By Nathaniel Smith, Editor
The Monumental Milestone Series is a new addition to the Salem Leader that aims to celebrate the rich history of the businesses, churches, and organizations that have been in operation for a vast number of years in Washington County. First in the series is Hughes-Taylor Funeral Home!
I sat down with Owner and Director Rondale Brishaber to discuss the history of the funeral home, as well as how various aspects of the funeral business have changed within the last 181 years.
What is known as the Hughes-Taylor Funeral Home today (which was commonly called a funeral parlor) was first established in 1844 by Wesley Smith and was born out of the cholera epidemic. Smith began his career as a carpenter prior to establishing the funeral home. At the young age of 18, Smith was an apprentice at David Weir’s carpentry shop in Salem. Weir was an expert cabinet maker in his day, and Smith quickly learned the trade and became one of Salem’s leading woodworkers. During his time working with Weir, the first cholera epidemic hit Salem in June of 1833 and a sudden need for coffins arose.
Weir and Smith soon discovered that coffins were being filled faster than they could produce them. Before that time, it was usually only common to find one or two coffins in stock at carpentry shops. However, in a two week period, over 100 coffins were needed.
Fast-forward to the end of the epidemic, Smith soon finished his apprenticeship and opened his own shop in 1844 first located on W. Mulberry street near the old armory and what was known as the Sinclair Wooden Mile (there was a large conglomerate of businesses in the area). Lee W. Sinclair was a very prominent individual in Salem during that time, and he even built the West Baden Hotel. Smith ended up becoming good friends with Sinclair throughout his time in business.
Smith required some help meeting the demand. So, he reached out to his friend Mr. Sinclair for support, and together they operated “Sinclair and Smith, Undertaker.”
The business continued through the late 1890s when Wesley’s son, Thomas, built his own hearse to transport the deceased to the burial sites. Thomas Smith is also credited with the invention of what is called the half-couch casket, which is what is used to this day across the world. Prior to this, casket lids were all one piece, and they were screwed on after the viewing had concluded. However, he never received a patent for this, and many others have claimed the invention.
Thomas A. Smith formed a partnership in 1907 with his son, George, and named it “T.A. Smith & Son.” He then later retired from the business around 1920. Left with the business solely in his hands, George changed locations twice. The first move was just down the street to a better location and lasted for 14 years, and the second was to the residence of Samuel P. Morris (former local grocery merchant and Postmaster) on the corner of W. Mulberry and N. Water St. This location marked the beginning of the first modern funeral home because they did everything in-house: embalming, visitation services, and funeral services. During this time, the Smith business was also well-known as an ambulance service business. They would use an ambulance/hearse combination to transport patients to hospitals in emergencies.
George B. Smith continued the business until he retired in 1951, leaving the business in the hands of his son George B. Smith (known as Byron) and daughter Winbourne. However, they were neither interested in continuing the business, so they sold to Edward E. Hollis who had been employed there for 12 years at the time. The name was then promptly changed to Hollis Funeral Home until 1977 after John W. Hughes and Dwayne E. Taylor purchased the business in 1974.
After changing the name to Hughes-Taylor Funeral Home in 1977, business went on as usual. Another location was even opened in 1977 in Borden, IN (and another in Pekin in 2015) under the Hughes-Taylor name as well.
In 1993, John Hughes left the funeral home, but Dwayne Taylor remained the sole owner until 2012 when son-in-law Rondale Brishaber became a partner after being an embalmer and director for many years. Today, Rondale still runs the funeral home, and I asked him a bit about what sets Hughes-Taylor apart from others and how he found himself in the business.
“I consider us a full-service funeral home. We offer pre-need and after-need care, we offer monuments and everything else in the funeral business, and we’re locally owned and family operated. I really think people appreciate that,” said Brishaber.
Rondale began his funeral career while dating Cheryl, Dwayne Taylor’s daughter.
“I was dating Cheryl at the time, and Dwayne asked me if I’d like to help out at the funeral home, and I thought, ‘I might as well. I don’t have anything else to do,’” said Brishaber. “Then I thought about it and said, ‘well, that would be an honorable profession’ and decided to go down that route.”
Brishaber then put himself through mortuary school and learned everything he needed in order to continue on in this profession as successfully as possible.
“Most states require an associate degree or similar two-year program as well as an apprenticeship. You have to go through courses such as microbiology, anatomy and similar courses as well as restorative art and embalming,” said Brishaber.
He then went on to recall some memories from attending the mortuary program.
“It’s not for everybody. Most people are either born into the business or, like me, marry into it,” said Brishaber. “I had a professor, Mr. Reed, who was from Seymour, so he knew the area. The first day of school he said, ‘look around. Half the kids in this class will not be at graduation.’ I thought that was quite odd, but it made sense. A lot of mortuary school was not what I thought it was going to be.”
Brishaber thoroughly enjoys living and working in Salem. Like many people here, he loves the small-town community feeling.
“We lived in Seymour for three years, and Seymour just wasn’t us. We just kept feeling the pull back to Salem and decided to move back,” said Brishaber.
He concluded by explaining what he enjoys about the funeral business. It is simple: It is all about serving our community.
“You see the satisfaction of a family after the service, you know, you’ve given them peace of mind in the fact that they’ve been able to see their loved one for the last time. They’ve been able to say goodbye, and that helps to get them through the grieving process,” said Brishaber. “There are five stages in the grieving process, and the last one is acceptance. Some people never get to that point, but it’s a great feeling to know you’ve done everything possible in helping them get there.”
Having remained locally owned and family operated since the very beginning, Hughes-Taylor Funeral Home has been committed to helping the residents of Southern Indiana lay their loved-ones to rest for the last 181 years with no sign of stopping anytime soon. Rondale Brishaber has a wonderfully kind and caring heart, and although he says the business is not for everyone, it certainly is for him.
Rondale Brishaber with John Hughes and Dwayne Taylor.