Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1914-09-19
crown IN PILLOW
OF A DEAD WOMAN
Feathers Were Woven Together
by Supernatural Power, Says
the Rev. 0. Wilson,
WOMAN A CHURCH WORKER
Family Preserves evidence Of Divine
Favor" in Glass Case and Many
Persons View 1t After Pastor
Comments On IL at Funeral


Princeton, Mo.-There Is great ex-
element among residents of this Sec
ton of the State over a strange phe-
nomepon, which, it is alleged, was
discovered after the death OF Mrs.
Isaac Il. Holiness devout church
worker. A crown of feathers" was
discovered in the pillow on which her
he'd rested when she died. The Rev.
o. ]. Wilson, pastor of the Princeton
Methodist Church, was so impressed
that he referred to the fact in the
funeral service, and expressed the
opinion that it was q sign of divine
approval of Mrs. Holmes Christian
life.
There is a tradition that "a crown
of feathers is in the pillow of every
sincere Christian at the time OF his
DEATH" but the Rev. Mr.. Wilson says
this is the first time he has ever wit
messed such a demonstration. He has
since made an investigation and says
he has learned of similar case,
A few minutes after the death Of
Mrs. Holmes, the old tradition was
recalled by a neighbor who was at
the beadside, and, in the presence of
a dozen persons, the pillow was ripped
open and little compact crown, about
three inches in diameter and shaped
like the crown of straw hat" was
found. The Holmes family have pre-
served the crown in a case and hun
dreds have viewed it,
The Rev. Mr.. Wilson, when asked
to give his opinion of the case, said,
II must confess that when the, in
cident was first told ia me | enter
tanned feeling of doubt, the same
as anyone does who has not seen
this crown. ! thought Of the many
superstitious ideas which we find in
every community. | feared that, per-
haps, someone had made this crown
and placed it in the pillow, or that
the feathers had been wrought to-
gether by the restless motion of the
dying woman's head.
THE next day ] called at the home,
where the woman lay corpse. | saw
with my eyes, and handled with my
hands, a little crown Of feathers, not
over three inches in diameter. The
feathers all are woven in one direc-
ton, the quilts pointing to the center,
and no quill is exposed TO sight. 1t
was exactly alike on both sides, being
about three-quarters of an inch thick.
LAS ] examined the cluster Of feath-
ers ! became convinced that human
hands could not possibly have put
them together in that perfect way. l
wish to state that | am of scientific
disposition. My Interpretation OF the
Bible and of life would not be re-
garded by the old school of theology
as orthodox. | do not mean to say
that ! exclude the supernatural from
everything which has been regarded
as miraculous; but | do observe that
many miracles have a natural expla.
nation. ! have endeavored to find
natural explanation for this, but as yet
have been unable to hit upon one.
However, many theories have sug-
gested themselves to me.
IL wish to tell of one thing that
will perhaps aid in verifying the
things say. Shortly after this Incl
dent | was called over the telephone
and asked to come to a certain home.
When | arrived there the family pre-
scented me with q crown of feathers,
exactly like the one found in the pill
low. The affair had aroused so much
interest that many people had exam
ined their pillows.
IL asked if there had been any
deaths in the family, and they said
there had been two or three, but that
the feathers had been renovated since
Gaining their consent to tear 1t
apart, | began, and was surprised to
find how firmly the feathers were put
together. Much pulling was required
in order to remove the feathers from
their place. | was amazed at the
amount of feathers that had been
worked into the crown. Seemingly
only few were necessary to COM
pose the crown, but before / had fin
ished ! found that | had great pile
on the table before me-"
The Rev. Mr. Wilson declares that
an accidental arrangement of the
feathers into a crown was absolutely
impossible. He says that the theory
that when the feathers had been
picked little of the skin of the goose
had stuck to them, and that the
| feathers had worked about that piece