The River Falls times. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1894-1933, 1896-03-30
OLD FASHIONS IN FUNERALS.
The Cherished Coffin Boards of New Eng
land Families Half Century Ago.

The Cherished Coffin Boards of New Eng
land Families Half Century Ago.
IA ready made coffin is thing l
never saw until was d grown man,
said the reminiscent person, who is
not so very old either. 81 was
brought up in small village III Ver-
mont where q broadcloth coffin with
silver trimmings would have Great
ed as much wonder and speculation
as cable car. IF such coffin had
strayed into the neighborhood, it
would doubtless have been placed
upright in some ones best room and
been used as a cabinet for choice
bits of china, its funereal pu$pose
remaining undreamed of.
Each farmer saved from his cut
ting of timber few Of the finest
boards. Especial attention was Civ
en- to the seasoning and finish, and
they were then stored away until
the time when they should be need
ed There was always rivalry among
the neighbors as to who had the fin
est coffin boards in his loft. They
would no more think of using the
coffin boards for any other purpose
than they would of wearing the
clothes which had been put away in
the cedar chest for them to be laid
out in.
lowing to the uncertainty as to
the time when they might be called
for, nothing more could be done to-
ward making the collins than to
have the boards ready Men we're
too thifty in those days to ran any
risk Of making up IA coffin and then
having it misft, and it was gener@
ally conceded that man s last con-
versation with the minister should
not be accompanied by the un1nis-
taxable sound of hammering from
the barn. So the coffin making had to
be left until all was over. When my
greatuncle died, I remember, father
and my elder brothers staid up all
night making his coffin.
w uO OIN Uu0 OOtt OhS
there was at least one woman in the
village who was first class at that
sort of thing-generally a tailoress
or seamstress-and was always on
hand. She took right hold and did
verything-madet the shroud, gave
advice about the latest style in
mourning, saw the callers if she was
allowed to. Generally the family
| took a mournful pleasure in per-
forming that duty themselves. This
self appointed undertaken never ex-
pected any remuneration for her
services, though she didn t object it
after next shearing you sent around
enough wool for a new dress, pro-
vided you were perfectly able to do
SO.
mo, the shroud wasn't Of home
spun linen. That was one time
when a man was allowed to wear
store clothes, though all his life he
had worn homespun linsey woolsey
shirts, home woven natural gray
trousers and cowhide boots made by
the travelling cobbler. He was buried
in white shroud of the finest mus
lin which his means afforded and
the village store could furnish.
There was nothing brief about the
remarks of the minister. The serv-
ice usually took a good two hours.
! XNo o7xuous had a roO717a7. carmen
It gave the minister an opportunity
to expostulate with backsliders
such as he never had in church, for
the most irreligious man in town
would turn out for funeral.
Flowers? Where should they
get them? Nobody had time to
bother over posy beds, and it thev
did happen to nav yea few hollyhocks
and marigolds scattered in among
the garden sass you couldn't get
them to pick them for love or mon
ely. So flowers were unfashionable,
and there was no need of requesting
friends not to send them.
"Hearse? Well, not unless you
use so high sounding a name for
box wagon with two board seats
across it for tho bearers. The coffin
/ was placed on the bottom under
/ their feet. There was generally
some one in the neighborhood that
had such a wgon. and the nelghbors
were free to borrow it, At other