The American Civil War affected many things in our lives: ambulance services; ID tags; the creation of national cemeteries. Modern undertakers view the Civil War as being the birth of current undertaking practices that we have come to know as the funeral service. The death of Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth and handling of his remains marks the beginning of the common use of embalming as new method of preservation.

In 1861, the practice of embalming gained some notoriety after the death of Colonel Ellsworth. During the viewing time, with many senators and Cabinet members passing by his body in repose, First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln remarked that the colonel's face looked as natural as if he were sleeping. This caught the attention of Washington newspapers. A year later, she would lay to rest her son and later, in 1865, her husband, President Abraham Lincoln, both of whom were embalmed.

Citation: Helfenbein, Ryan. Spring 2017. “The Civil War Creates Changes”. OutLook by the Bay. Annapolis, MD. p. 22.

Ellsworth, Elmer E., COL