In the 1830s, the "frontier" was considerably further to the east than it was in later years. One such up and coming community was found in the Ohio Valley, where a certain young preacher had taken up his first assignment.
It seems that a long-time member of the community went to his reward unexpectedly and it fell to this preacher to break the news to his elderly widow. In an effort to comfort her, and at the same time sustain his own views as to what a proper church community should be, the fellow committed to organizing the services so that the man received full recognition from his friends and associates.
A wonderful funeral service was assembled, with hundreds of people in attendance. Several speakers were on the program, who discoursed at length about the good traits of the deceased and what an honest man he was. The preacher had just commenced his own message, stressing the legacy the man left as a loving husband and kind father, when the widow leaned over and whispered to one of her grown children:
"Boy," said she, "You get up there and take a good look in that pine box. You make sure that's really your pa inside ..."
----------------A Final Thought ...
"The only reason I might go to the funeral is to make absolutely sure that he’s dead."
- “An Eminent Editor” of Press Baron Lord Beaverbook