Our History
The History of Moorestown: Lewis Funeral Home BY: Alisenne P. Leonberg
Samuel Jones, son of William Jones and Hannah Jones, née Lukemire, was born on April 14, 1814 in the house on West Main Street, that house was believed to be one of the first dwellings in the town and a small cabinet making and repair shop was nearby. Samuel had little schooling and was sent to work on a farm though the age of ten until he was fifteen. After finishing his work on the farm, he wished to be a cabinet maker and work with his father William at his father’s shop. He was sent off to apprentice under Israel M. Scattergood, another cabinet maker, and after he had excelled in his apprenticeship, he joined his dad. Following a time of working close by each other, William made his son Samuel a full partner in his cabinet-making business.
Although the business was primarily focused on cabinet-making, every so often William and Samuel were called upon to make arrangements for funerals. Before long, this side activity revealed a greater need among the community. In light of this unfulfilled need, and of Samuel’s interest in helping with funeral arrangements, his father William decided to retire and give full control of the business to Samuel who wanted to convert his cabinet-making skills to coffin-making and become an undertaker. This would ultimately become a flourishing business and Samuel became an exemplary funeral director. Samuel kept very detailed records of all of the funerals he coordinated, with the earliest date recorded being May 10, 1834. Additionally, there are other dispersed records pointing to arrangements made in 1833. Samuel was the funeral director for the entirety of Moorestown’s and Medford’s early settlers. He would utilize a horse and hearse in those days on old streets of sand, mud and rock. He was in charge of the funerals for important individuals such as the following families: Collins, Matlack, Roberts, Stokes, Lippincott, Haines, Buzby, Hewlings, Warrington, and French, among numerous others. In those early days, all memorial services were held in the home of the deceased and Samuel would organize everything. Moreover, the bill back then for these services was around $20.00, substantially lower than the cost of a modern funeral. A child’s funeral service would add up to between $3.00 and $5.00.
Samuel also arranged the funeral of Dr. James Still, known as the old "Black Doctor of the Pines", and his burial service occurred on March 13, 1882. The lovely horse-drawn hearse used for Dr. Still was Samuel’s finest, normally reserved for only the most remarkable. Dr. Still’s remains were first taken into the old “Jacobs Chapel” for a short service and then carried to his final resting place in a small cemetery in the rear of the church.
Circa 1842, Joshua Borton built the house where the present Lewis Funeral Home currently stands and shortly after, Samuel purchased it and moved in. The old house and shop on the west side of this new house, where Jones had worked as a cabinet maker for his dad, was still left standing and was given to Mr. James Sankey, also a cabinet-maker who had married
Samuel’s sister Rebecca, to use for his business. This old house was not torn-down until September 21, 1885, when it was demolished in order to build a new structure for the "National Bank" of Moorestown. Samuel died on January 28, 1885.
The funeral home’s lineage is well-documented. Shortly after Samuel Jones' passing, Henry Rambo purchased the funeral home from Jones’ widow. Although this doesn’t seem unusual, this was unique for the time period because Rambo did not work as an assistant to Jones’ before purchasing it. Rambo, a local of Salem County, bought the undertaking business and carried on the business for fifty-one years. Rambo was notable all through Burlington County for his "splendid participation at all his burial services". When Henry Rambo passed at the age of ninety-seven, his right-hand man, William Grobler, succeeded him. Grobler was a cousin to Rambo. William Grobler bought the property and business and carried on at the location until his passing on May 12, 1953. It is believed that at some point during Grobler’s ownership that the present funeral parlor was added as an addition to the residence. Edward
Melton succeeded Grobler and bought the burial service home shortly after Grobler's passing in 1953. He ran the business until he resigned in 1964. Melton's collaborator, Harry Douglas Lewis Jr., bought the home upon Melton’s retirement. Lewis Jr. carried on the business until 2008, at which time he retired. He died on September 29, 2014 due to heart failure and was most remembered for his empathy. He was born and brought up in Riverside and graduated from Riverside High School in 1953. He was 1957 alumni of the American Academy of Funeral Services in New York. Lewis was a mentor to John Engleman. Engleman also an Alumni of American Academy of Funeral Service , met Lewis in 1982 and started working at the funeral home in 1986 and worked with him up until his retirement. After his retirement, Engleman bought the home on January 4, 2008 following twenty-four years of working closely with Lewis.
Death is an integral part of life and of our experience as humans. As we began to gather in larger communities, this created a need for somebody to help us navigate death. This need is what caused Samuel Jones to begin his businesses; a funeral-home that would be the center of Moorestown’s history. Not only because of its historical significance, but because it stands against the ever-increasing threat of consolidation and de-personalization of how funerals are arranged in our country, stubbornly maintaining its rich history and family-run image, we should continue to study and appreciate the landmark we have in our community. The result of one cabinet-maker, Samuel Jones, whose decision to serve a need in his community changed it forever-more for the better, and whose legacy is alive to this day as the Lewis Funeral Home.