Our History

Our Elgin Chapel was originally founded in downtown Elgin in 1921. Named Marsh & Conn Funeral Home, the firm was located at 211 E. Chicago St. The funeral home then moved to 185 Dundee Road, which was previously known as the Barclay House.

David Barclay served as a four-term Mayor of Elgin and worked as a dairy hardware dealer. After his death in 1912, the house lay empty for several years until Howard Conn rented the building in 1936 to convert it into a funeral home. Upon his death in 1936, Howard Conn's son, also named Howard, ran the funeral home until 1949, purchasing the building in 1940. Howard later sold the funeral home to Erwin Schmidt.

Schmidt served Elgin families proudly until 1983, when he sold the funeral home to his long-time employee, Yerry Madison. The funeral home was then known as Schmidt-Madison funeral home. Later it became Madison Funeral Home, and then Symonds-Madison Funeral Home.

Current owner, Daniel Symonds, is a second-generation funeral director and U.S. Army Reservist. Together with his wife, Joy, Daniel was given the opportunity to carry on the funeral home's legacy of service to the Elgin Community in 2013.