A box inside the archives of the Southern Oregon Historical Society contains hundreds of black bordered funeral notices families sent to friends and relatives in Jacksonville, Ore., from 1862 through the early 1900s.
As news spread through the community, people would drop by to offer condolences and bring food to the grieving family.
A quick burial always followed death in those days, as illustrated by one of the gloomy notices stating the deceased had died early that morning and would be buried the next afternoon. The “laying out” and visitations usually took place in the home, followed by church funeral services and burial in local cemeteries.
The notices also serve as indicators of health issues at the time, with the child death rate at about 30 percent. The year 1883 was bad for scarlet fever, often killing more than one child in a family. The following winter many died from diphtheria. Mortality rates declined in the 1900s with sewage treatment, garbage services and potable water, as well as the discovery of the causes of disease.
Many adults died of consumption, dropsy, general debility, croup, or congestion of the brain.
