In those primitive days nearly every family kept a flock of geese. The very early settlers usually brought along a pair of geese, sometimes more, which traveled along with the cattle and sheep while moving.
These furnished feathers for beds and the woman who could boast of the largest number of feather beds stood supreme among the women of the neighborhood. Every family who could afford them slept in winter between two feather beds.
To say of a family, "Why, they haven't a feather bed in the house," was to express the direst poverty of their condition. Until comparatively late years, if the parents failed to give a newly married daughter a good feather bed, it became the talk of the neighborhood.
Preparations for the burial of the dead in the very early days were simple and cheap. At first there were no sawmills for the making of lumber and none was brought by the immigrants. On rare occasions someone had a whip saw, with which to make a few rough boards. Up to the time when sawmills began to turn out rough boards coffins were made out of such crude material. Sometimes "puncheon" boards, made by splitting straight-grained logs into strips as thin as possible and them hewing them smooth, were good material for the purpose. Occasionally a portion of a wagon box was cut up and used, or a box in which articles were packed by the family and brought into the country.
By 1860 the local lumber supply began to furnish material for coffins and there were carpenters enough in the country to make them. In every considerable community there was at least one carpenter, who made a specialty of supplying coffins for that neighborhood. In case of a death, the deceased was measured and an order sent to the favorite carpenter and it was the unwritten law that the carpenter, upon receiving an order for a coffin, should drop any work he had on hand, except it was a similar one, and forthwith finish the order, which usually required one day. The body of a deceased person, as a rule, was kept over one whole day and buried the next. If the day following the death happened to be a Sunday, the carpenter made the coffin on that day, regardless of the artisan's religious convictions relative to working on the Sabbath. In such cases, making a coffin was not considered as labor, but as a Christian duty due from any neighbor in assisting in the burial of the dead. After 1860, and for several years, the usual charge for making a coffin ranged from nothing up to an exchange of work, "time for time," the family of the deceased, in the same manner, paying for the lumber, and sometimes furnishing it.
In Columbus professional coffin makers charged from $2 to $5, according to the size and style of finish. In these primitive times now in mind there were no extras to a coffin. The woodwork and (later) screws were all. At the very first, when lumber began to be plentiful, many coffins were plain boxes, the same size from end to end. Soon afterward, however, they were all made about in the proportion of two-thirds the width of the body for the head and one-half the body for the feet; no handles were attached. The top was all of one piece, which was nailed to the receptacle at the beginning, but later screws were used. The top, usually, was not nailed or screwed down until the last thing before lowering the coffin into the grave. At the bottom of the grave a deeper depth was dug, in size just long and wide and deep enough to hold the coffin. Then over it a single layer of rough boards was placed crosswise the length of the grave. Upon the death of a person, one or two neighbors were asked to dig the grave, the person representing the family having already selected the place in the burial ground. No charge was made for the work, and after the body was lowered into place volunteers remained to refill the grave.
Usually some kind of brief religious services were conducted in connection with the burial proceedings, by a preacher, if one was convenient, or by some elderly person of the neighborhood of kindly and religious bent. As for several years there were very few public places for gatherings, and at first none at all, funerals were held direct from the late home of the deceased to the burying ground. A prayer and a hymn or two at the house, a procession of neighbors in wagons or on horseback to the grave, a similar short service at the grave, and the ceremonies were at an end. It was customary, even among nonreligious families, to arrange with a minister to preach the funeral sermon at a later date. Because of the scarcity of ordained preachers and their prior engagements, sometimes these funeral sermons were not delivered for weeks or even months, and in rare cases over a year might elapse between the funeral and the sermon.
In nearly every instance the body of the deceased was kept one whole day and two nights. Watchers for the night were arranged by the neighbors. During the very early years, generally, families were quite a distance from each other, and often couriers had to be sent to inform them of a death. Assistance, if needed, was plainly asked and always promptly given. Even if neighbors were not on friendly terms there was not the least hesitancy about asking for or receiving assistance in case of a death, no matter when they had ceased to be on speaking terms. The occasion of a death often restored friendly relations between neighbors. In those times two of the watchers always remained close to the deceased, one at each end of the casket. This close watch was for the double purpose of protecting the body from attack by rodents, or other enemies, and to detect any sign of life, but the custom has long since disappeared from this section of the country.
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