A leather-skinned mummified man lying in an open casket in Reading, Pennsylvania, known only as “Stoneman Willie” to the public, got two things Saturday that he went without for 128 years: a burial and his real name.
Dressed in a period tuxedo, his generations-long public afterlife as part of urban lore and ghost stories ended when he was introduced to the world as New York’s James Murphy at a funeral in Reading.
A group of funeral home employees and supporters said in unison, “Rest in peace, James,” as they unveiled his headstone, with his real name in small letters beneath large letters that read, “Stoneman Willie.”
His farewell included a colorful procession with a motorcycle hearse carrying his coffin.
Murphy was of Irish descent, an alcoholic and was in Reading at a firefighter’s convention when he died in the local jail of kidney failure on Nov. 19, 1895, said Kyle Blankenbiller, funeral director of Theo C. Auman Inc. Home where the men resided. Murphy’s remains.
Blankenbiller said at the funeral that Murphy’s real name was known to the original Theo Auman, director of the funeral home in 1895.
Dressed in a period tuxedo, his generations-long public life as part of urban lore and ghost stories ended when he was introduced to the world as New York’s James Murphy at a funeral in Reading. AFP via Getty Images His farewell included a colorful procession with a motorcycle hearse carrying his coffin.REUTERS The once unidentified man was in jail accused of being a thief, and was accidentally mummified by a mortician who was experimenting with new embalming techniques.AFP via Getty Images A group of funeral home employees and supporters said in unison: “Rest in peace, James,” as they unveiled his tombstone, with his real name in small letters beneath large letters that read: “ “Stoneman Willie.”
Murphy’s real name had been passed down within the funeral home for the past 128 years, but it was not until the final decision to give him a proper burial that research was conducted to conclusively confirm his identity as James Murphy.
The once unidentified man was in jail accused of being a thief, and was accidentally mummified by a mortician experimenting with new embalming techniques.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn