Demoine courier., 1855-02-08
Petrifed Human Bodies,

We fad in the Dayton, (O..) Empire.
Of last Saturday, an account, of the dis
covery rear Dayton, of several petrified
human bodies. II appears that Mr.. G.
p. 10y desired TO remove the remains Of
his first wife, a grandchild, and other
bodies from their burial place on his W
farm to the cemetery; this burial place
was on the side Of a hill in an open field.
The Empire says:
The first grave opened was tina, Of Mr..
Lows frs! wife, who was inferred about
twenty four years ago. On reaching The
coffin it was found to be perfect-at least
to appearance-and the men proceeded
TO completely unearth it, and raise j, 10
the grave mouth. This. they soon as.
cer,ained TO be a difficult task, aud the
small force engaged at it was compelled
to procure assistance. The earth at This
time was completely taken from around
the coffin, and removed from under the
coffin, as far as it could be reached, but
still it was found difficult even to move il.
The assistance of six men was at
once obtained, and it required all the
strength they were in possession Of to
raise the coffin in its bed anc place i,
upon The ground at the side of the grave!
|! was supposed by those engaged in the
dlslnterment that The coffin was filled
with wafer, on account of its extreme
heavlness, bu, after it was taken from
the grave il was measurably dry. and no
signs Of water could be discovered. The
Ind was then with difficulty removed,
when il was ascertained that the body
was in an excellen. stale Of presesva.
ton. Upon a close examination. it was
found that the remains would not give
way under the pressure Of a piece OF
a heavy board which one of The gen.
tlemen placed upon the corpse. and this
strange circumstance led to further in-
vestiga,ion. The shroud, and indeed all
The covering which was upon the body
at the time of interment, "a years ago.
had tisappeared-no, a veslige remain.
ed. The body was perfect. except the
RICH! leg. from the knee to the ankle
joint, where the flesh seemed to have
wasted away, and lay a, the bottom OF
he coffin in substance resembling ashes
mixed with sand. With tins exception
of decay, the body and limbs exhibited
the same perfeclness Of exterior they
did when life and animation was in the
body.
The body, indeed. had been petri6ed!
|, was, by some strange quality Of earth,
and other causes Of which we car form
no conjecture. turned into stone Of a
drab, or. more properly speaking, flesh
color, and the chisel Of the artist might
initiate, but could not make SO close .
resemblance of the ...human form di-
Sine." The smile which lighted up her
coun.enance at the moment when death
gently united the cord which bound her
sonI to clay still seemed 10 linger upon
the face Of stone. The ligh. f.,he eyes
was gone, and they were s~unken-but
from the sighliess orbs the soul seemed
to look out upon those who we're view.
ing with as,onishment ,ha, human form
of stone.
The grave Of the grandchild of Nj.
10y WIS nexl entered and the coffin ex.
aminea. 1t was also found TO be heavy.
and when opened, the corpse presented
much the same appearance as that pre-.
scented by Mrs. 10y. II was not as per-
feet, however, although petriied. The
body and limbs had about the same sp-
pearance they did in life, but The exterior
had lost its life.like contour. The most
remark able thing connected with The re.
mains Of The child was, that the hair up.
on the skull was to all appearance the
same as in llfe! Mr.. Lane clipped =
small ring'et from the crown and tied is
into a knot. The other bodies which
were exhumed-one or two in number
were only partly peTi6ed, and were
mostly decayed.
A great many persons. attracted by so
remarkable phenomena, gathered around
these remains with wondering eyes
The like had been read about. bu, never
seen by them before; indeed we very
much doubt whether as grea. curiosi,ies. :
in human petrifac,ion. were ever before
seen. although We have strange accounts
coming down 10 US through misty ages.
These bodies Of stone in human shape
were inferred in the cemetery q. German
town. where they will probably remain
until the "Great day." when they will
be transformed into receptacles for i'm.
mortal souls.