INDIANAPOLIS — Funeral services for Gov. Frank O'Bannonare still taking shape, but they are unlikely to be as elaborate asthe mourning rituals for governors who died in the 1800s.
O'Bannon was the fourth Indiana governor to die in office andthe first in nearly 112 years.
But the observances planned for O'Bannon this week will bedecidedly low-key compared with those for governors who died in the1800s, when business closed and buildings were draped in blackcloth to symbolize the state's grief.
There were public viewings of the other three governors'caskets. But O'Bannon's remains are to be cremated and interred inhis hometown of Corydon in deep southern Indiana.
Stories published in the now-defunct Indianapolis News andrecords kept by the Indiana Historical Society provide severaldetails about each of the three governors who died in the1800s:
-- Gov. Ashbel P. Willard died in office Oct. 3, 1860, at age40. He was elected in 1856 after serving in the Indiana House andas lieutenant governor. Willard, an attorney, died in Minnesota,where he had gone for treatment of long-standing healthproblems.
After his death, thousands passed by Willard's casket, which wasbrought to Indianapolis for viewing.
-- Gov. James Douglass Williams died Nov. 20, 1880, at age 72.His term began in 1877 after he defeated Benjamin Harrison tobecome governor.
Williams was a lifelong farmer. After he died, the Indianapolismayor issued a proclamation asking businesses to close for twohours two days after the governor's death. He also asked that allcitizens drape their houses and places of business in mourning fortwo days.
Williams' body was then taken by procession on Nov. 22, 1880, tothe Marion County Courthouse for a public visitation. In thecourthouse, the casket was surrounded by black drapes, flags,flowers and a portrait.
Williams' body was then taken by train on Nov. 23, 1880, toVincennes, for another public viewing before his burial.
— Gov. Alvin Hovey died Nov. 23, 1891, at age 70. Hovey, aself-taught lawyer, began his term in 1889.
After Hovey's death, flags flew at half-staff in Indianapolis,and Indiana's Supreme and Appellate courts adjourned in his honor.The Grand Army of the Republic -- a group of Civil War veteransfrom the Union side -- took charge of funeral arrangements becauseHovey fought in the Civil War.
Hovey's casket was taken to Statehouse Rotunda for publicviewing on Nov. 24, 1891. After services, Hovey's body was takenthe next day to Union Station, where a funeral train -- draped inblack -- waited to take his family and his body to Evansville.
There, mourners viewed the casket for two hours before it wastaken to Mt. Vernon, where another public viewing was held. Afterthe Nov. 26 funeral, Hovey was buried in Mt. Vernon.
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