dialectal "from the home" /of the home

[Wilson Gray]

On Nov 21, 2004, at 6:52 AM, Bethany K. Dumas wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Bethany K. Dumas" <dumasb at UTKUX.UTCC.UTK.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: dialectal "from the home" /of the home
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> On Sun, 21 Nov 2004, Wilson Gray wrote:
>
>>> I'm sure the first was meant.  In any case, it's also used here in SE
>>> Ohio,
>>> in print obits too.  I won't swear by it, but I think the phrase
>>> "from
>>> home" used to be used (in my parents' day) to indicate a home
>>> funeral,
>>> without the use of a mortuary: "He was buried from home."  Do others
>>> recognize this?
>>
>> When my maternal grandfather died in 1956 in NE Texas, he was "buried
>> from home." The phrase, as you note, "indicates a home funeral,
>> without
>> the use of a mortuary." BTW, the funeral cortege of any dead Texan,
>> irrespective of race, creed, color, or sexual orientation, is escorted
>> to his/her final resting place by the Texas State Police (not to be
>> confused with the Texas Rangers). [Of course, the unspoken assumption
>> is that the interment will take place somewhere within the borders of
>> the great state of Texas.]
>
> Now the phrase makes sense.
>
> I have assised in the burial of a number of Texans, all dead, but never
> with the assistance of the Texas State Police. When did this
> custom begin?
>
> Bethany
>

Perhaps the question is, rather, "When did it end?" At my grandfather's
funeral, the presence of the state-police escort was not considered to
be worthy of comment. In 1956, the presence of the Texas State Police
at a large gathering of black people would more likely have caused
panic, let alone comment, unless it was an ordinary occurrence,
expected under the circumstances. And an escort by the state police was
not a service that the state of Texas would have provided to black
people and denied to white people.

-Wilson