Ghost Hearse Tours

In 1867 Jedediah Ray Stone arrived in Saint Augustine shortly after the end of the civil war.  It seems  Jedediah had traveled the short distance from Green Cove Springs Florida in search of a new area to establish his business of coffin building and undertaking!  It was here he met an established furniture maker from Saint Augustine, by the name of Mortimer K. Pratt. It seems that Mr. Pratt plied his furniture trade in an old livery stable that he also owned.  The livery and furniture shop was located near, what is now the Cuna and Spanish street area.  After much discussion, the two men decided to join forces to form the Pratt and Stone Furniture, Coffin and Undertaking Emporium.  The livery was sold off and moved out of its former headquarters.      Undertaking and Coffin building was a new concept, since the business of building coffins had previously been done by either family or friends of the deceased upon death.  As for undertaking, and specifically embalming itself this was almost unheard of in the south.  It seems Jedediah had learned the art of preservation of the dead or what was and is referred to as embalming in the southern army.  He was taught on the battlefield to care for the fallen soldiers who had died in battle.  The process involved draining the blood from the deceased and replacing it with a form of grain alcohol in order to slow the decomposition process.   This was mainly confined to officers in the confederate army since regular enlisted personal were not valued to that much of a degree.  Jedediah, learned directly from medical personnel , both physicians and medics alike that had been doing the morbid practice prior to training of battlefield embalmers. These embalmers became known as embalming surgeons.  The practice was bloody and primitive to say the least. Makeshift tents and old barns were used to perform the preparation of the bodies. The blood would curdle in the stifling heat and smell. It would draw flies, as well as wildlife, as the strong odor of decomposition would fill the air and could be smelled for miles. Maggots would fill the preparation area and it was a repulsive sight to everyone who came in contact with it.