At Churchill Downs

“And while the bands were playing Dixie, a sudden hush came over the throng. The Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic and the Commander-in-Chief of the United Confederate Veterans were standing with hands clasped before the flag of our country.”

So wrote the National Vice Commander of the American Legion to Mrs. William Birch Haldeman, in condolence with her on the death of her husband. He went on: “The Nation has lost a patriot and the world has lost a man.

“When the war broke out—the Civil War—Walter Newman Haldeman was publishing the Louisville Journal and had a son, William Birch, but 14 years of age. The Journal was suppressed because of its Southern sympathies and some two years later the son ran away from Forest’s Academy to enlist in the 9th Kentucky Infantry, the famous Orphan Brigade (Confederate). He fought at Chickamauga and was wounded. Then he shipped as a midshipman in the Confederate Navy. But gunboat service was not exciting enough for him. He went back to his old company and finished the war with it.

After the war, the elder Haldeman with Henry Watterson founded the Courier-Journal. The son served under them for a time. Then he went to the Kentucky Military Institute to take first his B.A., in 1869, then his M.A., in 1871. In 1884, the elder Haldeman established the Times, an evening paper coordinate with the Courier-Journal, and in 1902 William Birch became its editor. He held that post until 1918 when he sold his interest in the two papers.

His prime interests were always politics, horse-racing and the Confederacy. For each of them he undertook service. In 1896, he was a Democratic National Committeeman from Kentucky — belonging to the “Gold (Anti-Bryan) Democrats.”He supported Woodrow Wilson strongly, and took the post of National Committeeman again during Wilson’s second administration. In connection with horse-racing, he was a member of the Kentucky Racing Commission from 1914 to 1919. In connection with the Confederacy, it was largely through his efforts that a great shaft was erected at Fairview, Kentucky, in memory of Jefferson Davis, whose birthplace it was. In 1923, he was elected Commander-in-Chief of the United Confederate Veterans. Last spring he was reëlected. In his official capacity, he presided last June at the dedication of the shaft at Fairview. It was said that he never missed a reunion.

Last week, he attended the races at Churchill Downs. At about the time of the fourth race, he complained of feeling ill and started to leave. Before he could go far, the illness overcame him. He was taken to the emergency hospital. There, suddenly, peacefully, he died before members of his family could reach him, stricken while he was still actively enjoying the life he loved.