Churchman Funeral Home Records, 1902 - 1934

File — Container: Microfilm Cabinet: Drawer 2

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Churchman Records were loaned to the New Jersey Historical Society and microfilmed by the Newark Public Library during the Newark Business and Labor Records Survey (1978-1980). A copy of the microfilm is also available at Newark Public Library. There is a paper index (1983), which lists the deceased by name and gives the page number of the corresponding record, for Reel l of the microfilm.

The Churchman Funeral Homes catered primarily to black families with a few exceptions; for example, the funerals of one white and one Mexican person are listed on Reel 1 of the microfilm. The records are arranged chronologically, and while not all of the records are complete, most contain the following information:

Reel 1: Records (1917-1932) provide: name and address of the decedent, date of birth, place of birth, occupation, sex, race, marital status, cause of death, detailed information about the decedent's parents, location of the funeral service, place of burial, and costs.

Reel 2: Journal (1902-1934) lists the name and address of the decedent, date of birth, age at death, decedent's height, and particulars of the funeral, including costs.

Dates

1902 - 1934

Creator

Churchman Funeral Home (Newark, N.J.) (Organization)

Biographical / Historical

The Churchman Funeral Service, which catered primarily to African-American families, was founded June 15, 1899 by James E. Churchman (1874-1917) at 3 Baldwin Street, East Orange, NJ. At the time of Churchman's death in 1917 he had established branches in Newark, including one on Bank Street next to Bethany Baptist Church, and in Morristown and Plainfield, NJ. Churchman also served as pastor of several AME churches and later of a Baptist church.

James E. Churchman, Jr. served in the U.S. Navy from 1918-1919 and revived the family's funeral home business upon his discharge from the service. He located his Newark funeral home first at 120 Barclay Street, later at 19 Rose Street, and by the 1970s at 132 Clinton Avenue. Churchman, Jr., was active in many veterans, fraternal, civic, and professional organizations, including the Masons and the NAACP. He was married to Hazel P. Churchman and resided at 517 Washington Street in Newark.

In 1949, James E. Churchman, son of Hazel and James E. Churchman, Jr., received his funeral director's license. In 1952 he opened a funeral home at 397 Bergen Street in Newark, which he later relocated to 345 13th Avenue. His children, James and Edith Churchman, were the fourth generation of the Churchman family to maintain their family's funeral home business. Edith Churchman became the manager of the James E. Churchman Funeral Home on 13th Avenue.

Charles L. Whigham (1921-1993), another prominent Newark funeral director, began his career working for the Churchmans.

NOTE: For more information, see Edith Churchman's "75th Anniversary, Churchman Funeral Service" (photocopy of typescript, located in a vertical file at the New Jersey Historical Society) and the obituary for "James Churchman, Sr., Funeral director," Newark Star-Ledger (26 June 1983), page 68 (copy in Family File/Churchman at the New Jersey Historical Society).