Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1900-04-19
FOR WEDDING AND FUNERAL
A Queer Custom of East Pennsylvania
Felix's Who Arrange for Their
own Buriala.

A queer east Pennsylvania custom
prevails among German farmers.
Nearly all the people, old and young,
have their shrouds and grave clothes
all ready when death comes. The old
people especially have all arrange
ments for tleeir funeral made, and writ
ten out in all details. Indeed, ii is a COM
mon thing TO find q special bureau
drawer set apart for the grave clothes.
One custom is to keep every vestige OF
the wedding outfit for the interment
apparel. Gown and uD6argarmentsa are
in many cases worn but once by the
bride, and then laid away to wait for
her death. Gray silk is much in vogue
for wedding gowns, as the color is
much preferred for burial robes to
white or black.
Where wedding gowns are not saved
the women folks make their own
shrouds, cutting them out, sewing and
trimming them. To borrow a shroud
pattern is nothing unusual. 1t passes
from farmhouse to farmhouse. Long
winter evenings are taken up with get
ting grave clothes ready; so that when
a person dies, all the friends need do
Is to open the death drawer and there
find written instructions as to the
place Of burial, the kind of grave and
coffin. the name of the minister who II
to officiste, the text OF the sermon,
the three hymns to be sung, the pail
bearers, the grayestone and its inscrip-
ton and all about the grave clothes.
This fashion makes it very easy for the
friends to decide on the funeral ar
ranQements. Some old farmers go so
far as to state exactly which calf and
how many chickens shall be killed for
the funeral dinner, and who is to be
hired to take care of teams and feed
the horses of the visitors.
Not only do the elderly women pro-
vide grave or death drawer, but
young wives and young girls do the
same thing. They begin early In life
to accumulate their death trousseau.
Sometimes deliberately trimmed gar
ments, stockings and slippers are care
fully wrapped in oil paper and slowed
away. At times some of the white gar
ments have become yellow with age.
Silk wedding gowns, II they lie IN folds
are very apt to go to pieces, and for
this reason such gowns are placed in
bags and hung up on the wall. On
rainy Sunday afternoons many
housewife on the Pennsylvania German
farms spends an hour or 80 looking
through her death drawer to see that
nothing has been left unprovided for.
If she attends funeral and sees some
thing new in the shape of a collar,
piece of lace, handkerchief, eiderdown
blanket, embroidery OF anything else
that may strike her fancy, she'll buy 1t
on her first visit to town and put 1t IN
her death drawer Where young wife
ia especially fond Of certain perfume
she'll buy a small bottle the contents
of which will be used when she Is bur-
led.
The old folks will frequently make
out list of small articles they want
placed in their coffin, such as an old
prayer-book, or Testament, spectacles
or a thimble. One most unusual re-
quest was that a plate, cup and saucer.
knife. fork and spoon should be placed
in an old womans coffin. She had used
them for 70 years, and did not wish any
one else to use them when she was gone.
This. like all other requests found IN
the death drawers, was faithfully car
ried out. Some old people invariably
direct that their old house dog shall be
shot and buried after the funeral. 1t
Is nothing unusual to find a written re-
quest that a certain person shall sing
a special solo at the funeral, either al
the grave or during the taking OF the
Anal leave of the remains. Some re-
Quest that their face shall be we'll COW
cred before the coffin lid is screwed on
for the last time. Others do not want
this.
The death drawers are always kept
locked, but the family knows where the
key is kept. Each drawer Is regarded
| as sacred, and no one save the owner.
for any consideration, would venture
to open IL. The mel folks occasionally
have death repositories, but they are
not so careful az {he women are. The
old men have their wills and final In
structicns very carefully written out,
so that no mistake can be made.-N. Z.
aAn-