MAY 19, 1900
PAGE 10
STRANGE ACT OF A GRAVEDIGGER.
Peculiar Conduct of
a Man at St. Boniface Cemetery.
When Engaged to Remove a Body from One Grave
to Another He Removed Only the Head.
Placed it in a Berry Crate Before
Bury-it — Becoming Conscience Smitten He Buried the Money He Received for the
Work.
The family of William WALDERT of the Langie Coal Company,
who lives at the corner of Averill avenue and Bond street, are very
much wrought up over the action of John HEUSINGER, a grave digger employed
at St. Boniface cemetery on Clinton avenue, south, and who upon
being engaged to remove the body of Mrs. WALDERT's mother from one grave
to another in the cemetery, removed only the head of the body to the
new grave and there buried it, after placing it in a berry crate. The
grave digger, who is an aged man, became so conscience smitten after
removing only the head of the body and failing to fill his agreement in
regard to the removal of the remainder that he buried in another part of
the cemetery the money he had received for the work. When the family
after becoming suspicious that the grave digger had not removed the
body properly, opened both graves for the purpose of determining whether
or not there was any ground for the suspicion, and found that only the
head had been removed they confronted the grave digger with what
they discovered. He then confessed that he had only removed a portion of
the body and his conscience had troubled him so that he had buried the
money he had received for the work. He showed the spot where the money
was buried and it was found there.
Mrs. WALDERT's mother died
twelve years ago and was buried in St. Boniface cemetery, which is opposite
the old Pinnacle burying ground on Clinton avenue, south. Two weeks ago Mrs.
WALDERT's father, Alois YAEK, died. The family secured a new lot in the
cemetery and it was in this lot that the body of Mr. YAEK, who was an old and
highly respected resident of the city, was interred.
After the
death of the father, it was the desire of the family to have the body of the
mother placed beside the father in the new lot.
HEUSINGER, the grave digger,
was consulted and he agreed to remove the body from the old grave and place
it in a grave beside that of the husband. A permit for the removal of the
body was obtained from the Board of Health and a rough box in which to place
the remains of Mrs. YAEK after exhumation and before they were consigned to
the new resting place was sent to the cemetery. HEUSINGER, the grave digger,
was told by the members of the family to let them know when he was ready
to remove the body so that some of the family could go to the cemetery
and see that the work was done properly. A few days later HEUSINGER
called at the home of Mrs. WALDERT and told her that he had removed the body
of her mother from the old to the new grave. When asked why he had
not notified the family so that some of them could have gone to the
cemetery to witness the removal, he said that he did not think they would
care to see the remains, as there were only a few bones, and the comb that
had been left in the woman's hair when she died.
The action of
HEUSINGER in not notifying the family when he was to remove the body seemed
rather suspicious and the more the family thought of the matter the stranger
they considered the actions of the gravedigger and it was finally decided to
make an investigation.
Mr. WALDERT, taking a couple of coal
shovelers employed by the Langie company, visited the cemetery unknown to the
grave digger. They carried with them the necessary digging tools and went
directly to the new lot of the family and opened the grave in which the body
of Mrs. YAEK was supposed to have been placed. The ghastly discovery that
they made caused the men to shudder. There was a berry crate, inside
of which was the head of a human body. There were no other parts of the
body in the grace.
The old grave was next opened, and the
headless body of a woman, in as good preservation as it could be expected was
found. The men placed it with the other part of the body in the new grave,
and after the soil was thrown back into the graves, HEUSINGER was
visited.
He was told what had been discovered, and he confessed that he had
for some reason he did not seem able to explain, simply removed the head
and placed it in the new grave. He also confessed that since he
had received his pay for doing the work his conscience had troubled him
so that he could not keep the money, but had buried it in the
cemetery.
HEUSINGER agreed to go to the cemetery and show the men where the
money was buried. It was just beginning to get dark when the little
party reached the lonely burying ground. HEUSINGER led the way to a
far corner of the cemetery and indicated the spot where he had buried
the money. One of the men dug into the soil in the spot pointed out by
the grave digger, and the money was found a foot beneath the surface.
Naturally, the members of the family were much wrought up over
the
matter, but the old grave digger seemed to regret his strange action so much
that it was decided not to follow the matter any further.
The
supposition is that the grave digger's intentions when he began the work were
all right, but that by some mistake he did not dig directly over the body,
and when he reached the proper depth, he was only able to reach the head. To
avoid the work of making another excavation he simply removed the head and
placed it in the berry box and then into the new grave, probably thinking
that the deception would never be found out. He has been the grave digger at
the cemetery for a great many years, and has always been regarded as
trustworthy.
The family has kept the matter as quiet as possible,
but it soon became noised about the neighborhood in which they live. The
facts were verified by a member of the family.
MAY 19, 1900
PAGE
12
AGED SERVANT'S DEATH.
Miss Mary BRENNAN Died Suddenly from
Apoplexy.
Miss Mary BRENNAN, 68 years of age, a servant in the home
of Miss E. WILD at 13(?)4 Spring street, died suddenly
yesterday afternoon. She had been feeling ill during the morning and
shortly after noon was found dead in bed. For forty years she was a servant
in the family of Dr. W.S. ELY.
Coroner Wallace SIBLEY was
notified of the death. After investigating the case, the coroner granted a
certificate of death from apoplexy.
Deceased is survived by four
sisters, Mrs. Ellen PURCELL of Guelph, Canada, Mrs. John DREW, Mrs. Ann
FLANNIGAN, and Mrs. Michael PURCELL, of this city.
Announcements.
—
Mary BRENNAN died yesterday at No. 29? Hawley street, aged 60 years.
—
The funeral of James P. MAJOR was held from the family residence, No. 52
Pearl street, at 3 o'clock this afternoon.
— Catherine, infant daughter
of Thomas W. and Mary RICHARDSON, died yesterday at the family residence, No.
3 Park avenue.
— Mary E. infant daughter of Michael and Mary Scheridan
CANE, died last evening at the family residence, No. 38 Pennsylvania
avenue.
— The funeral of Leonard S. CASE will be held from the family
residence, No. 90 Mt. Hope avenue, at 3 o'clock to-morrow afternoon.
—
The funeral of Charles O'NEIL will be held from the family residence, No. 86
Martin street, at 8:30 o'clock Monday morning and at 9 o'clock from St.
Bridget's Church.
— John Rochester THOMAS Jr., only son of John R. THOMAS
and the late Julia Hortense THOMAS, died Thursday at the family residence in
New York. The remains will be brought to this city for interment.
—
William J., son of William and Mary KELLER, died yesterday afternoon at the
family residence, No. 745 Clinton avenue, north. He was a member of the
Young Men's Club of St. Michael's Church.
— Mary STEWART died yesterday
at the residence of Mrs. James PATERSON, No. 24 Marietta street, aged 44
years. The funeral was held from the house at 8:45 o'clock this morning, and
at 9 o'clock from St. Bridget's Church.
— The funeral of Mrs. Jacob
DeMALLIE was held from the family residence, No. 3 Harwood street, at 2
o'clock this afternoon.
— The funeral of George I. GOODRICH was held from
the family residence, No. 17 East avenue, at 2 o'clock this
afternoon.
— Mrs. Mary MANZERSON, died last evening at the family
residence, No. 135 Platt street. Deceased is survived by her husband, Jacob
MANZERSON, and her mother, Mrs. Arvilla HOTCHKISS. The funeral will be held
from the house at 3 o'clock to-morrow afternoon.
— Mrs. Fannie J.
McMAHON died yesterday at St. Mary's Hospital, aged 33 years. Deceased is
survived by her husband, two brothers, William and Louis HUTTE, and two
sisters, Mrs. John FETZNER and Mrs. Joseph P. FETZNER. The remains were
removed to the family residence, No. 210 1-2 Clinton avenue, north.
—
Mrs. Katherine SCHMIDT, widow of John SCHMIDT, died yesterday at the City
Hospital, aged 44 years. Deceased is survived by her husband, one son,
Charles, two daughters, Miss Emma SCHMIDT and Mrs. Carl MARTIN, and one
brother, Edward SCHANTZ, all of this city, and a brother and sister in
Germany. The funeral will be held from the family residence, No. 164 S???
street, at 2 o'clock to-morrow afternoon and at 2:30 o'clock from Salem
Church.
— Thomas Charlton MOORE aged 32, eldest son of Thomas B. MOORE,
died at the family residence, 44 Asbury park, last evening. He is survived
by his parents, three brothers, William of Buffalo, John and Oliver,
and one sister, May, of this city; uncles, A.W. MOORE of Rochester,
Stephen and Mark MOORE of Nottingham, England, Captain Ernest MOORE of the Royal
Robin Hood Rifle Regiment, and other relatives in England. The
remains will be taken to Toronto for interment.
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SO