Birmingham state herald., 1896-02-02
THE BONES OF COLUMBUS. At Last Found in a Cathedral in. Santo Domingo. o'
 .. a4a,
 
 VERIFIED BY STATE RECORDS The Great Dlscoyerers Burial Place Definitely Located-The Casket Was Acci- .-. dentally Discovered.

.sthe decision lay between Spanish au-
 thorities, who had an interest in main
 taining that the casket and bones trans
 ferred with great state and solemnity to
 Havana towards the end of the last cen
 tury were the genuine relics, and the ec-
 clesiastical and governmental officers,
 whose Statements were also not above suspicion. 4 -.
 Tn. May 15O6, Columbus was buried at
 Valladolid, but soon afterwards the re- mains were transferred to the Carthusian
 monastery of Las Cuevas, Seville. Some
 time between the years 1541 and 1549,
 not in 1536, the admiral's body was dis
 inferred and taken oyer the sea to His
 paniola to be buried in the Santo Dominl
 go cathedral. ThisAwas done upon the
 earnest solicitation of Columbus daugh-
 ter-in-law, to whom the discoverer had expressed his last wish to rest in the
 island, the scene of his great deeds and
 greater sufferings. 554 # Post DiSpa tch. s454
 Historian Rudolf Crenau writes from
 Santo Domingo, Hayti, announcing his, discovery of new evidence, direct and cir
 cumstantial, proving that the bones of
 Christopher Columbus are still resting in,
 the cathedral of the negro republics capi-.
 tai. They were first unearthed in 1S77,i
 and ever since historians and patriotic Spaniards have been at war asserting
 and denying the facts and circumstances of this historical discovery.
 "The date of 1856 is incorrect, for I found during my stay in Santo Domingo
 that the ca,',--'rol- -of1that city was not finished lhe.ei.a. cession of
 u""| funtil 154O. On the fJ relics,
 A.ayti to the French, in 1795, the rS7a
 or what passed for them, were re-eA-
 humed and taken to Havana, that they
 might be buried in Spanish soil.
 l HAS tO The finding of the buria1 place
 of Columbus on September 10, 1877, and
 the subsequent doubt as to the genuine
 ness of the relics reposng in the cathe-
 dral of Havana, I I-h have this authentic | report on the subjeot:a Laborers engaged
 in relaying the fiagstones of the Sante
 Domingo cathedral discovered on the | date mentioned, a small burial vault next
 to the one whose contents had been car | ried away by the Spaniards eighty-two | years previous. Stopping work, they in
 formed the authorities. who invited the | resident foreign consuls and the arch
 bishop to be present at the opening 9f
 the vault. It was found to contain a 1 leaden casket. t-ao 1t
 "The lid contained the following inl l scription: Descubridor de Ia America, l Primer Almirante .(Dscoverer of Amef,- ! ica, the First AdmiraD, and Illustre y l Esclareido Varon Don Cristoval Colon 1 (the renowned and excellent man, Don l Cristoval Colon). ia' 1T
 "The side walls of the casket contained l these initials: '- f'' l .-, c. C.. A, 'ssitt.e.
 which stand undoubtedly for CristovaI l Colon AImirante. -5s.S a.fHia 'sC.; isId'
 sAmong the remains of bones and gar | ments were found a musket ball and a 1 little silver shield. originally screwed on l to the top of the head-piece. This, too, | had an abbreviated inscription, reading
 as follows: Ultima parte de los restos | del Primero Almirante Cristoval Colon, l descubridor (the last remains of the first | admiral Cristoval Colon. the discpyerer). This made it quite, clear that the cas- ket. with it's contents, is the original one
 buried in the cathedral. but, as intimated, l the Spaniards would not accept the truth | of this simple fact. .'s
 l Immediately upon my arrival at Santo l Domingo I petitioned- the authorities for | a permit to examine the cathedral, It's
 records, books and the state archives. l "I studied numerous historical .docu- | ments, descriptions and architectural | plans concerning % the cathedral, and 1 found that originally two burial vaults | had been built to the right of the high l altar and in one of them Columbus re-
 mains had been deposited. There is. l however, no record showing that his last | resting place was marked in any way by l name or date.". e. "When the cathedral was first built the | sanctuarium had two platforms, the up- per rising one step over the other In | later years the lower platform was abol- | ished and it's space was raised to the | level of the upper ,0ne. Then the entire distance was covered with new layer or | bricks and under that the entrance to | the vaults and these themselves were completely buried.- These changes hav- l ing been made towards the end of the seventeenth century, it is highly inn probable that the Spaniards at the end of the eighteenth century knew that they 1 took place ss-
 .The bodies of Columbus sons were l buried in the cathedral as we'll as that ] of the admiral. Did the Spaniards of
 1795 consider this fact? Probably not,
 probably they had. never heard of 1t, l for the casket taken to Havana from an
 unmarked grave bore no inscriptions l whatever ..-.1s
 ''The vault discovered eighteen years ago is situated next to that emptied by
 tn e Spapiards in 1z9a and separated | from it-sby thin wall of stones. I am I satisfied that 1t is the older of the two. 1 Its position nearest 16 the outer wall of l the church, too, seems to indicate thai
 it was the first of the kind erected. 4 | 'The bullet found in the Columbus casket has the. appearance of one fired | from an .old-time -musket. We have no | records that Columbus was wounded dur ing his travels, in the service of thdr | Spanish najesties. hut discovered in | letter to the king -andsqueen. dated Nps vember, 1502. the following passage: Ny. | old wound opened. again. and for ni4e days all hope to keep life within me w$s | despaired~of.' There are people. living today who l have carried bullet in their bodies for | twenty-fiverye yearsaAnd more. Why should
 not Columbus haves'beer likewise affiict- | ed? The 1eaden ball came to the surface | only when his frame fell to pieces. Whose bones theR.~sleep in the Ha- vana cathedral? We Know that three yf | the Colon family were buried in tHf | Santo Domingo church-Columbus. DieSb | and Luis. .-@ Luis tomb have seen It | situated to the left. of the high altar, an | contains d leaden casket filled with bon | and dust. An inscription on the casRet | reads: 'El Almirante Don Louis Colon. | Duque de Jamaica. Marquis de Veragua. !, | (The Admiral Don Luis Colon, Duke of | Jamaica, Marquis of Veragua.) ! Assuming that the inscription on the Columbus casket tells. the truth-and there is no reason for doubling this we must conclude that the Spanfards 100 years ago carried off the remains of Diego, believing them to be those of his
 great father. Undoubtedly they have a