The Frank Eckstein Furniture and Funeral Exhibit

Descendants of Frank Eckstein (left) with
Historical Society Director Ellsworth Brown
and Stonefield Director Allen Schroeder

When Frank Eckstein opened his furniture store and funeral parlor in Cassville in 1899, he hardly could have imagined that one of his first professional responsibilities would be to transport the body of Wisconsin's first governor Nelson Dewey to nearby Lancaster for burial. Today, in Stonefield's 1900s farming village, the Frank Eckstein Furniture, Upholsterers and Undertakers building houses an exhibit that tells Eckstein's story.

Stepping inside the first room of the building, visitors see period furniture along with a photo exhibit composed of photographs that depict his family and business as well as his grandson, R.J. "Penny" Eckstein, who would go on to take over the store and the undertaking business.

The next room houses period tools and samples of a furniture craftsman's supplies and products, while the third room contains funerary items ranging from a body basket and embalming board to a cooling casket and other funeral- and burial-related objects. By demonstrating the natural connection between furniture makers and undertakers that became typical of many small rural towns' businesses, the exhibit reveals how many a skilled craftsmen such as Frank Eckstein put their cabinetmaking skills as furniture makers to work serving the needs of bereaved families by making caskets as well.