Slifer House
Slifer House Museum to Recreate the Funeral of the Honorable Eli Slifer
May 21 , 2008
Members of the community are invited to attend the funeral of the Honorable Eli Slifer, who passed from this earth on May 27, 1888. Mr. Slifer’s funeral will be held on Saturday, May 31, 2008. Services will be held at the Slifer House Museum, commencing at 10 a.m. and at the Lewisburg Cemetery immediately following.
The Reverend John Lee will portray a minister from the 1880s, conducting the service from a Methodist Book of Worship from that time period. The initial portion of the service will be held in the drawing room of the Museum, beginning at 10 a.m. From the Slifer home, the funeral procession will proceed through Lewisburg borough, from River Road to Water Street to Market Street to 7th Street to the Lewisburg Cemetery. A continuation of the service will be held at the gravesite of Eli Slifer. The procession will include a 19th century horse-drawn hearse, loaned for the day by funeral director Gary Cronrath. As well, several conveyances loaned by the Buggy Museum of Mifflinburg and several private carriages will be in the procession. A number of mourners in clothing reflective of the 1880s will attend the funeral. Members of the community are encouraged to join the funeral procession as it makes its way to the cemetery. The museum has acquired the cooperation of the Lewisburg Police Department and the Lewisburg Cemetery in this endeavor.
The funeral is the second in a series of events associated with the Museum’s examination of “Gone, But Not Forgotten: Death & Mourning in Victorian America.” The exhibit was curated by Galen Betzer and is drawn from his extensive collection of funereal artifacts. Victorians were strict in their rules concerning funerals and the grieving process. During the early 19th century, funerals were often by invitation only. The body would lie ‘in state’ in the drawing room (or parlor). Symbolic of the person’s ‘light being dimmed’, the windows, chandeliers, and mirrors would be draped in black crepe. The Victorians were extremely superstitious and felt that if one looked into a mirror while a body lay dead in the home, that person might be the next one to die. A widow was expected to dress in black, including her undergarments and petticoats, for the period of one year, one day. A black veil would have covered her face and would drape to the floor. After that period of time, she could begin wearing a subdued palette of color, with some embellishment (such as lace). This second year of mourning would last for one year, one day.
The exhibit and lecture series are supported by a grant in the amount of $6,143 from the Union County Commissioners’ Tourism Fund, which is administered through the Susquehanna River Valley Visitors’ Bureau. The fund is distributed to not-for-profit organizations which encourage visitation from beyond a fifty-mile radius. For overnight accommodations, please call 1-800-525-7320 or visit www.visitcentralpa.org.
To learn more about the Slifer House, contact us by e-mail or call (570) 524-2245.
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