Basking In the Sun
Shanna Riley April 9th, 2007
What you see here is, indeed, a coffin; a very old one.
There is no longer any legible marker to tell us who the occupant of this centuries old cast-iron casket is. All that I can tell you about it is that it has sat - basking in the light of day - for over fifteen years or longer. When this coffin was originally entombed is still a mystery, but some of the graves in this cemetery date back to the mid-1800's.
It would seem vandalism would have taken place over such a long period - and perhaps, there have been reckless youths that desired a peek inside. Yet there is really nothing to fear; even a very strong man would find it difficult - if not impossible - to pull that casket the rest of the way out of it's tomb.
It is made of heavy cast-iron. Though the feet area is seemingly too small to hold an adult's feet, the length of the casket, which can be seen when you peer down into the depths of the tomb, indicate this is an adult's grave.
The flash on my camera briefly illuminated the the dank darkness of the vault, and I snapped what appears to be a white cross, porcelain I am guessing, near the head of the casket. Unfortunately, it does not appear to be one of the infamous cast-iron caskets with a glass head so that the deceased person's face was visible.
The tomb itself is a waist-high, double-vaulted brick abode; the ground itself provides the flooring for the crypt. The adjacent vault, to the right of this one, is still securely sealed; the front of this one crumbled at some time in the distant past and has never been repaired.
My aunt - a local of the town where this cemetery exists - and I are trying to track down the cemetery records. It isn't a Catholic cemetery; in fact, it is one shared by a number of Protestant denominations in the area - so records aren't as readily available, or as detailed, as one might hope.
Once - and if - we learn more, I'll post it here.
- Sepulcher
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