Normally, the thought of visiting a coffin of some random person you’ve never met would sound like a morbid activity best left for more curiously macabre minds. However, there’s actually one gravesite in Mississippi that sees droves of tourists every year. All they want is a peek at the dead woman’s face.
Odd Fellows Cemetery
Odd Fellows Cemetery, like most cemeteries in the country, was visited primarily by families who had deceased members residing on the grounds. However, when people found out the “Lady in Red” was relocated there, fascinated tourists poured in to take part in the mysterious phenomenon.
“Talk Of The Town”
“I remember when they found her and people were talking about it,” said Chris Hammett, a resident of Lexington, Mississippi. “It was the talk of the town. It’s just a mystery; who she is and where she came from.” That’s because her original resting place wasn’t Odd Fellows.
The Flowing Yazoo
The Yazoo River flows through both Louisiana and Mississippi, and many consider it to mark the southern boundary of the Mississippi Delta. While the river is known for its intense waterflow and scenic paddleboat rides, one construction crew discovered something that it certainly wasn’t known for.
The Backhoe Discovery
In 1969, a crew of workmen were making their way down the bank of the Yazoo River with a massive backhoe. Their goal was to dig up a new septic tank line for residents who lived in the area. Everything was going according to plan when suddenly the backhoe struck something unexpected.
Coffin With A Question
Once the crew cleared the backhoe out of the area, they could see what its rock bucket hit while it digging. It was a coffin! Everyone looked at each other puzzled. This wasn’t anywhere close to a cemetery. And, the actual coffin itself was unlike anything the men had seen before, either.
Fish Iron Casket
It was called a Fish Iron Casket, which was specially designed to keep bodies preserved for long periods of time to prevent decomposition. Popular in the mid-1800s, these products were superior to wooden coffins because the corpses could travel long distances without erosion, and they also had a nifty little window in case of disease.
Peek-A-Boo!
No one would dare open up a casket if they knew the body inside was potentially riddled with an airborne illness, so there was a glass window by the head that allowed for friends and family to view the body safely. But, there was one other detail about this particular coffin that truly allowed for the impeccable condition of the woman’s body.
Preserved In Alcohol
The body was completely preserved in alcohol! According to some of the people who found her in 1969, even though she had been dead for decades, she looked exactly as though she could have died the day before. She also had some very striking stand-out features.
The News Breaks
Writer Jane Biggers spoke of the discovery just days after it happened: “The unidentified woman was discovered a few days ago in a metal, glass-lined casket in a garden plot on Egypt Plantation and near the home occupied by the J. T. Thomas family.” It seemed like everyone who saw the body couldn’t help but stare in amazement.
“Someone’s Pain And Grief”
“Something has been pulling me to her,” Chris Hammett continued. “She was someone’s child, sister — someone’s pain and grief. She has no one to speak for her. She has no one to pray over her. She has no one to put flowers on her grave. I don’t want her to ever be forgotten again.” The woman was just so alluring.
“She Was Real Pretty”
For one, she had long jet-black hair, a red velvet dress, a cape, and buckled shoes; she was dressed quite well for someone about to find themselves six feet underground. And, according to one cemetery worker named Walter Pitchford, she was quite the looker. “She was real pretty,” he said. “Her hair was black looking and long. She was a young lady.”
Looking For Clues
Biggers continued, “Persons viewing the woman, who has been described as in her twenties or thirties, dressed in red velvet, with long brown hair, estimate she has been dead at least 75 years.” Although no one knew who she was, historians have found clues that narrow things down a bit.
Deserving Of A Re-Bury
Using clues based on the clothing and Fish Iron Casket, it’s likely she died prior to the Civil War. This fact alone means the preservation job from both the alcohol and specialized coffin was even more impressive! Not long after the “Lady in Red” was found, she was reburied in a cemetery in Starkville, Mississippi.
Theories Abound
One plausible theory is that the Fish Iron Casket was one of several being transported along the bank of the river, and perhaps rocky terrain caused it to slip off without the driver knowing. There are also people who believe it may have been an actual accident on the river that claimed her life.
A Victim Of Drowning?
Paddleboat tours up and down the Yazoo River were especially popular decades ago, and she could very well have been a passenger who fell overboard and drowned. This, of course, didn’t explain the coffin or the pristine condition of her body. So, even though theories existed, no one could pinpoint anything exact.
“People Came From All Over”
“People came from all over,” cemetery worker Pitchford said. “They wanted to know where the Lady in Red was and I’d stop mowing and show them the Lady in Red. Finally, it all died off and they stopped coming.” But then the cemetery was handed over to another groundskeeper.
A Quest For More Information
In 2018, the grounds keeping responsibilities of the cemetery were handed off to the Lexington Odd Fellows Endowment, and a woman named Cam Bonelli is now actively trying to dig up more information on the elusive Victorian-era Lady in Red. It’s a mystery too juicy to ever completely forget about.
The Mystery Remains
Will anyone ever discover the true identity of the infamous “Lady in Red”? It’s hard to say, but the fact that she spent so many years underground without so much as a blemish on her skin is more than remarkable. She’s just one of the mysteries that makes cemeteries so fascinating.
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