The old custom of ‘funeralizing’

3 Comments / Articles / / Dwight Williamson

By Dwight Williamson

Dwight Williamson, Logan County MagistrateNearly every single one of us, whether it is people at Amherstdale of Buffalo Creek near Man; Crawley Creek of Chapmanville; Buck Fork of Harts Creek; Hewett Creek in Boone County; Gilbert Creek in Mingo County, or any of the many coal mining company towns spread throughout the region, all have one thing in common: we live in what was once known as an untamed wilderness.

In today’s highly energized and technical society, it is easy to forget the rugged history that preceded us. Although nearly all of us have our little creeks that wind into the Guyandotte, Big Sandy or Tug Rivers, all of which empty into the mighty Ohio River, one can only imagine an untamed land in which the rivers were the only real source of transportation for those few fiercely independent souls who sought to eke out a living in a land still full of mountain lions and bear, as well as Shawnee Indians.

The first settlers in this region were a combination of explorers, hunters and settlers who once here carved their way through the mountains by following the trails left behind by buffalo, deer and Indians. One such settler was Anthony Lawson, who started the first trading post on the Guyandotte River around 1820 in what is now the town of Logan.

Lawson, who had acquired two slaves when they were just children, would years later on the night of Dec. 17, 1847, return home to find his wife breathing her last breath as the result of the slaves having used a poker to beat her mercilessly. Having consumed some of Lawson’s moonshine, the young men had attempted to rob a locked strongbox which contained many of the Lawson family’s valuables.

The slaves, who had taken the names of Bill and Louis Lawson, had virtually been raised by Ann Lawson, who had four sons of her own: John, Lewis, James and Anthony. Though some historians, including the late Robert Spence, have written that Ann Lawson was killed about a year after her husband’s death at Guyandotte in Cabell County, his tombstone at a Revolutionary War graveyard in the community of Guyandotte clearly depicts his death as being in 1849, two years after his wife was killed. Mrs. Lawson’s almost identical tombstone that is encompassed by an iron-railed fence (as is her husband’s grave site) can be found at High Street in Logan at the abandoned Logan City Cemetery.

A complete detailing of both of the Lawsons’ untimely deaths and their connection to Logan County even today shall be told in a future story. But for today’s purposes, I wish to inform readers of how deaths were once handled in the mountains of Appalachia, especially when people lived so very far apart, or as in Anthony Lawson’s case, died while many miles away from home.

Though the young sons of Ann Lawson perhaps stood stoically as there bludgeoned mother was lowered into her final resting place that still overlooks the Logan community, it is probable that it was weeks or even months before the boys heard of their father’s demise. It is also likely that it was months before any proper family funeral service was conducted at Guyandotte for the patriach of the family; a father who had died from cholera while returning from Philadelphia where he had taken furs and ginseng to market.

With no roads, few newspapers and many people who could neither read or write, the news of one’s death was slow to reach the mountain people. So it was that the custom of “funeralizing” came about for departed kin and friends.

Because of a lack of proper embalming, burial of the deceased became almost an immediate necessity, despite of where the person may have succumbed. For this reason, the husband and wife combo of Anthony and Ann Lawson are separated by the ever flowing Guyandotte River.

However, it is very likely that Mr. Lawson’s gravesite, perhaps after an elaborate tombstone was secured, was the scene of the mountain tradition of funeralizing. In this act, friends and relatives would be notified months ahead of a scheduled service that was to be conducted at the gravesite of the deceased. While some ailing folks who knew death was approaching could name their preacher and even select the hymns they wanted sung at their services, it is likely that a preacher from our local area accompanied family and friends to deliver the eulogy and bestow praise upon the departed soul of Anthony Lawson, whose life ended at the age of 61.

Whether weeks or months later, it was the mountain custom for folks to come from near and far and to bring their baskets filled with food for the special occasion. When everyone had eaten their fill, they would gather at the grave to sing, weep and mourn.

Despite the passage of time from the actual death, a wailing mountain preacher using a trembling and tearful voice could easily still stir a mourning crowd to tears. As the service continued with the singing of many hymns, the sobbing would increase sometimes to the point of hysteria.

Much like the family reunions that are today still very much a part of our Appalachian tradition, when the gathering was completed, folks would exchange handshakes and repeated farewells as they hoped to meet again.

Such are the ways of southern mountaineers. Indeed, stalwart people who are proud of their mountain heritage and traditions.

Dwight Williamson is a contributing writer and a former reporter for The Logan Banner. He currently serves as a Logan County magistrate.

*Published with the author’s permission.

Articles by Dwight Williamson on this site.

3 thoughts on “The old custom of ‘funeralizing’”

  1. PN

    You need to get more accurate in your statements. Ann Lawson was murdered seven months after Anthony died. Look back at the Richmond Examiner (free at the Chronicling America site of the Library of Congress) for 29 June 1847 p. 4. It says: “Died, on the 20th of May, at Guyandotte, Va, Col. Anthony Lawson, of Logan County, Va, upwards of 60.”

    Reply
    1. Bob Piros

      PN, not sure what you’re seeing
      in this article,Dwight has it right.
      Anthony died in 1849 two years
      after Ann was murdered.
      You can see the gravestone at
      findagrave.com.

      Reply
  2. Loren Tomblin

    Perhaps that tradition of bringing food carried on for many years. I remember a s youth when I hitchhiked from Logan to Huntington before the Big Roads sometimes I had a hard time catching a ride and became hungry. If I cam cross a house with a wreath on the door I knew that the tradition of having someone displayed in the living room was an invite to great food. I took advantage of the tradition event though people wondered who I was when I entered, viewed the casket and went straight to the kitchen..

    Reply

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