Adams Funeral Home

W. Bush. (Photos by Library of Congress and Getty Images) (Library of Congress; Library of Congress;Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; Sean Gallup/Getty Images/(Clockwise from top left: Library of Congress; Library of Congress;Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; Sean Gallup/Getty Images)) December 5 Last Friday evening, in a phone call shortly before he died, former president George H.W. Bush said goodbye — and “I love you, too” — to his eldest son, former president George W. Bush. The elder Bush then passed peacefully at 10:10 p.m. Texas time. Thirty-eight minutes later, Jim McGrath, his longtime spokesman, announced the news via Twitter. Statement by the Office of George H. W. Bush on the passing of the 41st President of the United States of America this evening at 10:10pm CT at the age of 94. pic.twitter.com/XUPgha2aUW— Jim McGrath (@jgm41) December 1, 2018 In the annals of How Things Change, this is not how things went down in 1826 upon the death of John Adams, the only other father in American history whose son also became president. No, not even close. Back then, the elder Adams, who died at 90, was buried before his son John Quincy Adams — then president — even knew about his death. How that happened is primarily a story of technology. Listen to this story on "Retropod": For more forgotten stories from history, subscribe: Apple Podcasts Stitcher Amazon Echo Google Home and more For one thing, news then traveled considerably slower than a tweet. For another, there was no embalming or refrigeration, which probably meant — sadly and somewhat grossly — that the body of the country’s second president could not wait long for the arrival of the sixth. And so three days after Adams died on, of all days, July Fourth — incredibly, Thomas Jefferson died the same day — pastor Peter Whitney presided over his funeral in Quincy, Mass., a quick horseback ride from Boston. “He died in good old age...