Mr. Albert's parents misjudged the possibilities of their hopeful offspring when they bestowed upon him his Christian name. He must have been quite exhausted after his literary effort in composing that advertisement.
In due season the need for doctors and medicine was no more, and the grim reaper claimed his harvest. The undertaker had not yet risen to the dignity of a separate calling, and the plumed hearse was unknown. Simplicity and economy were the main features of the last sad rites; the nearest carpenter was furnished with a rough estimate of the proportions of the deceased, and, with plane and saw, he soon shaped a coffin out of basswood boards. This was stained on the outside or covered with a cheap cloth, and, with plain iron handles as its only adornment, it was ready for the corpse. It was not until well on into the nineteenth century that rough outer boxes were brought into general use.
The funeral service was held at the residence of the deceased, after which a silent procession was formed and accompanied the remains to the grave, and in the winter season the silence was intensified by removing the bells from the horses and sleighs. The general regret over the loss of the deceased was measured by the length of the funeral procession.
THE PIONEER STORE
In some neighbourhoods there were public graveyards, as a rule in the rear of the church; but in many instances a plot was selected on the homestead, generally a sandy knoll, where a grave could be easily dug and there would be little likelihood of a pool of water gathering in the bottom. In such a lonely spot were laid the remains of many of our ancestors, with a wooden slab at the head of the grave. Upon this was painted a brief epitaph, with a favourite quotation from Holy Writ. In time the lettering yielded to the ravages of the weather, the paint was washed away, the board rotted, and the fence surrounding the reservation, if such there was, was broken down by the cattle. A careless posterity neglected either to remove the remains or to renew the wooden marker by a more enduring monument, until sentiment ceased to play its part in the respect for the memory of the dead. The farm was sold with no reservation, and the plough and harrow soon removed the only visible trace of the last resting-place of those who, in their time, played important parts in shaping the destiny of Upper Canada.
T. H. BEST PRINTING CO. LIMITED, TORONTO
*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PIONEER LIFE AMONG THE LOYALISTS IN UPPER CANADA ***