Old Frank

Old Frank

As an addition to Mr. Dove's story on Old Frank, Herb Walden (Fort LeBoeuf High School Class of 1956) sent me the following article from the Erie Times-News, dated Monday, July 4, 1983.


Old Frank went to glory
by Cindy Cutri

A Forth of July parade is an occasion to remember, but the year old Frank died was one more memorable than most.

It was 1887. The citizens of Waterford lined High Street, enjoying the marches of the local band and cheering on the Civil War veterans as they passed by in formation.

Heading the veteran contingent was Col. W. O. Colt, who had served in the Northern army throughout the war. That year, as in every Fourth of July parade, he was accompanied by is faithful steed, Frank. The horse, it was said, had been part of General Lee's army, but was captured by the 83rd regiment, and mustered out with Col. Colt at the end of the war.

As the procession continued, and Frank pranced to the march music, a cannon was fired from an area nearby. Suddenly, the 35-year-old war horse sank to his knees, shuddered, and died. The shock of the loud noise (or perhaps his concern that it was a call to battle) had killed him.

The elderly colonel was devastated. His wartime companion had become a pampered and beloved pet, and was allowed to roam freely around the Waterford area. Col. Colt felt that Frank had served his country well, and was deserving of a proper send-off.

"I heard the story many times from my mother," says 93-yar-old Emma Hovis, a life-long Waterford resident. "There was a lot of controversy about it. Frank was dead by my time, but I do remember Col. Colt. He was a short, bowlegged fellow with whiskers and he always used to stop and talk to me when a friend and I played near his house."

"The controversy arose," she continues, "when the towns people heard about the Colonel's plan for Frank's funeral. They though it was terrible to go to all that fuss for a horse."

Col. Colt, she explains, had decided the most fitting burial for Frank would be a military one. He contacted the proper authorities and plans were made. Not only would he be wrapped in an American flag, but a eulogy would be spoken over his body by an army chaplain.

"The minister, though, stood fast," Hovis says. 'He told the people: That horse was just as much a veteran as the men. He did his duty just the same.'"

And so it was that old Frank was accorded a military funeral, the only horse in Pennsylvania to be given that honor. He was buried in the ball diamond in Waterford Park, saluted in death by other veterans like himself.

Legend has it, in fact, that Frank was put to his eternal rest -- standing up -- right under third base.

Not everyone believes the story, of course, but that's what makes legends.


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