"Stoneman Willie", mummified body unclaimed in Reading, PA funeral home since 1895, identified - James Murphy

[ifindedout]

Stoneman Willie, 128-year-old mummy in Reading, finally identified and buried

The embalmed remains of James Murphy, a man who died in prison in1895, spent decades on display at the funeral home that laid him to rest

www.phillyvoice.com

The mummified remains of a Pennsylvania prisoner who died in 1895 were formally identified and given a proper burial on Saturday, closing the long chapter of the body's display at a Reading funeral home.

For generations, the preserved body of "Stoneman Willie" rested in an open coffin at Auman Funeral Home. Residents and tourists often visited to pay their respects and tell grim tales about the mysterious man, whose real name was determined to be James Murphy. Some viewed him as a sideshow, recalling how his remains were "hard as marble or bronze."

The moniker Stoneman Willie referred to the leathery, petrified state of Murphy's body. He had been embalmed by Theodore Auman, the funeral home's late director, because his remains went unclaimed and no one knew for sure who he was at the time of his death. He had given a fake name in prison.

Reporting my own post on the off-chance there might be a better forum for it....