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The American funeral industry as we know it emerged during the Civil War as embalming became more acceptable to those who wanted a last look at their lost loved ones, particularly soldiers killed on battlefields many miles and days away.

The industry got its start in the Dayton area more than two decades later when William Howard Morris began his funeral directing career in 1886 in Bellbrook. He was followed six years later in Dayton by Ben Westbrock on Wayne Avenue.

Here's a glimpse of those funeral homes and others of historical significance in the Dayton area.

Morris-Sons

According to the Morris-Sons Web site (morris-sons.com), William Morris and his wife, Lillie, had owned a boarding house for carpetbaggers and saw a need in the area for a reputable funeral home.

After a couple of moves in Greene County, William Morris later relocated the business to Old Osborn, which has since become Fairborn. In 1905, Morris opened his East Third Street location in Dayton, which closed in recent years.

Today, Morris' great-grandson Dale and Dale's wife, Lora, own and operate the Fairborn location at 104 W. Main St. and the Kettering location at 1771 E. Dorothy Lane.

Westbrock Funeral Home

Ben Westbrock started his business in 1892 as a storefront operation at Wayne Avenue and Pearl Street, now the site of a U.S. 35 ramp.

"There was no such thing as a funeral home at the time," fourth generation funeral director Mark Westbrock explained.

Instead, Ben Westbrock would haul chairs and other necessary supplies to a family's home, where visitation and services would be held.

Ben moved the business a couple blocks south in 1897, then to 1712 Wayne Ave. in 1922. The funeral home, a Second Empire mansion built in 1865, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Known as the "Catholic" funeral home in the Dayton area, Westbrock opened a second location in 1992 at 5980 Bigger Road in Kettering.

A mix of independent and corporate owned

Of the 32 funeral businesses in Montgomery County, most are family owned and operated. A few are owned by large corporations, such as the Kansas-based Newcomer, which has locations in Dayton, Beavercreek and Kettering, and Tobias Funeral Home, which has four locations (down from six) in Dayton, Beavercreek, Englewood and Washington Twp.

Founded in 1941 in Dayton by the late LaMar and Norma Tobias, the Tobias Funeral Home was family owned and operated until it ran into financial difficulties in recent years and sold in 2005 to the Meridian Mortuary Group of Alpharetta, Ga.

The Tobias family still operates the business, though, and insists it will beat any competitor's price for the same service by $100.

Until recently, the Texas-based funeral home and cemetery conglomerate Service Corporation International owned Meyer Boehmer & Reis Funeral Home in Dayton.

But funeral director Ed Reis bought the funeral home from SCI in February, fulfilling a desire to own his own business and "to do things for families our own way."

"I was happy with (SCI), and when I got to buy the place I was even happier," Reis said.

After purchasing the funeral home, Reis immediately dropped his prices.

"I don't have the overhead, I don't have to pay anybody above me, I don't have to maintain (several offices)," he explained.