In the death of Joseph Maguire, California lost one of its finest
tenors. He was known to a wide circle, both in this state and Nevada.
He was a mining man, but it was as a musician that he made his
reputation. He was a tenor singer of great sweetness and power. The
public had a keen appreciation of the purity of his vocalization and
had the opportunity to hear him weekly at the Unitarian Church, Dr.
Stebbins, pastor. His sickness was of short duration and his death
came as a severe blow to his many musical friends and associates. He
was a member of the Amphion Quartette and Bohemian Club chorus. He was
tenor in the St. John's Presbyterian Church on Post street, in the
quartette, where he and I sang for two and a half years. It was a half
hour previous to his death while in a delirium that he sang like a
bird Gounod's Ave Maria, imagining himself at a musical gathering. The
last sad rites were performed under the auspices of Occidental Lodge,
F. & A.M., of which Mr. Maguire was a well-beloved member. He was a
native of Bolton, England, aged forty-four years.
In memory of our much beloved Joe Maguire, as he was affectionately
called by his California friends who loved him for his beautiful
singing and for his own self, I shall give the musical service as it
was rendered at the church. A most beautiful tribute of flowers, in
the shape of a lyre with the silver strings snapped and hanging
loosely, was placed in the choir where he stood each Sabbath and sang
his glorious songs. Certainly no one knew him but to love him, and the
last tribute of song given him by his friends will last as long as
memory remains in the living musicians who assisted in the ceremonies
at the church.
Funeral Services in Memory of
_JOSEPH MAGUIRE_
September, 1833--March, 1878
First Unitarian Church, Geary street
San Francisco, Sunday, March 24, 1878.