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CHAPTER 3 Racism Beyond the Grave

Today, Sweeny’s Funeral Home is one of Yarmouth’s most respected establishments for seeing to the needs of the families of the dearly departed. The men who own and operate Sweeny’s today, and in recent years, have shown us the true meaning of compassion. Their dedication and sincerity toward the bereaved is unquestionable.

Unfortunately, this was not always the case. Jacob Sweeny purchased the business from his old boss, Mr. Allan, in 1867. Jacob, a manufacturer and dealer of chestnut, ash, antique oak, and painted chamber furniture, was also an undertaker, embalmer, and funeral director. His furniture store was in the front of the building and the funeral parlour in the back.

When Jacob’s building caught fire and burned, he was forced to relocate to another area. It was at this time that his furniture business ceased to exist, allowing him to concentrate wholly on his duties as funeral director. He kept excellent records, so good in fact, that some of the entries, (it is not known for certain who made them) were not always complimentary. From 1891 to the early 1900s several ledger entries show blatant racism on the part of someone in Sweeny’s establishment. Eventually, as they came of age, Jacob Sweeny’s sons began to express an interest in the business. It was shortly after his oldest son Vern Sweeny joined the family business that the derogatory entries ceased.

In the following ledger entries¹ it will be noticed how often the “N” word is used, even when referring to the minister who, for the bookkeeper’s purpose, had no other name (typical of the day).

ABOVE: Sweeny’s Funeral Ledger, 1899.

FACING PAGE: Sweeny’s Funeral Ledger, 1903.

When researching the cemeteries in Greenville, the first and only reference source I used was the transcribed ledgers of Sweeny’s Funeral Home covering the period from 1891 to 1997. It was brought to my attention that the woman and her husband who transcribed them were upset by certain early entries and refused to put them in the binders they had set up. The original Sweeny ledgers are from the Yarmouth County Museum and Archives. Copies were made of the pages containing derogatory entries. These ledgers are in the public domain and available to the public at the Yarmouth County Museum and Archives.

Several years ago the owners of Sweeny’s Funeral Home added a chapel to the existing building. With a vaulted ceiling, carpeted floors, and comfortable seating for the bereaved and their friends, this new addition brings comfort to those who have lost loved ones. Sweeny’s dedicated owners will do anything and everything within their power to make the families and friends of the deceased as comfortable as possible, whether it be talking to them or simply filling out the necessary forms to relieve the family of the burden of having to do so themselves. Compassion is their business and they do it extremely well. The ledgers of former years are no more.