The Quincy Casket Company: The “largest jobbers and manufacturers of caskets and undertakers’ goods in the West …”

The Quincy Casket Company initially operated out of a building located on 4th Street between Hampshire and Maine Streets. It moved to the north side of Maine Street between the block of 3rd and 4th Streets. It moved again a few years later when it occupied the S. J. Lesem building at 135-137 N. 3rd Street. This building housed many businesses throughout the years, including Tiramisu, an Italian restaurant. When John fell ill, his son-in-law J. Edward Dameron became manager of the company and continued as manager, secretary, and treasurer after John’s death.  

The business’s early years were marked by traveling displays. The newspapers show the company participating in several community events where they showcased a “display of caskets of different kinds.” The company attended the Adams County Fair, and the “Grand Celebration” held every fall for years. Business was good because, in February 1888, the company paid over $600 in taxes, which would be over $19,000 in today’s money. 

On April 16, 1896, the Quincy Daily Journal reported a story on the Quincy Casket Co. inviting forty prominent neighboring undertakers to Quincy. The undertakers remained here a week, took in the sites and course offerings, and toured the Company’s storefront. While here, the undertakers took part in a panel discussion given by Professor Clarke from Springfield, Ohio, on embalming practices. The same article states that the casket company “are the largest jobbers [wholesaler] and manufacturers of caskets and undertakers’ goods in the West …” 

The undertakers were frequent buyers, and the Company created a large display of products at their first storefront, 107 N. 4th Street. On display were 150 styles of caskets, “the newest and richest makes of wood, metallic, and cloth” and “a superb line of elegant burial robes, casket trimmings, etc.” The spread was “an exhibit worth coming many miles to see.”

The casket company also paid for the best seats at the Empire Theatre for the visiting undertakers to see American actor Clay Clement. The undertakers were dressed in purple and white suits and by their dress, “one would not suspect that they were men dealing in mortuary furniture and trappings of the dead.”

In the winter of 1898, the Quincy Casket Co. delivered a “magnificent funeral car” to Charles Lepper, Quincy’s southside undertaker. The delivery made front page news in the Quincy Daily Herald. The funeral car was “built after a special design and pattern, embracing all the latest features and improvements in hearse building.” Lepper paid $1,800 for this state-of-the-art hearse with hand-carved square pillars, hammer cloth-covered (adorned heavy waterproof fabric) seating, cords and tassels, and the smooth operating engine and suspension construction gave the hearse an “easy motion when in use.” The southside undertaker now owned “the finest hearse in the city.” He expanded his business after this hefty purchase.

On November 26, 1898, the Quincy Daily Journal reported the casket company desperately needed to expand into a larger facility. The company acquired 309 Maine, known as the Dilger building, which adjoined their current site of 311 and 313 Maine. By leasing the adjacent building, the company gained four additional floors for the manufacturing, displaying, and storage of caskets and their accessories. The main floor acted as the sample room showcasing caskets and “funeral goods.” By this time, the company had expanded its clientele to include Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska. 

The casket company put Quincy on the map in other ways besides being a premier casket manufacturer. Quincy received its first telegraph in November 1899: “Telegram No. 1 on the Postal Telegraph-cable company’s wire into Quincy, flashed into the office of that company at 127 North Fourth Street, at noon yesterday … .” This telegram was a test to see if the newly completed lines would transmit. Maj. J. L. Morgan, of Clark & Morgan, received the first commercial telegram to enter Quincy while the Quincy Casket Co. was the first business to send a telegram out of the city. 

Several years after the opening of the Quincy Casket Company, local newspapers reported on negotiations between John and Loring, alluding to the end of their partnership. John’s health was failing at this time, so it is very likely this was a natural progression in the company. On March 27, 1915, John died from “nervous prostration,” which is described as a debilitating emotional disorder, in his home at 1610 Vermont Street. The Quincy Daily Whig wrote a column after John’s death stating the casket company was left to his wife, Julia. The company was to be sold and the proceeds be given to her; not including real estate, his personal property was valued at $50,000. John was characterized as “active and energetic in business affairs, enterprising and progressive in everything that tends to promote the well-being of the city, frank and outspoken at all times.” He was dedicated to the wholesale and manufacturing of caskets and their accessories and “rank[ed] as one of Quincy’s public-spirited citizens.”  

In 1970 the Quincy Casket Company was sold to the Curtis Casket Company of Oak Park, Illinois, still maintaining operations in Quincy. Five years later, the company moved locations to 2306 N. 12th Street. Nine years after that, the building(s) was sold to Claymac, Inc. The Quincy Casket Company closed its doors on December 16, 1983, after 101 years in business. 

Sources

“Business Biography–1882 Quincy Casket Company.” Quincy Herald Whig, January 20, 1983, 27.

“A Change in Casket Co.” Quincy Daily Herald, December 19, 1908, 5.

“An Elegant Funeral Car.” Quincy Daily Herald, January 18, 1898, 1.

“Breaking the Record.” Quincy Daily Whig, September 01, 1886, 3.

“Forty Visitors.” Quincy Daily Journal, April 16, 1896, 7.

“Lewis Estate Worth $50,000.” Quincy Daily Whig, April 8, 1915, 10.

“Postal Telegraph Has Entered Quincy.” Quincy Daily Whig, November 30, 1899, 5.

“Quincy Casket Co.” Quincy Daily Journal, November 26, 1898, 5.

“Quincy Casket Co. closes doors after 100 years in business”. Quincy Herald Whig, December 27, 1983, 27.

“Tax Collections.” Quincy Daily Whig, February 26, 1888, 3.

“The Fall Celebration.” Quincy Daily Whig, September 16, 1888, 13.

“The Grand Celebration.” Quincy Daily Whig, October 5, 1887, 3.

“Widow is Given the Lewis Estate.” Quincy Daily Whig, April 6, 1915, 10.

Wilcox, David. Representative Men and Homes in Quincy, Illinois. Quincy, IL: Press of Volk, Jones, and McMein, 1899.