The age-herald., 1900-12-23
STORY OF CEN. LEES COFFIN.
How It Was Secured Out of Wreekase
 Made By a Freshet.

It is a curious fact, says the Richmond | Dispatch, that when Gen Robert E. Lee
 died there was not to be found in Lexing
 ton suitable coffin in which to enclose his
 remains, and great freshets in the rivers 1 near by mad cut off communications be- tween that town and the cities of the State. | The question of how to obtain a coffin for | him was a peTplexing one, and the sub l joined letter from a lady of Lexington | makes, public for the first time, we believe, 1 how one was secured from wreckaSe found
 on an island in the North river: | An article having recently appeared in | Northern paper telling of The coffin in ] which Gen. Robert E. Lee was buried, and l the fact of it's having been rescued from
 the great flood which devastated Rock
 bridge county in the fall of 1870, it may be
 of interest to some readers to learn the
 exact circumstances of the case. A letter received in Lexington not long | ago expressed great concern at the publh cation of this article, and begged that the l true story of the coffin might be told. Many persons still living in the town took an active part in the funeral ceremonies of
 the great man and hero, among them two men who assisted in repairing the damage sustained by the casket.
 In 1870 the only lines of communication between Lexington and the world were the James river and Ohio canal, leading by Lynchburg to Richmond and the Valley turnpike"-the stage road running through Staunton to Winchester Freight of all kinds was brought and carried by the ca nal, travellers journeying mostly by stage.
 Below the bridge Which crosses the North Branch of James river, mile beyond the town, there stood. far above high-water mark, large, strong, commodious ware house. where was landed, or stored, all freight coming by canal. Shortly before the heavy rains fell, which caused the flood, a quantity of valuabl property had been deposited in this warehouse, amongst which was library packed in boxes, fur niture, two fine, new pianos and an invoice of burial caskets.
 Though the rain fell for several days, no fears were felt for the safety of property near the town; but as tidings came of the destruction of bridges all over the country, and the washing of farm lands. efforts were made to remove goods to safer points; but the mountain streams poured their swollen torrents with such force and ra- pdity into the river that it rose above the highest watermark. On either side of the bridge, and extending into the lower part of the town, its waters spread like a great lake.
 Nothing could withstand the deluge. Ca nal boats as if made of paper, were wash ed far up into the roadway leading to the main street; buildings, trees bridges, came crashing against the hsh, massive river bridge. which, yielding to the shock, was
 
 living near enough to witness the spectacle, the building up to this time seemed to stand as if rooted to the earth, but so great was the force with which the bridge assailed it that it turned over with frightful splash, and its contents, repre- senting thousands of dollars, were scat tered for miles over the country Parts of the pianos and other furniture were picked up seventeen and twenty miles away, but not book from the library was ever found
 and nothing of any value except one burial case was recovered.
 General Lee died the 12th of October and so completely was Lexington cut off from
 the world that it was impossible to obtain coffin from any quarter The canal was
 destroyed. and no vehicle could move in any direction
 About three days before General Lees death the waters began to fall, and al- though it was still dangerous to make the attempt, four daring men undertook to l search the flooded district By skirting along the cliffs which slope gradually down | to the river, they came abreast of an | island, upon which was piled a quantity of wreckage. One of the men, a Mir Roots | swam across the rushing torrent and found | the casket. A more adventurous party had preceded them, as was shown by square | hole cut in the outer box but its contents | had evidently not proved attractive and it | had been left where it had lodged Roots succeeded in putting it into a canoe but it l took almost superhuman efforts to bring it | safely ito the town.
 Well boxed as it was, the casket had | been but little injured by it's journey down l the river, and little loving and skilled la- l bor soon restored it to its original condi- | tion The men who had rescued 1t felt more l than repaid for their efforts when they found that they had really provided a suit able coffin for their dearly beloved chief | tain, whom they had followed so often, and who had led them to victory on so many 1 bloody fields
 Thus it came about that one of the great est men, and almost the greatest military hero of modern times, was buried in cof- lin rescued from the never-to-be-f forgotten flood of October. 1870.