I didn't know that a coffin and a casket are not the same thing. I suppose in Barry County that the people figured a coffin was a casket. I found this on the web - Although these two words are often used interchangeably, there is a difference between a coffin and a casket. A proper coffin is wider at the shoulder and tapers toward the feet. This was felt to be a prudent saving of costly wood as there was no need for width all the way to the bottom. This style is still to be found in Europe today. Coffins were sometimes very simple pine boxes, unlined and unadorned. Fancier models were lined, had a coffin plate of brass or silver with the deceased’s name and dates and sometimes a sentiment such as “Our Darling” or “Beloved Wife”, and had three metal handles on each side for the six pallbearers to grasp on the way to the grave. Graves were sometimes lined with fir branches, and after the coffin was lowered, bricked over to discourage graverobbers or other disturbance. It was not unusual for cabinet or furniture makers to do a brisk side trade in coffin making. That is like a grave yard and a cemetery are not really the same thing. A grave yard is the yard for the church where a cemetery has no church. I am sure in Barry County the words were interchangeable. Donna Cooper