American Colonial Funeral Directing Flashcards
The origins of funeral customs were what?
British and Dutch
The Dutch were located where?
NY and DE
The Virginia Colony was founded in
1607
The Virginia Colony was basically a
commercial enterprise
The funeral customs of ______ were carried intact to the southern colonies
England
The southern customs were all _________ customs
Anglican
This church continued to dominate funeralization until the American Revolution
The Anglican Church
Who was the primary controlling force over funeralization practices in the southern colonies?
Anglican church sexton
Who founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony?
Puritans
The Puritans founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony as a religious colony in exile from whom?
Anglican England
The Massachusetts Bay Colony established this that rejected all other creeds except their own
A Theocracy
During the 17th century, the Puritans embraced this Doctrine
Doctrine of Fatalism
The Puritans rejected what?
Organized clergy, doctrines, or any other trappings of European organized religion
Describe the burial customs of the Puritans
Simplistic committal services and immediate interments
Who did all of the preparations of the deceased in the Puritans?
The family
The puritans eliminated this during the committal
Prayers
The calvinistic work or starve to death ethic with dedication to the production of goods and service and the development of one’s own individuality, pulling one’s own weight, spread throughout the colonies from it’s base in New England
Protestant Work Ethic
Protestantism
The funeral was a common occurrence and because of its frequency became integral as what?
A Social Custom
Why were there so many deaths in colonial America?
Indian Wars Colonial Disputes Very high infant mortality rate Communicable diseases Public executions
From 1600 to 1700, Puritan funeral customs were
Models of Simplicity and Dignity
From 1700 to 1800, there was an increase in
Social character and prestige attached to funeralization
In the 18th century, fatalism and pessimism were replaced by this
Liberalized Calvinism
In the late 1700’s, gifts were given to whom?
hose who participated in the funeral
What kind of gifts were given?
Rings, scarves, gloves, books, printed verses, needlecraft, etc
Massachussetts general court passed laws prohibiting
extraordinary expense at funerals
Due to extensive gift giving at funerals, the colonial widow was faced with
tremendous financial burden
The puritan funeral began in the church with prayers and a sermon said over a
pall covered coffin
The pall covered coffin in a puritan funeral would be placed on a
bier
The procession to the grave from the church was on foot, with
underbearers carrying the coffin on the bier
Who carried the pall?
Pallbearers
The pallbearers held how many sticks attached to the pall, carrying it over the coffin
6
What did the colonial sexton charge fees for?
Announcing the funeral by tolling the bell
Digging the grave
The funeral by the revolutionary war was both a
social function and a public event
There was no charge for what?
birth/death records or any other record keeping
Maryland was what kind of colony?
Catholic
As a catholic colony, Maryland continued on the European practices of the
Roman Cathoic Church
Maryland was a place where these people could practice their faith free from persecution
British Roman Catholics
Funeral services during the 18th and 19th centuries became what?
A middle class phenomenon
The New England wake (northern) involved the remains being washed, dressed, and placed in state by whom?
Family, neighbors, or a nurse
Who was the coffin purchased from?
A cabinet maker
The more expensive coffins would have this imported from England or Germany
Coffin Furniture
In New England, the body was eviscerated and the remains were placed in this
cere cloth
The southern colonial funerals were under the direct control of the Anglican church, usually by the _____ who is now charging a fee for his services
Sexton
The british medieval customs of drinking and feasting were carried into which colonies
Southern
This new custom was added to the southern burial custom
shooting guns
After 1750, as the colonies became stable, there was some degree of this restored to the Christian funeral
Ceremonial dignity
Specific garments for mourning were characteristic of which set of colonies
Southern
Which culture would flay off skin in one piece from an incision down the spine
North American Indians
One the Native Americans flayed off the skin, the skeleton is retained, but what happens to the viscera, muscle, and fat?
Disposed of
The skin, once the viscera, muscle, and fat is removed, is reattached, and the body is filled with which
white sand
Why did the Native Americans fill the eviscerated body filled with white sand?
To dehydrate the skin
Large Native American burial mounds are located whater
Tennessee and Mississippi
A raised mortuary long house in Native American culture is known as a
Charnel house
bodies were stored in the Charnel house until they were
skeletons
The skeletons would then be reinterred in
ossuaries
Describe the Dutch burial ceremony
Extensive and important prior to burial with extensive praying for the soul
How long would the wake period be in Dutch custom?
3 to 4 days
Where would the wake take place in Dutch custom?
In the best room of the house, usually the parlor
In a Dutch funeral, the coffin was covered by a pall and carried to the churchyard by how many pall bearers?
As many as 12
An ornate spoon often made of silver whose handle was intended to resemble an apostle but actually looked like an animal because of shoddy engraving
Monkey Spoon
Dutch funerals were primarily attended by whom?
Men
After the committal service of a Dutch funeral, what took place?
Feasting and drinking, followed by the estate being divided
The Dutch licensed an individual to direct and oversee all funerals, called what?
Aanspreecker
These forced the north eastern colonies into the Industrial Revolution?
Embargo Acts, Revolutionary War, and the British coastal blockages during the War of 1812
After the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, a large influx of non British immigrants arrived in America. These were mostly
Germans (Lutherans)
During the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, there was a shift to what
Simpler, less pretentious funerals
What was common to bother tories and rebels supporting austere funeral practice?
Sumptuary Laws
Because the industrial revolution was successful in eastern North America, this appeared and became a means to express social status aspirations
a New thriving middle class
