Dr. Richard Burr was a civil war embalmer. You’re probably familiar

with the photograph of him at his tent embalming with no PPE. We credit himwith being the impetus of the establishment of rules for embalmers andundertakers.  This is because he was allegedlyburning down the embalming tents of his competitors.

 

His last name Burr, sounds a lot like “burn”, making it easy

to recall his role in funeral history.