A skin-skinned mummified man lying in an open casket in Reading, Pennsylvania, known to the public only as “Stoneman Willie” got two things he hadn’t gone Saturday for 128 years – a funeral and his real name.
Dressed in an age-old tuxedo, his generation-long afterlife as the stuff of urban legends and ghost stories ended when he was introduced to the world as James Murphy of New York at a funeral in Reading.
A crowd of funeral home workers and sympathizers, said in unison, “Rest in peace, James,” as they unveiled his headstone, with his real name in small letters below large type reading, “Stoneman Willie.”
His release included a colorful procession with a motorcycle hearse carrying his coffin.
Murphy was of Irish descent, an alcoholic, and was in Reading at a firemen’s convention when he died in the local jail of kidney failure on Nov. 19, 1895, said Kyle Blankenbiller, director of Theo C. Auman Inc. Funerals. The house where Murphy’s remains had lived.
Blankenbiller said at the funeral that Murphy’s real name was known to the original Theo Auman, the funeral home’s director in 1895.
Dressed in an age-old tuxedo, his generation-long afterlife as the stuff of urban legends and ghost stories ended when he was introduced to the world as James Murphy of New York at a funeral in Reading. AFP via Getty Images His post included a colorful procession with a motorcycle hearse carrying his coffin.REUTERS The unidentified man was in prison accused of being a thief, and he was accidentally mummified by a mortician experimenting with a new embalming technique. AFP via Getty Images A group of funeral home workers and well-wishers said in unison, “Rest in peace, Jacob,” as they unwrapped his headstone, with his real name in small letters below the large type, “Stoneman Willie.” Reuters
Murphy’s real name has been revealed in the funeral home for the past 128 years, but it wasn’t until the recent decision to give him a proper burial that research was done to conclusively confirm his identity as James Murphy.
The unknown man is in prison accused of being a thief, and he is accidentally mummified by a mortician who is experimenting with new embalming techniques.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
