Why are Quakers buried standing upright?

Answer 1

Quakers were, prior to about the mid-nineteenth century, buried with no grave markers. There are references to bodies being buried in layers (extremely unlikely if they were buried standing), and to the fact that early on people were buried in order of death with no particular attention paid to whether or not they had been related to the people buried nearby.

However, there's no credible evidence I could readily locate to them ever being buried standing up, at least as a widespread practice. It's possible that some burial grounds may have used this as a way of saving space, and since there is no universal dogma for Friends, it's also possible that some Meetings may have done this for other reasons. If so, though, I couldn't find any references to it. Can you provide some evidence that this has ever actually been done?

Given that bodies need to be buried fairly deeply to avoid being accidentally uncovered (due to animals digging them up or erosion; also, health codes usually mandate a minimum depth of six feet). So, if you want to bury a person about six feet tall at least ... let's say three or four feet down, because I'm not sure how far back those health codes go ... then you're digging a hole nine or ten feet deep, and since you're doing this by hand, you're digging it wide and broad enough to actually be down in there as well .... let's say absolute minimum 3x3 feet. That's 81-90 cubic feet of dirt to move. If you buried someone lying down in a 3x6 hole to the same depth and allowing for an extra foot due to the thickness of the body (remember, we're not worrying about the health codes at this point), then you're only moving 72-90 cubic feet of dirt, and generally the first couple of feet are easier to dig than the deeper bits anyway, because you've got soil or clay instead of rock and also you're not standing in a deep narrow hole trying to toss dirt well up above your own head. So unless you've got some fairly serious reason (such as a religious requirement, and remember, Friends don't have a universal dogma) for doing so, it seems this would be an unusual and unlikely practice.