The origins of the Doncaster Funeral Home can likely be traced back to local resident John Markillie (1814-1868), who operated a carriage and wagon repair shop and also built coffins. Markillie's nephew James Doncaster (1836-1906) came to Hudson in 1867 and worked in the wagon shop. In 1870, Doncaster started the undertaking business in partnership with a Mr. Wadhums (possibly Henry C. Wadhums). The partnership was dissolved five years later and James became the sole owner.

In the thirty plus years that James Doncaster presided over the funeral home, he oversaw over 1500 funerals. When James passed away, his son Burt took over the Funeral Home. It was only after his father's death that Burt became involved in the funeral business, later attending embalming school to learn the trade.

Alice Johnson's book Musical Chairs on Main Street lists the Doncaster Funeral Home at 139 Aurora St. in 1870. It is likely Doncaster operated his funeral home business out of this home and barn. It is unknown whether the funeral home remained in this location. At some point, the home and barn were town down. Johnson's book lists a James Doncaster repair shop for wagon and carriage repair at the rear of 245 North Main St., which was later used as storage for Burt Doncaster funeral home equipment. Doncaster appears once more in 1919 at 237 N. Main St., again as a repair shop for carriages and warehouse storage for the funeral home. The information from this book suggests that the Doncasters continued to operate a carriage and wagon repair shop in town, which they used for storage for the funeral home, perhaps which was continually operated at 139 Aurora St. More research is necessary.