Rural Heritage June/July 2025

In retrospect, I think that it may have been uncomfortable to ride in or drive these vehicles. The seats were along the side of the wicker basket, so the Governess had to sit sideways and turn halfway around to see forward. The passengers got a bit of a bouncy ride, both from the ground and from the up-and-down motion of the shafts. I was also peripherally aware of a cluster of parents and older siblings poised at the in-gate, ready to spring into action should a pony become unruly. That never happened, that I saw, thank goodness. My memories of those days at the fair are suffused with a sunny, autumn glow and a halo of nostalgia. Dale Lyons is the Village of Westport’s funeral director and has two hearses in the museum. One is a winter hearse, a rather plain-looking, low-bodied vehicle, which is just large enough to enclose a casket, and is on runners. It would have been used to transport a casket to the vault at the local cemetery

after a funeral, where the casket and remains would have been stored until the ground had thawed enough for interment. The other hearse is for summer use and is glass-sided and luxuriously appointed. Dale pointed out the pegs in the floor, which would keep a casket from sliding around during travel. He himself hand-carved the finials on the roof. Through the years, several people have asked him if they could take their final journey in this vehicle, but as yet, it has not been needed in this capacity. Dale grew up on a family farm where there were both working draft horses and driving horses. Although there is no farm machinery in the collection, there are a couple of things which harken back to days in a rural farmhouse. I saw a child-sized push sleigh, currently inhabited by a doll bundled in hand-crocheted blankets, several rocking chairs and other wooden chairs, which likely graced spots near the stove in a farmhouse

A Winter Hearse, used to transport a casket from a funeral to a vault at a cemetery, where it would be stored until interment could take place after spring thaw.

June/July 2025

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