At the cemetery the clergyman or priest precedes the coffin. Friends may call upon the bereaved family in a week after burial, and acquaintances within a month. It is the custom for friends to wear no bright colors when making their calls of condolence. Short notes of condolence may be sent as an expression of sympathy. Formal notes of condolence are no longer sent.
Custom prescribes some indication of one's bereavement in their dress.
They who choose to adopt this custom may do so with perfect propriety. The widow dresses in mourning for life, or until a subsequent marriage. For the loss of a brother or sister or son or daughter, six months or a year, as they may prefer. When persons who have been in mourning wish to re-enter society, they should leave cards on all their friends and acquaintances, as an intimation that they are equal to the paying and receiving of calls. Until this intimation is given, society will not venture to intrude upon the mourner's privacy.