Gone But Not Forgotten: Death & Mourning Customs in the Victorian Era

Hearthside Museum Presents Victorian Death & Mourning Customs of the Victorian Era  

Death and mourning customs during the 19th century are featured during Lincoln's Hearthside House Museum's annual fall exhibit, Gone But Not Forgotten, which opens on Saturday, Oct. 18 and runs through Nov. 1st on selected dates.  This most unusual and popular exhibit invites visitors to experience the fascinating traditions that families practiced during the late 19th century with the loss of a loved one.  From draping the house in black to a black wardrobe which would be worn for up to the next two years and the extensive set of practices and rituals that went along with it were a part of daily life of every Victorian-era family.

The exhibit is hosted by Hearthside's volunteers who are dressed in black mourning attire as well.  Guests are given a 90-minute guided tour through three floors of the museum, which is filled with an extensive display of antique funerary objects.  The main attraction is the "wake" for former homeowner Simon E. Thornton, who died in this Great Road house in 1873.  Guests arriving at Hearthside will find that there is purple and black bunting adorning the exterior and inside the house all the mirrors and mantles are draped in black too, just as it was done at the time.

On display are antique coffins, a collection of Victorian mourning dresses, bonnets, and jewelry, some that were lovingly made with human hair of the deceased.  There is funerary art, stationery, post-mortem photography and more.    There are antique embalming tools and an explanation of the process that the undertaker performed when preparing the deceased's body right in the home, just as was the case for Simon Thornton at Hearthside.  Also guests will learn about numerous superstitions that guided many of the Victorians actions and beliefs about death, mourning, and funerals. 

One of the features of the exhibit is that some pieces were actually part of Hearthside's family histories.  The undertaker’s records where Simon Thornton’s death was recorded when he passed away are on display as well the table he had been embalmed on in the same room where it happened.  The Talbot family, who lived there after Thornton, kept several mourning artifacts that include letters written on mourning stationery as well as pieces of mourning jewelry that are also displayed.

In appreciation for coming to pay respects to Simon Thornton, guests will leave with a wrapped funeral biscuit, tied with a black ribbon and sealed with black wax, as was commonly done during the 19th century.

The Gone But Not Forgotten exhibit is offered on four dates, with two evening programs held on Oct. 18 and  Nov. 1 between 4:00-7:30 pm. and two afternoon programs on Oct. 19 and 26 between 12:30-4:00 pm.  Due to limited space on each tour, advanced ticket purchase is required, with timed entry every half hour.  Reservations and ticket purchase are available through hearthsidehouse.org.  For any questions, email info@hearthsidehouse.org or 401-726-0597. No photography allowed.

Hearthside is located at 677 Great Road, Lincoln.  Built in 1810, the house has been the home of 11 different families, with a number of homeowners having died in the house.  It was a residence until 1996 when the town of Lincoln acquired it.  It is now a house museum run by the volunteer nonprofit organization, Friends of Hearthside, whose mission is to preserve, promote, and interpret the history of this historic property and the other town-owned sites at the Great Road Heritage Campus at Chase Farm Park and to raise funds for their continued restoration. All proceeds benefit this mission.