Strange Virginian Story.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 2624, 26 October 1894, Page 1

Strange Virginian Story.

A WOMAN WHO OBJECTED TO BtfINGBUBIED. Oa the top of a mountain in West Virginia ia a sight which is well worth going to see. About 23 yeara ago Mrs Isabella Smith, wife of Alex. Smith, ono of tbo oldest residents of the State, died after a lingering iilneas, Before sbe died she expressed the wish to ber husband thafc she ahould be placed after death in a coffin and put out in fcbe front yard, a short distance from the bouse. She had a horror of being buried under ground, aud implored her husband to grant her wiah and not to bury ber as ordinary corpses aie disposed of. Her husband promised that her wishes sbould be complied with. A short time after this unusual request was made death claimed her as his victim, and she was shrouded and placed iv a common coffin, made by one of the neighboring carpenters. Tbe coffin was placed iv a box, and the following d,ay the remains were placed on a flat rock in full sight of the house where in life sho mado ber home. Tbere tbe corpse remained the ta'k of tbe neighborhood, tho wonder of all wbo saw tbe unsightly view of a burial, and yet not a burial. Here tbe box containing the corpse was suffered to re main for a period of a year or more. [n tbe meantime the relict of the doceased concluded tbat it was nofc well for a man to be alone in this world, evon though tbe earthly remains of his late lamented were bo near to him and still abovo ground. So after a brief time had elapsed, be again took unto himself a wife — a comely woman of tbe neighborhood. While wife No. 2 was willing to share his home she objected to wife No. 1 being co near at hand, and immediately after marriage prevailed upon ber husband to remove the remaius of hia first wife to a more fitting place. Thia he ngreed to do. The remains were in due time taken to a cliff of rocks, probably a mile from their former resting-place. Here, under tho cliff, on top of a high mountain, can be seen this ghastly sight, which has been viewed by hundreds of curious people. There are now at this late date no nails or screws to hold down the lid of the box or of tbe coffin, and people who go there have no hesitation in removing them and gazing on the remains. It is hardly reasonable to Buppoße that after 23 years tbe romaina could have had any resemblance to a human being, but such is undoutedly the case. Not only are tbe bones yet in iheir proper place, butthe skin, which is like parchment and about the color of manilla wrapping paper, remains tightly drawn over the face and head, and even tbe eyebrows being as natural as in life. The hands | are crossed over the breast. Altogether it is a ghastly sight, the shroud being yellow with age, the corpse, which yet retains resemblance to a human being, the long ; black hair yet clinging to the skull, and the wild and desolate place in whicb it is found, cause an involuntary shudder to escape from one on beholdiDg it for tho first time.