Manuscript Group 1259, Terrill Funeral Home, Irvington, NJ

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Manuscript Group 1259, Terrill Funeral Home, Irvington, NJ

Records, 1901-1946, 1.5 linear feet/6 volumes

Call Number: MG 1259 +Box number

• Summary
• Organizational History
• Scope and Content Note
• Box List

Summary:

Ledgers of a undertaking enterprise established by David Smith Terrill in Irvington, New Jersey and subsequently run by C. Hoyt Terrill and W. Clifton Terrill.  These records provide information about the decedent’s funeral, (type of coffin, name of cemetery), and include a great deal of information about the decedent including his/her last place of residence, age at death, cause of death.

Gift of Alan A. Siegel, 1986.

Organizational History:

The Terrill Funeral Home of Irvington, New Jersey was established in 1867 by David Smith Terrill, the first undertaker in the town.  His son, Charles H. Terrill, and grandson, W. Clifton Terrill, who was also Irvington’s treasurer (1912-1934), and great grandson, C. Hoyt Terrill, continued to own and manage the business until 1966.  A nephew, Clifton C. Streeter, then purchased and managed it with his wife until they closed the business in 1973. Established first as a store front with a carriage house in the rear at 35 Orange Avenue, the Terrill Funeral Home moved to 1019 Springfield Avenue, 1055 Springfield Avenue, and in 1926, to 660 Stuyvesant Avenue, a two-story house which included the Terrill’s living quarters and a five-room complex of parlors and waiting rooms.

Scope and Content Note:

Ledgers (1901-1946) of  the Terrill Funeral Home in Irvington, New Jersey (Essex County), indexed alphabetically, provide information about the decedent’s funeral and expenses (type of coffin, name of cemetery, where interred, date of funeral, clergyman, telegrams or notices, transportation), and include the following vital statistics and mortality data:  name, place of death, age, color, occupation, marriage status, birthplace, last place of residence, length of residence in state, spouse’s name, father and mother’s names and countries of birth, physician’s name and cause of death.

Box List:

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