GOIN ’ TO THE CORNER

Joyce Hardy Coll.

Building at Elmsdale corner originally, owned by LC. Hayden, which may have had his tailor shop and other businesses

COFFIN MAKERS In the early days of our communities there was no such thing as a funeral parlour. The deceased were “waked” at their homes. Usually there was some- one in the community who would build a coffin. One such person in the community of Brockton was William O’Meara. Mrs. O’Meara lined the coffins with white material. The outside of the Coffin was covered with material, black for men, brown for women and white for children. A shroud is a cloth or garment in which a deceased person is wrapped for burial. Shrouds were made by Mrs. O’Meara. Mrs. Lulu Thomson’s parents, George and Ada MacArthur, although not officially coffin makers, offered a unique service. Ada, being a midwife, sometimes had the unpleasant job of delivering a stillborn baby, or a baby that lived only a short time after birth. She and her husband George then came

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Jim McCarthy Coll.

William and Margaret O’Meara, coffin makers