Not to be morbid but what were morgues like in the 1800s, or did they even have them?

Answer 1

Here they had a special shed, that was half way dug into the ground to be cool, where they stored the dead bodies until the funeral. The funeral was most commonly within a few days after death.

The natives that are nomads had an island where they made temporary graves for their dead and then when they moved they moved the dead to their permanent graves. I don't know how for long they did that, but my grandfather and I visited the island when I was a little girl and the pits is still visible.

Answer 2

Prior to 1859 probably pretty smelly unless you died in Egypt.