Most families don't realize that when they call Moore Family Funeral Homes to assist them, that they have called on a family tradition that dates back to 1820. In the beginning, my family was in the business of manufacturing horse-drawn carriages and farm implements. Because they were carpenters and skilled craftsmen, they were occasionally called upon to build coffins for the local families in Clermont, Brown, and Eastern Hamilton Counties.
As time went on, families demanded more and more services from the Moores. We had the horses and the carriages to take the families to the cemetery and the personnel to prepare the body for burial. Around this time, the nation was in trying times with the Civil War, which brought about many changes in the funeral industry. Out of necessity, the process of embalming was emerging to bring the men and boys back home for burial. The assassination of President Lincoln followed as well as the introduction of the Horseless Carriage.
A story my grandfather, William Stirling Moore, passed on from his father to my father, Louis H. Moore, was that the first few times the motorized hearse was used, the families we served and folks attending the services commented that we could not get the coffins to the cemetery fast enough! Around the turn of the century, families still prepared the body and had the services in their homes.
In the 1930s, my grandfather and grandmother (William and Emily Moore) designed a full service funeral home on the site where the carriage works had been, in Batavia. They both worked hard through the depression and started an ambulance service. The ambulance served most of Clermont, Brown, and Eastern Hamilton Co. It was the only service for miles.
In the 1950's my father and Uncle, Stirling Moore, expanded our family's commitment to service by purchasing a home on Main Street in Newtown, Ohio, and establishing our second funeral home location.
Innovation has also been a proud part of our family's history. My grandfather, William Moore, had an engineering background and held many patents. One of which is the mercury switch for the automobile. This device would cut off the battery in case of an accident where the vehicle was leaning or flipped on its side. This eliminated many fires and saved many lives. He also invented an embalming machine. The Moore Embalming Machine was unique in the way that it uses water pressure in lieu of a mechanical pump. We can still use his machines today.
Over the years, our profession has experienced tremendous change, yet our commitment has remained the same. We believe our longevity and success are rooted in our dedication to the families we serve and the communities we call home.
Today, we remain active in organizations and community initiatives throughout the region. As one of the few family businesses to have endured for more than two centuries, we are honored to continue serving local families. We take great pride in welcoming the seventh generation of the Moore family into service and in carrying forward what we believe is America's oldest continuously owned and operated single-family funeral home business.
- Mark Moore - 6th Generation
