Funerals in the 1900's were very different than they are nowadays. They weren't held in a funeral home; they were held in a parlour in someone's house. The parlour was the most fanciest room of the house, and it was only used for special occasions. For instance, it would be used when special visitors like the minister or priest came over, or for weddings or funerals.

The parlour would have a chandelier, a couple of fancy chairs and tables, a piano, some pictures on the walls, a fireplace with a mantel, and some plants. When there was a funeral, the body was taken to the parlour and the coffin was placed on a table. Afterwards, the body would be taken to the cemetery for burial.

One funeral custom back then was that everyone wore all black. The women wore black taffeta dresses, and the men wore black suits and a black hat. During the funeral, it would be very quiet, and serious. Deaths were be very common because back then, they didn't have very many actual medicines that could help cure the disease.

Instead of having fancy cars to carry the body, they would use a hearse pulled by two horses. The body would be placed inside the back of the hearse. There were glass windows in it with curtains over them. If the curtains were up, people would know not to pull their horse over, and if they were down, people would know that they had to pull over to show respect. Back then, since they didn't have funeral homes, the hearse would take the body to the house (parlour).

In the late 1800's and the early 1900's people used funeral registers to record a person's death. The sheet shows the people's place of death, their name, age, when they died, their debtor, occupation, the residence, where they were buried, the date of the funeral, the casket that was used, and the hearse that was used. This was done so that people could remember it for hundreds and hundreds of years afterwards.

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