Now & Then: From funeral parlor to Mexican restaurant

Charles H. Burden came to Sonora from Poole, England in 1854, with his wife and four children, Elizabeth, Henry, William and Julia. Sadly, daughter Julia died during the voyage and was buried at sea. After arriving in Tuolumne County, they had three more children. The family first settled at Browns Flat, where Burden tried his hand at mining. Not being terribly successful, he became a cabinet and furniture maker for Salter & Dorsey. When the business failed in 1859, Burden began his own business and added undertaking to his services. This was not unusual at the time, as many small communities depended on cabinet makers to supply caskets, which led to them conducting the funeral.

The Burden Undertaking Parlor was located on North Washington Street, where the El Jardin restaurant is today. If you look at the front of the building, you will see C. H. Burden inscribed on it. Next door is the Charles Burden home, housing Coldwell Banker Segerstrom

Realty, which is owned by Clark Segerstrom, Burden’s great-great grandson.

When Burden died in 1895, his two sons Charles Henry and Fred took over the business. After a couple of years, Henry became the sole proprietor of the undertaking company and Fred took over the furniture business. Henry’s son, Charles Henry Jr. (Harry) assisted his father in the business. It was said that Harry almost always wore a top hat and walked ahead of the horse-drawn hearse when the funeral procession passed through town.

Upon Charles Henry’s death in 1926, Harry took over the business assisted by his sister, Carrie Warne. Harry only lived for a short time after this and Carrie became the sole proprietor in 1929. She operated the business until her death in February 1953. In July 1953, the Terzich-wilson Funeral Home purchased the business, ending the C. H. Burden Undertaking Co. which had operated for almost 100 years.

Courtesy photo /Tuolumne County Historical Society,tp761 This 1923 Buick commercial vehicle was purchased by undertaker C. Henry Burden in March of that year. Referred to as a casket wagon, its general use was for conveying the deceased to the undertaking house and at times was used as a hearse where burials were in more inaccessible places. It was said the machine had high power and would negotiate any of our hills without difficulty.