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The Hearse of Grand
Manan
This funeral hearse, once
pulled by a pair of horses,
was used for many years to
carry the island’s dead to
their final resting place.
In 2010 the hearse had been
off island for 33 years where
it had been taken for
restoration work which never
took place (long story), but
thanks to Johnny’s great
nephew, Jody Graham, it
finally did make it home again
and was donated to the Museum.
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A Family Tradition: The
Graham Family Undertakers
Three generations of the
Graham family served as
undertakers…
Robert H. Graham: b.
1828, d. 1886
Wellington Graham (son): b.
1859, d. 1905
John Virgil Graham (grandson):
b. 1888, d. 1970s?
When Robert died he was
buried by his son Wellington,
and when Wellington died in
1905, his son John Virgil
Graham, then 17 years old,
took over the business.
In 1972, at the age of 84,
Johnny Graham was written up
in an article in Canadian
Funeral Service, Vol. 50, No.
2, as “Canada’s oldest funeral
director”. On the 8th of
November, 1971, the entire
population of the island,
2,450 people, were invited to
a surprise party at the school
auditorium called “This is
Your Life Johnny”, where
tribute was paid to him for
his many years of service to a
community in which, to quote
from folk singer Paul Lauzon’s
song The Undertaker’s
Ball, he’d “buried more
people than are left alive.
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