Death and Mourning

Death Philosophies In the 19th century, the way Americans viewed the event of death changed in response to increased medical and scientific study. Many Americans changed from seeing death as a religious to a natural and scientific fact of life. In this way, death was no longer considered the act of an angry God, but was part of a natural life process. Julia’s mother, Rachel Johnson stated her belief that death was a predetermined event in every person’s life by reassuring Julia in a letter that "Children don’t die until their time comes" when Julia was upset about her child’s illness.
Death in the Parlor After a person died, he or she would remain in the home for a few days so that family members and friends could pay their last respects by viewing the body. This time was referred to as the viewing or wake and was often held in the most formal room of the house, which was typically the parlor. During this time, a family member would constantly watch the body to assure that the person had indeed died. Being buried alive was a great fear of people in the 19th century. This is because equipment to confirm death, such as heart monitors, had not been invented. The fear also came from earlier disease epidemics in which the sick were sometimes mistakenly buried alive in the haste to dispose of the dead.
A Family Affair Despite the emergence of a funeral profession, death and funeral practices were still a family affair, as they took care of the body from deathbed to grave. At home deaths were very common and person would spend the last days of his or her life at home. An at home death was preferable so a person’s family could care for him or her during the final hours of life and prepare the body for burial soon after death. Although hospitals were not uncommon places of death in larger cities, special effort was made in most parts of the country to insure that a person was brought home to die. It is not known if the Patterson family used the services of an undertaker during this period, but several references to at-home deaths and funerals can be found within their letters.	Emergence of a Profession The funeral director or undertaker gained importance during the 19th century. He or she provided a family with a number of in-home services, such as embalming, casket making, and funeral supervision. The profession grew out of the combination of services that had once been preformed by a variety of professionals such as carpenters, blacksmiths, and cabinetmakers. These services were combined because many skilled workers found that they needed to focus their attention on specific markets, such as funeral arranging, as factories using mass-production techniques provided them with tough competition.  Funeral Preparation The body embalming process changed the mid-19th century by the improvement of embalming techniques. Before this time, bodies were kept in ice-packed caskets and damp rags were placed on the face of the corpse to aid preservation. Embalming involves the replacement of body fluids with chemicals such as formaldehyde to better preserve the body. It became especially popular during the American Civil War, when families wished to have their sons sent home in viewable condition from the battlefield. Cremation, which involves the incineration of the body, also became a popular preparation choice. Yet it never became as widely used as embalming.
	A Room for the Living By the early 20th century, funeral preparation and wakes began to be held outside of the home in modern day funeral homes. However, the association between death and the parlor continued to linger. To change this perception, inventive furniture makers and home designers invented the name "living room" to describe the parlor. This would associate the room with life not death.
The Great Equalizer Funeral formalities and practices differed widely among religions and social classes. This changed during times of epidemics when it became important to bury bodies as quickly as possible. A quick burial was seen as the best way to slow the spread of disease. The emergency burial of disease infected bodies was a well know practice to the Patterson family, as they were struck by the area’s cholera epidemics in 1833, 1848, and 1849 and lost several children and servants to the disease.	Burial Trends The 19th century rural cemetery trend offered the peace and tranquility of the countryside as a burial place those who lived in the city. These types of cemeteries were carefully planned and landscaped. The result was a carefully planned "garden of graves" the living could enjoy as well. Keeping with the times, Jefferson Patterson decided to move the bodies of his mother, brother, sister and children from the Fifth Street Cemetery to the Woodland rural cemetery in 1840. The cemetery is located near the University of Dayton campus.
Mourning Customs Mourning customs of the 19th century dictated almost every aspect of life of the surviving family members, including where survivors could go and what they could wear. These customs lasted into the early 20th century. The strictest rules of mourning customs were reserved for widows. The 1925 edition of Etiquette for Ladies states that, "A widow is not expected to go into society until at least three months have elapsed. Even then her visiting is confined to relatives and intimate friends. Gradually she reappears, though she should avoid dances and balls for at least a year."
	Mourning Products Large specialty industries fed on the need many mourners had to cope with and display their grief. Such products included black bordered stationery and memorial jewelry and wreaths made out of the loved one’s hair. Photographers in the 19th century also marketed their services to the bereaved. As a result, post-mortem photos became popular mementos of the dead. Often, deceased subjects were portrayed as simply sleeping or were arranged into life like poses with props.