Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1912-05-30
PASTORS GRAVE
D|GGERS STRIKE
Rev. Mr.. Mundy Has Bodies of
Family In Metuchen Gem
etery Dislnterred.
WORKMEN IN PANIC AS
! SPADE STRIKES cAsKET
Town Is Excited When Rumor Is
Spread That Ghouls We're
at Work.

METUCHEN, May 0.-Rey. Ezra II.
hundy. Of Leavenworth. KAN, a Presby-
tsrian minister, formerly of Metuchen,
left yesterday for the sunfower State,
A fortnight ago the preacher came to
town for the ostensible purpose Of visit
Ing old friends. Rev. Mr.. Mundy Is hale
and hearty and in his eightieth year.
; 1t II rumored that he left Metuchen
earlier than he had intended, due to the
clearing up of viii. at first promised to
be a mystery. One morning. a few days
ago.. officials of the Presbyterian Gene
terry Association received a report that
ghouls had been at work. Three open
graves were found. The officials located
Noah Brown, the aged sexton, who ex-
planned that the graves had been opened
byF Rev, Mr.. Mundy and two assist
ants. Mundy owned two lots In the ceme-
terry. In one there was buried in 1853
his father and mother. The other con-
tained the remains Of his wife, Abbie
C~oddington, who died July 10, 1911. aged
30 years; his daughter, Ella, who died
In 1883. aged n years, and two sons,
Charles, who died in 1859. and William,
who died In 1874.
Grave Disgers strike.
The story is that Rev. air. Mundy
figured that all his family should have
final resting places in one spot, At any
rate the bodies of his wife and three
children were exhumed. According to re-
liable authority Mr.. Mundy assisted in
the work by welding pickax and spade.
All went well until the spaae oI one OF
the diggers struck the bones of one OF the
A~r-aka IUfkh N -all th1 ,,a, ,xxnnnd
from the grave aud he was followed by
the other digger, as well as by Rev.
Mr.. Mundy.
The sexton went to investigate. The
striking graye-diggers refused absolutely
TO handle the bones that remained in
three of the graves, but had no objec-
ton to transferring the coffin of Mrs.
Mundy, which was In good condition.
Sexton Brown is authority for the state
ment that he agreed to remove the bones
of Mr.. Mundy's three children, together
with the silk lining OF the comns. which
was all that remained, on condition that
Mundy pay the sum of $3.50, This was
paid. Then the work of removal began.
Brown snys he bought a box from Alder
man Edward Kramer and In this was de-
posted all the bones of the family.
Bodies Are Removed.
An ordinary grave had been dug on the
other Mundy plot. First the cofin con-
tatnins the remains of Mrs. Mundy was
lowered into this without ceremony. Then
the dry goods box containing the bones
Of the three children was put In the
same grave. The work of removing the
tombstones and monument then began.
After the work had been practically fin
tshed the Mundy relatives we're notified
D strenuous objection was made. The
cemetery association Is highly incensed
because by moving Mrs. Mundy's remains
inside of two years after the burial It Ia in
direct violation of the rules of the ceme-
terry. Another violation of the rules is the
buryipg of more than one body in a grave
The reason advanced by Rev. MIR.
Mundy for the moving of the remains of
his family was that there was no use in
having his family separated In DEATH"
Already Mr.. Mundy has had a stone
cutter inscribe this on a tombstone just
erected:
Reverend Ezra F. Mundy, ordained
1855. born 1882, died -
Mr.. Mundy inherited $500 from his
brother, who died a number of years
ago.