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Berceuse Funeral and Cremation Traditions

Hampton, Virginia, United States

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About Us Over 104 Years of Service-The Smith family became part of a long tradition in funeral service when, in 1901, William Morris Smith began his work as a casket maker/cabinet maker with his son R. Hayden Smith who became a mortician. They provided funeral services from the back of a store in Phoebus, a part of Hampton, Virginia.In 1907, William Smith died. He had served with distinction in Pickett's Division, 53d Virginia Infantry, Company B during the Civil War and had received the Southern Cross of Honor after the war. The battalion's wheelwright, he was captured in Pickett's charge at Gettysburg.A florist shop at 207 E. Mellen Street in Phoebus was begun by R. Hayden Smith in 1916. The funeral parlor was moved into a building next door to the florist.-In 1918, the flu epidemic severely tested the abilities of Hayden, as he was known.1926 saw Mattie Baker Smith, oldest child of R. Hayden Smith become one of the first women licensed as a funeral director and embalmer in the state. She actively served the community until her illness and death in 1940.Mattie's brother, Hayden Clyde Smith joined the family at the funeral home in 1928. He had just graduated from the College of William and Mary and the Cincinnati School of Embalming.-In 1932 the funeral home moved to 245 South Armistead Avenue in Hampton, Virginia. The new building was the first in the area to be built from the ground up as a funeral home. Twenty years later, in 1952, Hayden died and his son Clyde continued the family tradition of funeral service and with his wife Gertrude, raised his son Robert and daughter, Virginia.Son, Robert Hayden Smith, II followed the family tradition after graduating from the College of William and Mary in 1956, serving a tour in the Army and graduating from the Cincinnati College of Embalming in 1962. As a funeral service licensee, Robert "Bob" continues in the profession he loves today. He is currently president of R. Hayden Smith, Inc.-In 1967 the funeral home was ren

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