November 2018

Page A22 NOVEMBER 2018 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS S ec t i on A Philadelphia Arrive Saturday, April 22, 4:30 PM Leave Monday, April 24, 4:00 PM As the Lincoln funeral train pushed forward for Phila- delphia crowds of people assembled at Penningtonville, Parkesburg, Coatesville, Gallagherville, Downington and Oakland. At each location, flags draped in mourning and Todd W. Van Beck is associated with John A. Gupton College in Nashville, and has been an author, teacher, practitioner, and speak- er for over 40 years. On May 30, 2018 Van Beck celebrated 50 years in funeral service. You can reach Todd at 615-327-3927. www.nomispublications.com Funeral Home & Cemetery News Contributors share insights and exchange ideas. B logs uncovered heads were the sole expressions of feelings of grief. As the funeral train approached the city of Philadelphia, unbroken columns of people lined the railroad on each side for miles. Minute funeral guns heralded the news as the funeral train passed on to the depot of the Philadel- phia, Wilmington & Baltimore railroad on Broad Street in downtown Philadelphia. The funeral train reached the Broad Street station at half past four o’clock. However, the formal funeral procession did not move until six. The military made a fine display. The City Troop guard acted as bodyguard for the assassi- nated President. When the funeral procession to Independence Hall fi- nally began it was estimated that half a million people were on the streets of Philadelphia. The magnificent funeral hearse, built on a grand scale and created by well-known undertaker, Edward S. Ear- By Todd Van Beck President Lincoln had died. The country was stunned and the funeral profession would be forever changed over the next 20 days. There’s been nothing compara- ble to Lincoln’s final odyssey. It made the unreal real for millions, some 90 years before the advent of television. This is part 5 of our 18 month series as we delve into the 1,654-mile journey with highlights of funerals held in 12 cities. We will conclude with some insight into John Wilkes Booth as well as having some fun with Lincoln trivia and answers to some of the questions I am asked during my presentations. When I present my Lincoln assassination program I always have a packed house. I have found that even those that dislike histo- ry have a great interest in the Lincoln funeral. Anyway that is one old undertaker’s opinion. –TVB The Lincoln Funeral Diary Route of Lincoln’s Funeral Train with his feet to the north and the head of the coffin very close to the pedestal where at that time stood the Liberty Bell. Before the sun came up lines had formed east and west of Independence Hall, passing in by two stairways through the high front windows and out by the rear into the Square. By 10 am these lines extended at least three miles from the Delaware to the Schuylkill River. Thousands stood for three or four hours before being able to view Lincoln’s remains. Others gave up and left disappointed. The next morning the doors to Independence Hall opened and thousands entered to view the deceased Commander-in-Chief. Those individuals described the funeral scene as enchanting, funeral décor with a combination of gloom with unexampled brilliancy and splendor. Evergreens and flowers of rare fragrance ley , was ready when the funeral train arrived. The remains of President Lin- coln were transferred and the coffin covered with the American flag, and surrounded with flowers. The funeral proces- sion moved through the streets of Philadelphia to the sound of solemn fu- neral music performed by a great number of bands. and beauty were placed around the coffin. At the head of the coffin were huge bouquets and at the foot were burning tapers. Along the walls of Inde- pendence Hall hung the portraits of many great patriots, soldiers and ci- vilians who set in this very building the foun- dations for the creation of the United States of The grand funeral procession, seven miles in length, was com- posed of nearly every organization in the city, both military and civic. At any one point it took the funeral procession one and a half hours to pass. Extra trains had been running into the city all day from all directions, each bringing hundreds of visitors. It seemed as if every inch of space along the funeral procession route was contended for, and doubtless at least two hundred and fifty thousand people were out to see the funeral cortege. At 8:00 pm the funeral procession reached the southern en- trance to Independence Square onWalnut Street. The Union League Association took charge of the remains under the careful watch of Edward S. Earley and Frank T. Sands , the government undertaker fromWashington, DC. Even withstanding the delay and darkness still a tremendous crowd of people remained on the streets to witness the entire funeral pageant. Inside Independence Hall President Lincoln was placed America. Primary to places of honor were the impres- sive portraits of the Founding Fathers, Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Franklin and Madison. Next time the Philadelphia funeral continues and the train leaves for New York City. Call 651-450-7727 to request a wholesale catalog, Our Extra-Large Cremains Bags (13”x 15”) are perfectly sized for the Standard Plastic Human Service Urn. or visit UrnBags.com to order some bags. Just $2.90 each*. * Bags sold in multiples of 10 Choose from Black, Blue, or Burgundy Personal Items Bags 12”x14” or 12”x10” Available in Blue or Maroon Original Price: $12.75/$11.00 Sale Price: $10.85/$9.35 Johnstown Hearse Rental and Funeral Supply Serving the funeral industry since 1954 www.jtownhearse.com 800-452-2249 November Specials Vinyl Flag Bags w/ three-line imprint Original Price: $7.11 Sale Price: $6.05 Content is the #1 Priority in Your Marketing Campaign By Welton Hong Welton Hong You’re reading this, which means you’re most likely a funeral home owner, a fu- neral director, or someone in a leadership position in a closely related industry. That also means you likely don’t write for a living. Sure, you might like writing. website needs great content. It’s the foundational aspect of any successful online marketing campaign. If your site doesn’t have great content, it might get a lot of traffic, but it won’t turn a lot of those visitors into cli- entele. It won’t rank highly in organic (unpaid) search re- sults. It won’t convey credibility with either human visi- tors or search engines such as Google. Great content really is the be-all and end-all for success- ful online marketing in 2018 and beyond. If you want this year to be the best year ever for your funeral home, it’s as simple as this: Content is king. The key to successful online marketing is to have a high- performing website that’s full of excellent content. Once you have that, there are lots of great tools and techniques to deliver qualified leads to your site. But as powerful as pay-per-click ads and remarketing and mobile marketing are—and they’re all truly great— You might even love it. You might enjoy writing poet- ry, or short stories, or blog posts about your lifelong appreciation for South American plant life. But it’s most likely that most people reading this column don’t want to spend a lot of time writing content for their website. They already have plenty on their plate in tak- ing care of day-to-day funer- al home duties. Chances are that includes you. Here’s what I want to impress on you in this article: You don’t have to put in a lot of hours in cre- ating compelling, relevant, high-quality, orig- inal content for your funeral home website. But someone does. That could be someone on your staff, if that per- son’s a very good writ- er who understands how to write copy that’s full of SEO juice and generates lots of website conversions. (Presuming that person has the time to do it.) More likely, it will be someone you contract with, a professional copy- writer who’s either inde- pendent or affiliated with an online marketing firm. Whatever the case, your Continued on Page A23