Verona Resident Recalls Tolling of Funeral Bell

Old-Time Custom Revealed Age of Deceased Resident

by B. J. Dodge

VERONA - Still within the memory of the older generation is the old-time custom of tolling the village churchbell on the death of a resident of the town. This service was usually performed by the sexton of the church who considered it as one of his duties as sexton.

Perhaps we would be working in the field on a summer morning when the sound of the church bell broke on our ears.

"What's that bell ringing for?" some one would say, and then, "Its going to toll."

It began with two strokes and a pause, repeated; then after a few minutes followed by one stroke and a longer pause when some one would say "Now it will strike the age." This was done by strokes of ten and a pause.

For instance, if the deceased was seventy-five years old the bell would strike ten seven times and then five; after this there would be one stroke for a man and two for a woman. This service was only performed at the request of the family

On returning to the house we would learn who had passed away, possibly from some neighbor or passerby. We had no telephone in those days and our mail came when we went to the Postoffice after it.

Toll Followed Procession

The writer remembers seeing a man walking to the village one summer morning from his home two and a half miles away to have the church bell tolled for his little three-year-old daughter who had passed away during the night.

Another custom was to toll the bell while a funeral procession was proceeding from the home of the deceased to the cemetery. On occasion, the sexton would climb to the belfry that he might see the approaching procession farther on the road. All funerals in those days were held either at the late home or at the church. There were no "funeral homes" or "undertaking parlors" in those days.

Last Rung in 1890

Our church bell was tolled for President Garfield in 1881.

The last tolling in the memory of the writer was for George Fowler in 1889, but there is evidence that it tolled for Elder Samuel G. Brewster in 1890.

When and where the custom of bell tolling originated is unknown but it may have been brought by New Englanders when they came and settled in Central New York.

- found in Rome Sentinel, Rome N. Y., Tuesday Evening, July 15, 1947