William B. Young came from Ohio to Tipton by way    of Jefferson County, Indiana. Young started learning   the cabinet trade business while in Jefferson County   and after arriving in Tipton on October 12, 1850,  he first worked for his brother-in-law, John S. Anderson.After 18 months with Anderson, Mr. Young decided to go into business for himself and in 1852 he rented a log cabin. He became the first undertaker in Tipton and made all of his own coffins. When a family had a death, they would measure the deceased and bring Mr. Young the string measurement for the size of the coffin.  Along with the undertaking business, William Young continued to make cabinets and other household furniture. This was a common practice in many communities.

 William B. Young
 

After returning from duty in the Civil War, William built a planning mill in Tipton in 1874. In January 1881 he decided to devote all of his time to the mill and sold his furniture and undertaking business to his son, Seneca. Seneca G. Young was born in 1849 and started working for his father in 1875, so by 1881 he was well acquainted with his father's furniture and undertaking business. Seneca built a new building on the front of the lot at 119 W. Jefferson Street. This building housed the S.G. Young Furniture Company and Undertaking Establishment. Later it became known as Young's Furniture Company.                                                 Seneca G. Young
                                                                                       
 

A 28-year-old native of Ripley County, Indiana named Phillip E. Nichols came to Tipton in 1893 and purchased half interest in a business which became known as the Reed & Nichols Furniture & Undertaking Firm. In 1895 Mr. Nichols accepted employment with the Seneca G. Young Furniture & Undertaking Company.

Phillip E. Nichols
 

Robert F. Nichols, the only son of Phillip E. and Margaret Nichols, was born in 1907 and entered his father's business in the middle 1920's. Later Robert and his wife Evelyn (Vance) Nichols purchased the home at 216 W. Jefferson Street to be used as a funeral home.  The purchase of this house was necessitated by the fact that an Indiana law now required embalming to be done in a funeral home after 1935, rather than in private homes. This house is the basic part of the funeral home as it stands today.

   Evelyn & Bob Nichols
 

 

The third generation of the Nichols family to enter the business was Philip V. Nichols who became associated with the business in 1957 after graduating from mortuary school and becoming an embalmer and funeral director. Phil’s wife Mary Alice (Kinder) Nichols began working in the family business fulltime in 1980 and continued there until she passed away in July 2009.  Phil continued to be active in the business until his death in 2012. In 1963 the corporation sold the furniture part of the business to Ralph Parsons and the funeral home was enlarged with the addition of a new embalming room, casket display room, garage, and larger area in the viewing room. During this same time the name was changed from Young's Furniture Company, Inc. to Young-Nichols Funeral  Home, Inc. 

      
                                                                             
 Phil & Mary Alice 

Bob Nichols
Phil & Mary Alice coordinated another major expansion and remodeling of the home in 1982 just as their sons Bob and Brad were finishing school and preparing to enter the business. The interior of the building was redecorated and more space was added to the viewing area. A colonial look with tall white pillars was added to the front of the home. Robert L. "Bob" Nichols graduated from mortuary school in February 1982 and returned to the family business. Philip Bradley "Brad" Nichols graduated from mortuary school in 1983.                                                                         Brad Nichols
 

Other major improvements to the facilities included the demolition of the house directly West of the funeral home in 1993 for the addition of a 35-space parking lot and in 1994 the offices were expanded and a handicap lift was installed. The interior of the home was also redecorated at this time. In March 2000 the casket display room was remodeled under a new concept which displays casket segments instead of the whole casket. This allows us to display more caskets in less space. The unused space was converted into an arrangement office.