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Return to A Stroll Downtown
Buying Beds and
Burying the Dead
In 1848, furniture maker Daniel Buck opened a shop in Michigan's new capital city. By
1897, his sons were running the business, which no longer made furniture but was strictly a
retail store. In addition to their furniture and undertaking business, the Bucks
advertised "folding chairs, tables and screens to rent for parties, weddings and
receptions."
Both the strictly practical folding cot and the more decorative hall
stand—still useful with its hooks, umbrella racks and under-seat storage—came from the
Buck store.
A child's coffin may be seen to the right of the hall stand. For centuries furniture
makers had also been coffin builders. By 1897, both products usually came from specialized
factories, but several Lansing furniture stores continued to offer undertaking services.
Furniture stores and funeral directors in 1897 Lansing included:
- Boyce & Burdick, 610 Michigan Ave. e.
- M. J. & B. M. Buck (Mayton J., Bailey M.), Furniture Dealers and Funeral Directors,
301-303 Washington Ave n.
- E. S. Butts Furniture Co., 227 Washington Ave. s.
- Cowles Bros. (Truman and Clark W.), Furniture Dealers, 319 Washington Ave. s.
- Alroy A. Wilbur, Furniture Dealer and Funeral Director, 204 Franklin e.
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