Choosing Their Own Caskets

1895

People Often Express Their Preferences In the Matter of Style.

"I never actually knew anybody who kept his coffin in his house," said an undertaker, "but I have read of such things, and I have no doubt they are true, just as I believe the stories of some women keeping in the bottom of bureau drawers their own grave clothes, which they made themselves. But men sometimes choose, if not the particular casket in which they want to be buried, the style of coffin that they prefer, and I know of one man who drew the plans for the casket in which he was buried.

"He had his own ideas of what was most suitable, and we made a casket in accordance with the drawings which he furnished and then boxed it up and stored it for him. He was a man advanced in years. It is interesting to note that the casket so planned had square ends and perfectly straight sides and ends. In fact, in shape it was precisely the same as the present most advanced style of modern burial casket, which was not introduced until some years afterward.

"It is not at all unusual for men to look at caskets, express admiration of some of them and say that they would like to be buried in such or such a style. These men might be simply friends who had come to see me, or they might be here on business, but not with regard to a funeral. Some of the modern burial caskets are very costly and beautiful and as unlike the old fashioned coffin as could be imagined. It is no wonder that men should admire them, but it doesn't follow at all that they expect soon to need one.

"A few months ago there came in a man and his wife, people of perhaps 50 years, and I should say well to do, who wanted to look at the caskets, or rather he did. They came to a very beautiful casket of mahogany, one of modern style, with square ends and straight sides and ends and carved a little, but not overelaborately. Evidently he had heard of such a casket before or had seen one, and so was familiar with it, and he admired it greatly.

" 'There,' he said to his wife, calling her by her name, 'that is the kind of casket that I would like to be buried in,' and it was clear that it seemed to him very beautiful, as it certainly was. But, bless us, he is like everybody else almost. I have no doubt he expects to live for a hundred years. I saw him at the theater the other night with his wife. They had dined comfortably, and they were in the fullest on enjoyment of life, and I fancy that it will be many years before either of them comes to the end of life, but I venture to say that if he dies first his wife will faithfully see that he is buried in a mahogany casket such as he admired. — New York Sun.

"Specialties" at Beehive Store

1899

All retailers like to have and announce their specialties ; and sometimes, it seems, such commercial specialties may take on a very general character. A travelling man tells the Washington Star that, while visiting lately a small but enterprising town in West Virginia, he came upon the following sign:

"THE BEEHIVE STORE,
"Ronceverte, W. Va.

"Dealers in General Merchandise and Country Produce of Every Kind.

SPECIALTIES: Coffins, Caskets and Burial Supplies; Salt, Bacon and Lard; Hides, Furs and Live Foxes."

In addition to these somewhat diverse specialties, the proprietor of the store carried on the business of a fire insurance agent. — Youth's Companion.

A Pet Cemetery

1908

Where Pet Dogs and Cats Are Buried In State

New York. — In a picturesque little spot situated on one of the most beautiful of the Hartsdale hills lies one of the oddest of cemeteries. The casual visitor here, inspecting the inscriptions on the tombstones, would expect to see records of long forgotten generations, perhaps the history of the village in the lives of its citizens, but instead the stones contained nothing but inscriptions to dogs, with an occasional cat epitaph here and there.

"Fido, asleep," "Our beloved fox terrier, Flossie," "Dedicated to the memory of our pet cat, Smutty." Such a jumble of inscriptions meet the eye that the visitor begins to wonder whether the souls of Fido and Smutty now rest peacefully side by side or whether they arise at the witching hour to fight out once more their lifelong battle. In that case even the back fences of Harlem would be preferable to the rural peace of Hartsdale.

This cemetery, moreover, contains French dogs and French inscriptions and German dogs. And just as human tombstones have little angels on them so these dog tombstones have little puppies carved on them playing with toys. Next to one of the graves the owner has erected a big rustic mourner's bench so that he may grieve for his pet in comfort.

The most elaborate grave is that of a bulldog that once belonged to a family named Willson. Besides having a big granite stone at the head, it has two little bay trees on either side, and at the foot is a little marble trough with three little marble canaries drinking out of it. The canaries would be more easily explained if it were a cat grave, but perhaps this particular bullpup had feline predilections.

For six months after he was buried tali dog had fresh violets or roses placed upon his grave every day, it is chronicled. The burial cost the bulldog's owner over $500.

The grave digger of the cemetery also tells of dogs buried in rosewood or mahogany coffins, some with gold handles, and gold, jewel-studded collars around their necks.

"You have no idea," he will wander on, "how much money some undertakers make on the side in these dog coffins. Often the coffins are lined with plush or velvet and cost large sums of money.

"And then some people insist on having their dogs embalmed before they are willing to bury them. Of course the undertakers keep that part of their business very secret, but they do it just the same."

Many of the dogs that were prize winners in their lively days have all their trophies, ribbons, silver mugs and such things buried with them. Others have all their old collars, whips and playthings, and one woman actually buried a Bible and rosary with a dog.

"Of course I know it must seem very silly," she said in explanation, "but it just makes me feel better, so why shouldn't I do it?"

"And do they have real funerals for dogs, with services and so on?" asked the seeker of information of the digger of graves.

"Well, no; no real services," he explained, "though some of them would like to, I guess, by the way they act.

"Sometimes they bring the body up from New York in an automobile, sometimes they ship it up as freight and meet it at the railway station with carriages. Only family and friends, you know. There are never very many of them.

"But the way those people act when it comes to covering up the box is — well — just about the limit. And the men are not much better than the women, either. I've got a pretty interesting job, I can tell you.

"And most of them come up regularly and see to it that I'm keeping the grave in OK condition. And on the day of the dog's death they usually decorate the grave with flowers. I can tell you I wouldn't mind being some dogs."

There are now 450 dogs and about 20 cats buried in the cemetery. Plots cost from $15 to $25 each, including a zinc lined box which is hermetically sealed for shipping. This, however, is only the minimum expense for a dog funeral, and from this point the price goes up far into the hundreds.

Petrarch's Tomb Opened

1874

A singular ceremony lately took place at Arqua, in North Italy, where Petrarch lies buried. The tomb of the poet was opened in the presence of the municipal officers of the town and a few invited spectators that the remains had been inclosed in an imperfectly-made coffin, and that the bones, thus exposed to the effects to the atmosphere, were discolored and moist.

The skull, of medium size, was entire, the development of the forehead being yet perceptible. Several of the teeth were well preserved, and the bones of the body were but little decayed. From the size of the skeleton it was easy to infer that Petrarch must have been a large, robust man.

Permission to examine these honored remains had been given by the authorities to certain students of anthropology, and it was to aid in their researches that the coffin was opened. These gentlemen took accurate measurements of the remains, which were then carefully placed in a new coffin.

The brief exposure to the air, however, had its effect, and the skull partially fell in, while some of the bones were resolved into dust before the eyes of the spectators of this curious exhibition of mortality.

"Peeper" Is Suspected As Grave Robber

New York, 1928

Cordon of State Police Thrown Around Baldwinsville

Start Night Vigil

Ghoul Mutilates Body After Opening Casket

State troopers and deputy sheriffs seeking the ghoul who entered the grave of Mrs. Cora O'Brien, 51, and mutilated her body, Saturday night prepared to keep vigil in Baldwinsville for a "peeper," who is believed be the grave robber.

This "peeper," according to Sergt. M. F. Dillon of the State police who is directing the search, has been seen for five consecutive nights in Baldwinsville peering into the windows of homes and loitering about the cemeteries.

The information was withheld from the officials until Saturday afternoon.

"People wouldn't talk until they realized how serious a thing this was," Sergeant Dillon explained. "Then they came forward with plenty of information. Now we have a real lead to work on."

The State police officer added that medical authorities had told him that a man with the form of insanity which would cause him to enter a grave and mutilate a body would, in all probability, be given to peering into houses. This form of insanity, the medical authorities stated, causes the victim to return to the scene of his crime.

Therefore, the vigil Saturday night was based upon scientific knowledge. It began with a special detail of troopers stationed in the cemetery and about every home where the "peeper" has left tracks.

Sergeant Dillon, who had not been in bed since the empty grave was discovered Friday morning, took active charge and prepared to remain on duty all night.

The troopers were assisted by Deputy Sheriffs Edward Hoffmire and John Carey and Chief of Police Edward McCarty, the latter chief of the Baldwinsville police force.

The vigil began with Sergeant Dillon confident the "peeper" would be captured, and that he would prove to be the grave robber.

With the preliminary investigation completed, the full horror of the crime was made apparent. The vandal passed at least three hours in the Riverside Cemetery, which is located on the banks of the Seneca River.

After opening the grave until the casket was revealed, he pushed open and dragged the body to the grass near the grave.

Then, according to the manner in which Sergeant Dillon reconstructed the crime, he dragged the body by the hair for more than 100 feet. This was proved by bruises on the body.

One hundred feet from the grave, probably using a flashlight, he mutilated the body in a horrible manner. He left behind him his rubbers, his overalls and a shovel.

The rays of a flashlight, believed to have been held by the vandal, were seen in St. Marys Cemetery in Baldwinsville several nights before the grave of Mrs. O'Brien was opened. The same night the "peeper" was active in the village.

—Syracuse Herald, Syracuse, NY, April 15, 1928, p. 1, second section.

A Sure Protection Against Body Snatchers

Advertisement, 1879

MOOERS' Metallic Coffin Shields.

A Sure Protection Against Body Snatchers.

The above cut represents Mooer's Metallic Coffin Shield. It is made of heavy sheet iron and is of such shape and size to completely inclose the coffin. A flange projects around the lower edge by means of which it can be securely fastened to the base upon which the coffin rests and thus prevent the removal of the corpse. Manufactured and for sale by A. H. Mooers, North Ridgeville; also for sale by Suearer & Waldeck, undertakers, Elyria, O.

—The Elyria Constitution, Elyria, Ohio, June 20, 1878, p. 2.

Embalmer's Knife Flashing, Mom Insists Son "Alive"; He is!

Rhode Island, 1888

COFFINED, BUT ALIVE

Story of a Man Who had a Narrow Escape from Premature Burial

Mauly Z. Corwin, of Providence, R. I., has enjoyed the sensation of being coffined and prepared for burial, says the Boston Globe. But for an accident he would have been embalmed. He lives on Smith's hill, and is a carpenter by trade. Some years ago he was at work on the roof of a three-story house, and had a sun-stroke. Falling at his work, he rolled down the sloping roof and fell, an inert mass, to the street below. He was picked up and conveyed to the office of the nearest medical man, who pronounced him dead. An undertaker was sent for, and soon his assistants were measuring the corpse and making preparations for the embalming process, which was considered necessary for preserving the body for the funeral.

That evening a casket arrived with the name of the deceased, age and manner of death engraved on a silver plate.

After the body had been coffined and the room cleared, Mrs. Corwin, the mother, arrived, and, while laying her head upon his breast, she fancied she detected a motion of the heart. Another doctor was sent for, who, after making a stethoscopic examination, confirmed the opinion of the other physician, and declared life to be extinct.

The weeping mother was led from the apartment, and the watchers awaited the coming of the embalmer. The man was delayed so long that when he arrived the family requested him to postpone making the incision until the following morning.

The morning found the loving and disconsolate mother at her son's bier again, and again did the maternal instinct within her tell her that her boy was not dead, but sleeping. The embalmer came and displayed his instruments for opening the veins and for eviscerating the deceased. Then the mother refused to allow the operation. In vain they urged her to accept the verdict of medical science, but she refused to budge, and, throwing her body across that of her son, she declared she would not leave his presence until all doubt was ended. The weather was fearfully hot, and it was expected that the condition of the corpse would be unendurable by the next night, but it was not, nor the next night, and then some weight was attached to the old lady's belief. More doctors came, other examinations were made, and at the end of the sixth day a slight pulsation was felt.

The man was alive beyond all doubt.

The house swarmed with physicians after that. They came from New York, from Boston and from Philadelphia, and all agreed that the vital spark had not left the body, although how to fan it into a life-sustaining flame was a question not so easily settled. Various expedients were resorted to, and on the fifteenth day the "corpse" opened an eye. After that the man's recovery was but a question of time. To-day he is at work, a better and stronger man than he ever was, and the silver plate on his coffin, framed in crimson plush, adorns his parlor.

—St. Joseph Herald, Saint Joseph, Michigan, April 28, 1888, p. 5.

Doctor Resuscitates Girl at Her Funeral, Sits Up in Coffin

Wisconsin, 1883

Sitting Up in Her Coffin

At Black River Falls, Wis., the sensation of the day is the return to life of a young lady who to all appearance had been dead three days.

Miss Lina Richmann, the daughter of a wealthy German, had been very sick for some weeks and died, as was supposed. Her body was prepared for burial, when it was suggested by some one that the appearance of the young lady's face did not indicate death; but on the fourth day the funeral services were held.

While the ceremony was in progress Dr. Baxter, of Milwaukee, looking at the face of the supposed corpse asked that the services be interrupted long enough for him to attempt resuscitation. This was done, and he succeeded so well that the woman arose in her coffin with a terrible shriek. The scene was highly exciting. Men turned pale with horror, women fainted, and it was a long time before anything like quiet was restored.

Friends are continually calling to see and congratulate one whom they never thought to see again in this world. She says that while in a trance-like condition, she realized with unspeakable horror that she was being prepared for the services but could not speak or make any motion.

—The Hopewell Herald, Hopewell, New Jersey, Nov. 7, 1884.

Man Falls Dead By His Mother's Coffin

New York, 1899

Fifth Member of the Family to Die Within Three Months

By the side of his mother's coffin John F. Murphy, a retired fireman, apparently in full health and strength, fell dead, says the New York Times.

The mother, Mrs. Mary Ann Murphy, died on Wednesday afternoon, after an illness of only two days, at her home, 219 Harrison street, Brooklyn. She was the fourth member of the family to die within three months, and the sudden death of her son brings the number up to five.

John F. Murphy was 37 years old. He had been a fireman for thirteen years, and was retired on half-pay a short time ago. His home was at 521 1st avenue, Manhattan. He went to Brooklyn on Friday night to attend his mother's wake, and sat up with the body all night.

At 1 o'clock the next afternoon, when the body was about to be taken to Calvary cemetery, Murphy and a few friends were sitting in the room with the coffin. Murphy was talking. Suddenly he hesitated in his speech and clapped his hands to his heart. "Boys," he gasped, "I'm sick!" He attempted to rise from his chair and fell unconscious. His friends thought at first that he was joking, and then, becoming alarmed, sent for an ambulance.

Surgeon Smith of the Long Island college hospital responded and Dr. Walter Kean, of Clinton and Congress streets, was also sent for. The two physicians pronounced him dead and ascribed heart disease as the cause.

—The Lima News, Lima, Ohio, Feb. 11, 1899, p. 3.

The Wrong Coffin — His Mother-in-Law and The Admiral

1878

The Wrong Coffin

A gentleman, who had been spending the winter at a village between Perpignan and Toulon, France, started for Marseilles, having under his charge the remains of his wife's mother, who had expressed a desire to be buried in the family vault near the sea.

On arriving at Marseilles he went with the commissioner of police to receive the body from the railway officials, but noticed that the coffin was of a different shape and construction from that which he had brought from home. It turned out that the officials had sent on to Toulon the coffin containing his mother-in-law's body, believing that it held the remains of a deceased admiral, which were to be embarked for interment in Algeria, while the coffin awaiting delivery was the one which should have been sent on.

The mourner having requested the railway officials to communicate at once with Toulon by telegraph, proceeded thither himself with the coffin of the admiral, but the dispatch had arrived too late. He ascertained when he got there that the first coffin had been duly received, taken on board the State vessel which was waiting for it, and dispatched to Algeria.

He at once called upon the maritime prefect, and explained the circumstances of the case, but though a dispatch-boat was sent in pursuit, the other vessel was not overtaken.

Acting upon the principle that an admiral in hand is worth a mother-in-law in the bush, he declined to give up the remains then in his possession until the authorities should produce the other corpse. He consoled himself doubtless with the thought that full military and naval honors had been paid to his wife's mother, for the remains had gone out of harbor amid the thunder of fort and fleet. — New York Tribune.

Hundreds Fear Being Buried Alive

1889

DREAD OF LIVE BURIAL.

Hundreds Who Fear the Coffin Will Close on Them Alive.

Many people who come to us have a dreadful fear that they may be buried alive, and, while there is a remote possibility that this might happen, says a N. Y. undertaker, I have not known a single instance of it in all my experience. These people insist on my promising to observe the utmost precaution even so far as to run red-hot needles into their bodies, and other equally barbaric treatment, before they are finally consigned to the earth.

About four years ago a young man called upon me one morning in a terrible state of agitation. He had dreamed the night before that his sister, who had been recently buried, had come to life after being placed under the sod. I tried to prove to him the utter improbability of such an occurrence, but without avail. He insisted that her grave should be opened that he might be satisfied. I was actually horror stricken at the suggestion, not that I had the remotest idea that his dream could prove true, but the thought flashed across my mind that if it should be so the shock would make him a raving maniac.

I tried to persuade him to defer the matter until the following day, but he positively refused. Finally, as there was no other way out of it, I consented, and, having obtained the necessary permit, the body was exhumed and to my inexpressible relief the absurdity of the young man's dream was proven. The effect on him was magical. He looked sorrowfully on the face of his dead sister a moment and then burst into a flood of tears, and, throwing his arm around my neck, he wept from pure excess of joy.

—The Kellogg Enterprise, Kellogg, Iowa, December 20, 1889, page 1.

Undertaker Locked in Tomb With Many Corpses

1920

Locked in Tomb With Many Corpses, Undertaker Has Thrilling Half Hour

MILFORD, Mass. — Locked in a tomb with a score of corpses about, in a cemetery far removed from habitation and almost submerged in snow and ice, and without any apparent means of escape, was the horrifying experience of Walter W. Watson, a local undertaker.

For nearly half an hour, alternately shouting in a desperate but vain effort to attract help and trying with an iron bar to pry open the tomb door, Mr. Watson said he was confronted with a situation that sorely tried his soul and gave him a thrill whose memory will always stay with him.

It was 2 o'clock in the afternoon when Mr. Watson went to the receiving tomb in Vernon Grove Cemetery. He had to work in the chamber for some little time, and thought to draw the door nearly to its fastenings, the better to be protected from the cold. To draw the heavy door over the blocking ice he threw all his strength into the pull, and to his amazement the door closed and the strong latch fell into its catch.

Watson looked about for means to force the door. When he espied a heavy iron bar he thought luck was with him. But all his efforts failed to stir open the door. Vigorously he applied the iron bar, but to no avail. Then he shouted through a 10-inch-wide ventilator in the rear of the vault. The only answer that came to him was the echo of his own voice.

With hope abandoned from this quarter, Watson determined to force his body through the small opening in the wall. A stout, well-built man, he has much difficulty in driving his shoulder through the ventilator. But persistent effort finally, after a labor of about thirty minutes, brought him safely to the outside of the tomb.

"Not for all the money in the movies would I again go through such an experience' said Mr. Watson when his thrilling experience became known to his fellow citizens.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, March 20, 1920, page 1.

Wife's Last Dollar Buys Executed Man's Coffin

1922

Nashville, Tenn. — Asbury Fields, convicted of the murder of J. E. Pierce last summer, was electrocuted in the state prison here.

Shortly after the death-dealing shock had been given Fields, his wife, small, demure and pretty, entered an undertaker's shop and spent her last dollar for a plain black coffin. She had earned the money by hard work in a hosiery mill, where she had been employed since Fields' arrest.

"I don't know that Asbury wasn't guilty," she said, "but I couldn't bear to see him buried by charity."

—Oneonta Daily Star, Oneonta, New York, April 1, 1922, page 8.

Drunks Sentenced to Church Attendance

1911

DRUNKS DISLIKE NEW RULE

Cordele (Ga.) Mayor Has Novel Method of Cleaning Up Town.

Cordele, Ga., June 6 — Disgusted by the action of Mayor Dorris in announcing that all white persons convicted of drunkenness must either accompany him to church for ten consecutive Sundays or serve thirty days on the streets, chronic drinkers are taking the pledge or getting out of town.

The first man to receive the mayor's novel sentence was Scott Thomson, a well-to-do business man. Thomson accepted the church end of the sentence but he did not seem to enjoy the sermon.


BOLT GOES THROUGH GRAVE

Steel Casket Attracts Lightning—Fear Body Is Mangled

York, Pa., June 7.—Lightning played a queer prank in Prospect Hill cemetery, passing through a grave containing a metal casket and then tearing to pieces a large tree nearby. An investigation will be made to see if the casket is shattered.

The caretaker says that it seemed, as if a ball of fire had passed along the ground, entered the grave and came out of the other end. It is feared by relatives of the dead man that the body may have been thrown from the casket and mangled by the bolt.

—Indiana Evening Gazette, Indiana, Pennsylvania, June 7, 1911, page 4.