my mother, Penny Butler's effects. I had no idea what was on the tape until I digitized it in September 2016.

It's quite possible that tape wasn't played for 47 years.

According to FCW's obituary in the New York Times, the memorial service was held at the Central Presbyterian Church, Park St. at Claremont Ave., Montclair, NJ, December 6, 1969, at 3:00.

There are seven speakers and I'm hoping that I'll be able to figure out all of them eventually (with the help of my relatives), but, for now, these are the ones I know for certain:

1. Cleveland White, FCW's brother-in-law.
2. Unknown, a social worker at Union Settlement.
3. Arthur C. Holden, FCW's friend and a well-known NYC architect. He hired FCW and turned him into an architect.
4. Perhaps a Mr. Abbott? Refers to "Betsy," who may be his wife.
5. Unknown. Describes FCW's activities in Graz, Austria, and for the Montclair Cosmopolitan Club.
6. Unknown.
7. Howard Wells, FCW's younger brother (from Cleveland, OH).

Click to hear an MP3 of the 50-minute recording.