Historic Home for the Dead
Driving down the main street of Mid-City, it is impossible not to notice the gorgeous home at 3827 Canal Street. This is not some millionaire's home, nor is it a venue to throw lavish weddings. This is a home to celebrate the dead. Jacob Schoen & Son Funeral Home has taken residence here since 1936, and the guests of honor are usually no longer with us. In a city that houses our dearly departed loved ones in above-ground mini concrete castles, Jacob Schoen & Son Funeral Home is the best when it comes to the going-away party.
Early History of the Funeral Home
The legacy of the Schoen Family in New Orleans begins in 1859 when two men from Rommersheim, Germany landed in New Orleans. Henry Frantz went into blacksmithing, and Jacob Schoen went into the carriage business. Over the years, they came to realize that they could make a lucrative business dealing with the dead. Patrick Schoen, President of Jacob Schoen & Son Funeral Home and fifth-generation funeral home manager, said in an interview, "Ironically, it was the Yellow Fever epidemic that started my family's business in 1874. We do have some of the old records, although Katrina destroyed much of it. Most of the history we have is passed down orally from generation to generation."
Yellow Fever as well as other debilitating and deadly maladies were constant in early New Orleans, and death was rampant. The unpaved city streets were dumping grounds for human and animal waste, garbage, and spoiled food. Stagnant water remained in the streets and sidewalks as there wasn't sufficient drainage to remove it. Mosquitos bred wildly and infected thousands of people every year.
Frantz & Schoen Funeral Home was established on March 4, 1874 at 155 N. Peters Street, just a few years before the worst Yellow Fever epidemic in 1878, which killed tens of thousands of people throughout the Gulf Coast and up to Memphis. The fledgling funeral home had to expand to a larger space at 527 Elysian Fields Avenue in 1879 to keep up with demand. Figuring that the illness originated from New Orleans, some cities disallowed travel from and to New Orleans. This period invigorated many citizens to rally and improve drainage systems throughout the city so that water could not sit and become mosquito breeding grounds.
Into the 1900s
Though deaths attributed to Yellow Fever were lessening, Jacob Schoen remained in the funeral business. Frantz chose to leave the company and sold his share back which allowed Jacob's oldest son Philip J. Schoen to step up to partner level in 1897. The funeral home was renamed Jacob Schoen & Son. Less than 20 years later, the business would expand onto the Northshore with Schoen Funeral Home in 1915, and even more homes in the coming years.
The Schoen Family became synonymous with excellent services in dignified, peaceful surroundings as the citizens of the city entrusted them with their loved ones. The burgeoning business was able to purchase the gorgeous building it currently operates from today in 1936 in order to provide even larger services to more people.
"The property has had several owners, but the home that sits here today can be traced back to Lorenza and Francis Raoul Tanneret. It was sold to the Pitard Family in 1896 as the 'Tanneret Cottage.' The Pitard family owned the home until 1906, although they left their mark—a custom-made, marble fireplace that depicts three of their children, who they lost very young, being ascended into heaven. The home was then purchased by Mary Ellen Rehm Virgin and her husband, Uriah J. Virgin, a florist known as 'The Flower King.' In the home, another fireplace, adorned with flowers and vegetables, pays homage to their family business. They owned the mansion up until it was sold to National Undertakers in 1931, and from them to E.J. Ranson & Sons, Inc., who sold it to my family in 1936," Patrick elaborated.
While the house was considered large in its time, The Schoen Family added on to the original building as space was needed. The main lobby and some parlors were added in the 1950s, a small chapel was built in the 1960s, and a large chapel was added in recent years.
Part of what makes Jacob Schoen & Son special is that they do not shun deceased people based on poverty, race, or orientation. The company motto, "The highest standard of funeral service to all, regardless of financial circumstance," has proudly stood since day one. The business has willingly taken some controversial clients over the years, including two Italian men who were killed in the 1891 mass lynching of Italian people. In 1973, very few funeral homes would accept the victims of the Upstairs Lounge arson because they were presumed to be gay. Some of the bodies remain anonymous because families refused to identify or claim them. Jacob Schoen & Son was one of the homes that received the bodies, and Patrick can recall the charred scent when the remains were brought in.
Death is an inevitable part of life, and funerals can be a beautiful way to say goodbye. The services provided by the Schoen Family are just as much for the entire community of New Orleans as they are for the recently deceased and the living bereaved.
