Early American Funeral Undertaking Flashcards
Funeral Directing as a specific occupation sprang forth after this
The Civil War
Prior to the Civil War, the term was what?
Funeral Undertaking
Funeral Undertaking encompassed what?
other tradesmen and their efforts
Funeral Directing concepts include
A specific set of tasks for the case and disposal of the dead
A business enterprise taking on professionalism by offering personal specialized service
Funeral Directing is a specific set of tasks for the
case and disposal of the dead
Funeral Directing is a business enterprise taking of professionalism by offering
personal specialized service
Name the three craftsmen who entered the field of undertaking in colonial America
Cabinet Makers
Protestant Church Sexton
Liveryman trade
These were the upholsterer’s trade, the coffin makers
Cabinet makers
These directed the burial and kept records
Protestant church sexton
The renters of hacks and carriages
Liveryman trade
Who were the most likely of the craftsmen to get into funeral service
Cabinet maker and sexton
The basic undertaking functions in colonial America was accomplished by whom?
Neighbors, relatives, clergy, craftsmen, doctors, nurses, or the family
Earlier performers of the personal service that indirectly involved funeral services between 1700 and 1820 were
Nurses and Midwives
Nurses and midwives advertised their services as
Layers out of the dead
The role of the female in early American funeralization included
Washing, dressing, and placing the deceased in state on a slumber couch
Religious functionaries in funeral service, specifically the role of the Protestant church sexton,
Tolling of the bell Digging graves Directing the funeral processions Laying out of the body Attending to families Furnishing merchandise and paraphernalia Record keeping
Why was the sexton undertaker the most powerful of the three trades to enter funeral services?
He took charge of services once inside the cemetery
He controlled the cemetery and church policy as they related to rules, regulations, fees, statements of birth and death, scheduling funeral times, etc
Who took the sextons to court and won, ending the sexton monopoly
William Ensign
A licensed position in the colonies
Inviter to funerals
Paid by local government to be sure all were properly buried
Inviter to funerals
The forerunner of the coroner
Inviter to funerals
Developed between 1750 and 1800 and became entrenched in municipal government by the war of 1812
Town undertaker
A definite advantage for an undertaker to hold a public office in the health field as coroner prior to the Civil War
Town Undertaker
Conflict of interest had not really been established in lass, making this position possible
Town Undertaker
A cabinet maker-undertaker from Baltimore, appointed coroner in 1799
Michael Jenkins
By the Civil War, undertaking has taken on the characteristics of this
A service occupation
As a service occupation by the Civil War, undertaking took on a specific set of tasks and functions organized into
a pattern of behavior toward the dead
Tasks and functions carried out by the undertaker after the Civil War include
Placing the deceased in state (ice trays) Coffining Transporting the body to the grave Furnishing funeral paraphernalia Paper work filed with Sextons
When does the furnishing undertaker appear?
Just prior to the Civil War
The furnishing undertaker appears just prior to the civil was as a
wholesaler who supplied coffins and other funeral paraphernalia
What was the origin of the Funeral Supplier and Manufacturer?
Furnishing Undertaker
The furnishing undertaker encouraged others to enter funeral service who were not
cabinet makers, sextons, or liverymen
The cabinet maker still held the economic advantage. Why?
He could cut out the middleman, the furnishing undertaker, by making his own coffins
After the Civil War, the furnishing undertaker encouraged this
Professionalism in funeral service
How did the furnishing undertaker encourage professionalism in funeral service?
By encouraging undertakers to devote full time personal service to bereaved families, freeing them from obligations to craft or trade
After the civil war, what happened to the cabinet maker?
He could no longer compete against the mass production of the furnishing undertaker
Prior to 1840, what kind of burial receptacle was used?
Traditional wooden coffin handcrafted in a cabinet shop
From 1840-1870, what kind of burial receptacle was used?
Mass produced metallic Fisk mummy case
From 1870-1900, what kind of burial receptacle was used?
Cloth covered wood and metal coffins mass produced by the furnishing undertakers
