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Saturday was a grey leaden day. Early the Coolidge casket was moved from "The Beeches" to the flower-banked chancel of the red brick Edwards Congregational Church on Main Street. A soldier stood guard at each end. The upper half of the lid was turned back and for an hour people in fur coats and rags filed by to gaze down at the thin, chalk-white little face within. Press photographers were allowed to take pictures to show the country. Then the church doors were closed to the public while thousands choked the streets in front.
It began to drizzle coldly as mourners with special tickets moved into the church. Mrs. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, with her son James, was given a forward seat. So feeble was James Lucey, the 80-year-old Northampton cobbler whose advice Calvin Coolidge credited with getting him to the White House, that he had to be helped to his place. Police fought a good ten minutes to wedge a way through the outside jam for President & Mrs. Hoover to reach the church door. Vice President Curtis was paired off with French Ambassador Claudel (a rare diplomatic gesture) and Chief Justice Hughes with Associate Justice Stone. Secretaries Stimson, Adams and Chapin were in a pew together. Rudolph Forster. longtime executive clerk at the White House, sat with Everett Sanders, Coolidge secretary and George B. Christian Jr., Harding secretary. Twenty-five Senators and 25 Representatives made up the Congressional delegation. Governors Wilson of Vermont, Winant of New Hampshire and Green of Rhode Island had one pew while Governor Ely and staff filled another. Mrs. Dwight Whitney Morrow and Bernard Mannes Baruch were present.
Last to enter was Mrs. Coolidge, accompanied by her son John and his wife.
With head up and face wanly serene she moved straight and swift to the second row pew.
The New York Times's Russell Owen, one of the best descriptive reporters in the business, kept his eye glued respectfully on President Hoover, the man who had served Calvin Coolidge five years as Secretary of Commerce and then, without his wholehearted help, succeeded him in the White House. What he saw:
"The organ whispered soft throbbing notes which merely touched the silence of the church. The air was heavy with the scent of flowers. Dim light from the bulbs overhead played over the coffin. After that first glance the President did not look at it, but gazed down, his eyes closed. His whole figure seemed to droop a little in the emotional intensity of that meeting. How long he stood he probably did not know, but it seemed as if he were lost in his thoughts and possibly his prayers. People looked at him curiously, with sympathy and the shy consciousness which is evident in those contemplating another's unhappiness. These emotions were reflected in their glances and the quick shifting of their bodies as the moments dragged.
"And then the President relaxed and sat down, turning his head for a moment to his wife. Not until well through the service did he again look toward the coffin, his eyes being apparently directed below it, and his head slightly bowed. Once Mrs. Hoover whispered to him, and he moved. Then he again resumed his slightly bowed position. Indeed, his head drooped so low as the moments passed that he did not need to move at the prayer."