Death of Francis A. Drexel 233 
Drexel—says the priest arrived after Mr. Drexel had 
passed away.) 
The shock of her father's sudden death was so severe 
that for two years or more her physical condition was 
severely impaired. 
The chair in which Mr. Drexel died was from that 
time looked upon as a sacred thing by his three daugh­ 
ters. Mrs. Louise Drexel Morrell kept it in her oratory 
and bequeathed it to the Sisters of the Blessed Sacra­ 
ment. A commemorative inscription encircles a leg of 
the chair. 
The life of Francis A. Drexel as seen by his associates, 
friends and acquaintances is given after some fashion by 
the numerous obituaries of the leading newspapers, in 
Philadelphia and New York particularly. His inner life, 
his true self, as glimpsed by his family and most intimate 
friends cannot be written at length; it is best epitomized 
in the cryptic words of Holy Writ: He was a just man. 
One stanza from a poem by D. B. W. shows, though 
but dimly, what Francis A. Drexel was to his three 
daughters: 
And how he took the place of her—the sweet 
And loving spirit gone, whose presence drew 
So many stings from misery—and, through 
Her ways, sought her good labors to complete. 
The eulogies pronounced on him in the press are so 
beautiful some few extracts must be given. The Phila­ 
delphia Inquirer said in part: 
He was a banker for the rich and a banker for the poor, but 
with a difference; he held for and returned to the former that 
which they had entrusted to his keeping; he held for and gave to 
the latter that which was his own. Benevolence was his character- 
istic. He was an honorable man of affairs, a devout Christian 
gentleman, a devoted husband, a loving father, a true friend, a