Our Heritage

In 1899 Franz A. Wagner, a German immigrant, established the F. A. Wagner Funeral Home at 313 South Broad St. in Trenton.

As one of the first "Undertakers" in Mercer County, Mr. Wagner was influential in the establishment of the Mercer County Funeral Directors Association serving as its first secretary in 1906.

Between 1910 and 1920 the establishment moved three times, first to 157 Hamilton Avenue, then to 410 Hudson Street, eventually settling at 1055 South Clinton Avenue, Trenton where it remained for over 50 years.

In 1933 M. Adeline Wagner, daughter of Franz, along with her new husband Victor L. Knott, joined her fathers practice renaming it Wagner & Knott Funeral Directors.

M. Adeline Wagner Knott was the first female embalmer and funeral director in Mercer County and possibly the second female licensed by the State of New Jersey.

In 1951, following the death of her father, M. Adeline and Victor Knott changed the name of the operation to Knott Funeral Home.

M. Adeline and Victor's son Franz V. Knott, joined the family business after his licensure in 1956 as the third generation to serve the Mercer County community. Together with his parents, Franz opened a suburban funeral home in 1958 - the present location of Knott's Colonial Funeral Home at 2946 South Broad Street in Hamilton.

In 1970 the South Clinton Street building was closed due to the majority of families choosing the Hamilton funeral home for services.

Victor died in 1975 and the community was served by Adeline and her son Franz until the licensure of the firm's fourth generation funeral director Robert V. Knott in 1982.

M. Adeline died in 1995 and Franz semi-retired in 1997 handing over responsibility for the business to his son, and current manager, Robert. Today Knott's Colonial Funeral Home continues to serve the families of Mercer County as it has for over one hundred years.