Ramsey County History – Spring 2010: “‘Good Grief!’ Said Charlie Brown: The Business of Death in Bygone St. Paul”

“Good Grief!” Said Charlie Brown: The Business of Death in Bygone St. Paul
Authors: Moira F. Harris & Leo J. Harris

The article outlines the views of death and funeral customs in the nineteenth century, drawing heavily on the archives of the Albert Scheffer family in St. Paul. It examines a variety of contemporary customs and also provides information on the Scheffer family, which was of German origin. At the time, there was often a funeral cortege in which family and mourners would accompany the deceased to the cemetery and, if they were socially prominent, there might be police units and bands. The article includes discussion of topics such as sympathy and flowers; in the undertaker’s shop; wooden overcoats (coffins); embalming; dressing and moving of the dead; a dying art (tombstones); cities of the dead (cemeteries); funeralia; and differences in funerary customs and practices then and now.
PDF of Harris article