The Tattnall Journal

Fisk Mummy Case found by Ben Kennedy near the Sapelo River in December

L to r: Ben Kennedy, Jeff Gardner and Lamar Smith examine area where additional grave sites were indicated by Ground Penetrating Radar

On December 8, 2006, Ben Kennedy of Reidsville discovered what appeared to be a discarded gasoline tank from an automobile lying in the marsh grass near the northwest bank of the Sapelo River just south of Pine Harbor in McIntosh County. Ben was inspecting Lamar Smith’s recently acquired coast property and trimming limbs and small bushes near the river. A closer look at the suspected fuel tank provided a hair-raising surprise. The “tank” turned out to be a cast iron casket that had all the appearances of an Egyptian mummy case.

At first the object resembled a body wrapped in canvas. After determining that the structure was made of metal, he decided it was a coffin, and it was evident that coffin had most likely eroded out of the riverbank.

Ben immediately contacted Lamar Smith and the McIntosh Deputy Coroner Scott Dye for assistance and advice. Upon arrival, Dye stated, “I’ve never seen anything like this.” It was then placed in a transport vehicle and taken to the Darien Funeral Home.

After talking with Stuart Sligh, of Sligh Environmental Consultants, Lamar Smith contacted Scott Butler of Brockington and Associates, Inc. (an archaeological research firm with offices in Atlanta, Charleston, Jacksonville, and Savannah) for assistance in determining the origin of the casket, who was buried in it (if possible), if the site had additional graves, and what should be done with the casket and the grave site. Jeffrey Gardner, Vice President of Brockington and Associates, Inc. was assigned to the case.

In the meantime, Ben Kennedy was conducting his own research on iron coffins and determined that the object was a “Fisk Mummy Case,” which was produced by Almond D. Fisk of Providence, RI, beginning in 1848. The Fisk Mummy Case was sold until the late 1850s to persons of sufficient financial means as it cost from fifty to one hundred dollars (a typical wooden coffin cost about two dollars during the same time period). Ben surmised that the individual in the mummy case must have been a person of some wealth and importance. Additionally, based on current research, it is the only Fisk coffin found in Georgia to date.

During his research, Ben was able to talk with Dr. Doug Owsley, Chief Anthropologist with the Natural Museum of History in Washington, DC. Owsley recommended that the Georgia State Historic Preservation Office should be contacted for assistance. It was there that Ben spoke with Christine Neal, who put him in contact with Deputy State Archaeologist Chris McCabe of the Department of Natural Resources on Skidaway Island. In mid-December, McCabe inspected the site and the coffin at the funeral home.

On December 27, Jeff Gardner met with Ben at the property to examine and photograph the area of the riverbank from which the coffin had eroded into the marsh. Afterwards they drove to Darien to inspect and photograph the coffin.

When Gardner talked with Ms. Neal, she stated that she was drafting a letter to Ben and the McIntosh County Deputy Coroner based on observations by Chris McCabe. She was recommending that the coffin be re-interred as soon as possible. However, Jeff Gardner recommended that the coffin might be stored at the funeral home while research was undertaken to identify the remains and the cemetery.

After weeks of research, Gardner documented evidence that suggests the casket and remains came from the Fairhope Plantation Cemetery, which he has located on the riverbank on the original grounds of Fairhope Plantation. In fact, after uncovering an 1885 photograph of Fairhope Plantation along with other evidence, he is convinced that Lamar Smith’s property is located in close proximity to the original site of the old plantation house.

Fairhope Plantation was the ancestral home of the McIntosh clan for which McIntosh County is named. Due to his military service to General Oglethorpe during the War with Spain (the War of Jenkins’ Ear), William McIntosh (1726-1801) was granted land on the Sapelo River by the British Crown, which he named Fairhope Plantation.

William McIntosh was 16-years-old when he fought in the Battle of Bloody Marsh on St. Simons Island on July 7, 1742. Later he became a delegate to the 1775 Savannah Provincial Congress and a Colonel of Light Horse during the American Revolution. At his death, his son, John McIntosh inherited Fairhope.
Colonel John McIntosh was a well known hero of the American Revolution. He commanded Fort Morris at Sunbury when British Lt. Colonel L.V. Fuser demanded surrender of that fort on November 20, 1778. McIntosh’s reply was, “Come and take it.”

Colonel McIntosh also served in the War of 1812. He died in 1826 and was buried at Fairhope, according to the Georgia Historical Marker in front of Mallow Cemetery at Pine Harbor.

Jeff Gardner’s research indicates that four members of the McIntosh clan are buried at the cemetery. Those include Colonel John McIntosh; 1748-1826; Maria B. McIntosh 1819-1850, granddaughter of Colonel John McIntosh; Mazie J. McIntosh, 1824-1849, younger sister of Maria B. McIntosh; and Catherine McIntosh, 15-month-old daughter of William H. and Mary B. McIntosh.

Based on the available documentation (fires at the Courthouse in Darien in 1864, 1931, and 1986 destroyed many records) it would appear that the remains inside the mummy case might be female. Gardner is not convinced. “I think it’s a male,” he said. “Women were not often buried in those cast iron coffins. Also, this is a pretty long coffin.”

A Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) scan of the area indicates the presence of four other gravesites in the immediate area from where the Fisk Mummy Case eroded into the river. That could indicate that documentation for one (or more) graves may have been lost over time.

Research is continuing into the mystery surrounding the Fisk Mummy Case found in the edge of the marsh grass on the Sapelo River. Lamar Smith says that he is interested in doing the right thing which, as a minimum, will include re-interring the coffin and protecting the cemetery. Also he is concerned about the continuing effects of river erosion on the remaining graves in the cemetery.

Ben Kennedy agrees to a point. “I would like to get as much information as possible so we could treat the area with the respect it deserves. I think it is an important historical site,” he said with a grin. “But I’d sure like to know who was buried in that mummy case.”

Editor’s Note: This is an abbreviated version of the details surrounding the mysterious mummy casket on the Sapelo River. A more complete story with additional photographs will be printed in a series of articles in The Tattnall Journal beginning next week entitled: A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma...

Ben Kennedy and Jeff Gardner (kneeling) look at the cave on the Sapelo River Bank where the Sapelo mummy casket was interred

Ben Kennedy of Reidsville, Georgia, might say that Winston Churchill’s famous October 1939 description of Russia (“A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”) best describes the mysterious “mummy casket” he discovered in marsh grass on the edge of the Sapelo River just north of Eulonia in McIntosh County on December 8, 2006. That casket, which has been identified as the “Fisk Mummy Case,” illuminates a brief moment in time that reaches back over 155 years ago into Georgia history. It is a mesmerizing opportunity to connect with many forgotten or overlooked details of southeastern Georgia coastal life and culture.

When Ben first discovered the mummy casket on Lamar Smith’s Sapelo property, he thought it looked like a body that someone had wrapped in canvas and thrown into the river. He laughs now when he says, “I stared at that thing and thought, ‘This is not good.’”

When he realized it was a coffin, he called Lamar and then contacted the local and state authorities. As the site was examined, they realized that erosion from the river had washed the casket out of the riverbank. The initial reaction from local and state authorities was that it should be re-interred near the same location as soon as possible.

Perhaps it was the uniquely human characteristic of wanting to know “who, what, why, when, where and how” that encouraged Ben and Lamar to search for answers. They were intrigued with the unique design of the casket and who might be inside.

It was around December 20, 2006, when I first became aware of the mysterious mummy case. My phone rang and when I answered my daughter Casey was literally yelling into my ear.

“Dad, Ben Kennedy found an iron mummy case on Lamar Smith’s coast property. They aren’t sure how it got there; maybe it washed ashore, maybe the tides washed it out of the river bank. I’ve seen the pictures; it’s unbelievable! His cell phone is ...”

So I called Ben, and he provided a few sketchy details with the understanding that nothing would be printed until more complete information was available.

“We don’t want to put out false information,” he said. “And we want to treat the deceased with the proper respect. But we would like to find out as much as we can. If the casket was washed out of the bank, there’s a good chance there will be other graves there too. If we decide to bury the casket near the original site, we’d need to know who is in it and where other graves are located to provide information for headstones, etc. We’re getting knowledgeable individuals and proper authorities involved to help us.”

Near the end of February, I ran into Ben at Wiregrass Pictures and Frames in Reidsville. He had stopped in to pick up some framed photos (photography is his hobby).

He grinned. “We’re getting closer to some of the answers. Lamar hired the archeological firm of Brockington and Associates Incorporated from the Jacksonville office to do the research. Jeff Gardner is the Senior Historian and Project Manager, and Wendy Weaver is the Archaeologist. Wendy is in charge of the Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) team, which is coming next week. These people are really good at what they do. Hopefully they can tell us about the site and eventually help us find out who is in the coffin.”

I received a message on my phone recorder from Ben on March 13, 2007. “We aren’t finished, but we have enough information that you can write a story.”

I drove to Eulonia on March 14, 2007, and met with Ben. He placed his laptop computer on the hood of his truck and we looked at several photographs of the mummy case immediately after it had been retrieved from the marsh and placed on the riverbank. Then we examined the gravesite, and he showed me where the casket had been found, including bricks that were apparently used for a vault or support, which had been washed out of the riverbank by tides and high water. The bottom of a dark green glass bottle suspected of dating back to that era 155 years lay among the bricks.

The exact area the casket had occupied in the riverbank was cave-like and clearly visible. It appeared that the head had pointed east and imprints still remained that indicated where the riverbank collapsed which caused the coffin to roll out onto the edge of the marsh.

Afterwards we discussed various possibilities, and he provided information I could use to research the Fisk Mummy Case which would allow me to develop a feel for the social and economic status of individuals who were buried in those caskets. That research is truly interesting.

The Fisk Mummy Case was patented in 1848 by Almond D. Fisk and produced in Providence Rhode Island in the late 1840s and early ‘50s. These coffins came in different shapes, from the one resembling an Egyptian mummy to another model that looked like a deep-sea diver. All had a glass window at the head for observers to view the deceased. As time went on, other manufacturers improved the Fisk design and sold metal coffins of more modern design.

Cast iron coffins were developed to fill the need for a more efficient and permanent method to prevent the remains of the deceased from decomposing over both the short and long term. The Fisk cases were sealed and could be filled with gases to prevent deterioration.

This was extremely important in hot weather. When President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, ice was placed under his casket on the train ride back to Illinois, yet his body turned black during the trip. Fisk iron coffins were advertised as unsurpassed for shipping the remains of a person for long distances without fear of decomposition.

When former Vice President and South Carolina Senator John C. Calhoun died in 1850, Henry Clay, Jefferson Davis, and Daniel Webster wrote an endorsement of the Fisk Metallic Burial Case describing it as “the best article known to us for transporting the dead to their final resting place.”

However, those who purchased the metal coffins were no doubt well aware of the long term preservation properties. One interesting case was described in The Pulaski Citizen of Giles County, Tennessee, by staff writer Claudia Johnson.

The story centered around Pvt. Isaac Newton Mason, a Confederate soldier apparently killed in an April 1862 train wreck near Corinth, Mississippi, shortly after the Battle of Shiloh. The cemetery containing his remains was being moved, due to development, and the marker on Mason’s grave was missing. In order to make a more positive identification, the case was shipped to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington where a team led by Dr. Doug Owsley, the curator of the Museum, opened the case in February 2006 to analyze and identify the remains.

Dr. Owsley is a renowned forensic anthropologist who has examined remains of Plains Indians, Civil War soldiers, Kennewick Man, David Koresh’s remains from Waco, 9-11 Pentagon victims, and much more. He is the subject of the book, No Bone Unturned, by Jeff Benedict.

When Pvt. Isaac Mason died, records indicate he owned 1,640 acres of land in Tennessee and 27 slaves. Dr. Owsley determined that Mason spent considerable time on horseback due to small lip-like extensions on his vertebrae which indicated traumatic compression of the spine. That would be consistent with a man who rode horses routinely to oversee the work of slaves on a plantation. Such evidence was possible due to the excellent condition of the 130-year-old remains preserved in the cast iron coffin.

The Fisk Mummy Case was the best method available for protecting the remains of deceased relatives or loved ones during the 1850s, but it didn’t come cheap. The price tag ran from fifty to one hundred dollars during the time when a regular wooden coffin cost about two bucks

The McIntosh mummy case is thought to be the first found in Georgia, although Fisk cases have been found throughout the Southeast, Northeast and Midwestern states. Although many important historical records were lost due to fires in the McIntosh County Courthouse, there are photographic and written records that may provide evidence to help identify the remains in the coffin.

Next week: Part III: A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma..., available evidence

ca 1885 photo of Fairhope plantation house on the Sapelo River bank. Note the standing Live Oak in the background which is believed to be the tree in the river near where the Fisk coffin was found.

2007 photo of Smith’s Sapelo River property

When Jeff Gardner accepted the assignment to clarify circumstances surrounding the mysterious mummy case found on the Sapelo River property of Lamar Smith, he faced a formidable task. It would be necessary to: (1) Identify the previous 18th and 19th Century owners of the property on which the cemetery was located, (2) Determine the boundaries of the cemetery, (3) Identify individuals buried in the cemetery, (4) Locate grave sites in the cemetery and finally, (5) Attempt to identify the individual buried in the Fisk Mummy Case. Those goals were even more daunting since many McIntosh County property records were lost in courthouse fires during 1864, 1931, and 1986.

Under those circumstances, Gardner focused his research on published and unpublished works of McIntosh County historical writers. He started by going to the Ida Hilton Memorial Library in Darien to examine crown land grant records where he located the lower Altamaha Historical Society’s Cemeteries of McIntosh County Georgia (Gladstone 2000), and Buddy Sullivan’s Early Days on the Georgia Tidewater, The Story of McIntosh County and Sapelo.

Information gleaned from those sources suggested that the project tract was the McIntosh family’s Fairhope Plantation, but the works contained no definitive maps which specifically located the Fairhope site. There was a listing for Fairhope Cemetery in Cemeteries of McIntosh County Georgia which quoted the former county historian, Miss Bessie Lewis who stated, “By the 1920s the [Fairhope Plantation] house was on the edge of the [Sapelo River] bank and the cemetery had washed into the river.” According to that account, an unidentified individual moved one or both headstones to nearby Mallow Plantation Cemetery.

Four reported internments at Fairhope Cemetery were found during the research which included: Lt. Col. John McIntosh (1748-1826); Maria B. McIntosh (1819-1850), granddaughter of Col. John McIntosh; Mazie J. McIntosh (1824-1849) sister of Maria McIntosh; and Catherine McIntosh (1836-1837), infant daughter of William H. and Mary B. McIntosh.

The three females are recorded on grave markers currently located at Mallow Cemetery. Gardner found no evidence to indicate disinterment/re-interment of human remains along with relocation of the grave markers. No grave marker for Col. John McIntosh was located.

The land for Fairhope Plantation was granted to Colonel William McIntosh (1726-1801) by the British Crown for service rendered to General Oglethorpe during the War with Spain (1739-1748). William’s family included his wife, Mary Jane (McKay) McIntosh and two children, John and Margery.

John inherited Fairhope at William’s death. He was a Colonel in the Revolution and commanded Fort Morris at Sunbury in 1778. He was a successful planter after the war and re-entered the military service as a General during the War of 1812. He died in 1826 and was buried at Fairhope Cemetery (reportedly).

Daniel McDonald (1811-1893) purchased Fairhope in 1852. A series of land transactions followed in the late 1800’s and throughout the 1900’s in which Fairhope changed hands several times. In June 2006, Lamar Smith purchased the property from Mrs. Elizabeth Mitchell. Jeff Gardner is convinced that Smith’s Sapelo River property is the exact site of Fairhope Plantation.

A historical marker at the Mallow Plantation Cemetery states that, “About one mile from this spot, at Fairhope, the adjoining plantation, Colonel John McIntosh, a hero of the American Revolution was buried in 1826.” The mileage from the Mallow Cemetery to the Smith river property is almost exactly one mile.

Two historic photographs from the Digital Library of Georgia website also support Gardner’s thesis. The first, which is entitled “Photograph of trees at Fairhope Plantation, McIntosh County, Georgia, ca 1885”, depicts an avenue of large oaks with a gated drive. The photo bears a striking resemblance to a current photo of the drive to the Smith property.

The second photograph entitled “Photograph of Fairhope Plantation, McIntosh County, ca. 1885” is a picture of the plantation house on the edge of the Sapelo River. Severe erosion is evident from the big undercut tree in the river.

Indeed both photographs seem to fit within the current landscape of the property. Ben Kennedy noted that the Live Oak that is currently in the river near the cemetery can be seen in the background on the river bank in the 1885 photo. Both the house and the old oak are very near the apex of a wide bend in the river. The location would lend itself to extensive erosion from tides and high water.

So, if this is indeed the historic location of Fairhope Plantation and Fairhope Cemetery, who is in the Fisk cast iron mummy case? Available and perhaps lost historical records along with the most recent evidence complicate the investigation.

On March 13, 2007, Brockington and Associates’ Archaeologist Wendy Weaver conducted a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey of a portion of the property to determine if any unmarked graves exist in the vicinity of where the iron coffin eroded into the river. GPR is a noninvasive method for exploring the ground for subsurface archaeological features such as graves, foundations, etc. This process identified one definitive grave and three possible graves (not counting where the cast iron case eroded into the river). It should be noted that the iron coffin was located closest to the river, the definitive grave is next, and the three possible graves are on the northwest side farther away from the river.

If indeed there are four graves present in addition to the Fisk mummy case, it raises the possibility of a grave in the cemetery not noted in surviving historical references. Could there be more unknown graves lost as referenced by Miss Bessie Lewis’ statement that “by 1920 the cemetery had washed into the river”?

Available historical evidence would seem to indicate the remains in the mummy case might be those of either Mazie J. McIntosh (deceased October 1849), or her sister Maria B. McIntosh (deceased October 1850). Those deaths would fit within the time frame that the Fisk Mummy Case was marketed (1848 through the late 1850s).

However, Gardner believes a male was buried in the coffin. Evidence includes a leather chap which fell out of a small hole created by a fracture in the bottom of the coffin. He believes it highly unlikely that a woman would be buried in leather chaps.

Ben Kennedy noted that if graves were positioned around the old oak tree that has eroded into the river, those remains may have washed into the river also. Kennedy pointed out that Col. John McIntosh died about 23 years too early to be buried in the Fisk coffin.

“Colonel John was probably buried in a wood coffin,” Ben said. “In reality, his remains might have washed into the river years ago.”

Hours of research and work at the site have provided some clarification. Although the exact site of Fairhope Plantation and Cemetery has almost certainly been located, identification of the person buried in the mysterious mummy case is elusive. It remains “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma…”

May 3, 2007, edition

THE MCINTOSH MUMMY • PART IV

A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma

Archeologist Jeff Gardner of Brockington and Associates has exhausted surviving published and unpublished historical materials in his efforts to pinpoint the location of Fairhope Plantation and the Fairhope Cemetery. It was an integral part of his assignment to identify the remains inside the Fisk Mummy Case discovered by Ben Kennedy last December in marsh grass on the Sapelo River. Unfortunately Gardner’s research was limited since many vital records were lost in three fires that ravaged the McIntosh County Court House from 1864 through 1986. Even so, Gardner constructed a strong case for the location of the plantation house which was the famous 18th and 19th century ancestral home of some of the more famous members of the McIntosh family. Additionally there is historical evidence that Fairhope Cemetery was located on the Sapelo Riverbank near the plantation house.

Gardner’s research indicates that four members of the McIntosh family were buried in the cemetery. Yet, a recent ground penetrating radar (GPR) scan disclosed the possibility of four graves in the cemetery in addition to the remains found in the cast iron mummy case. That reinforced Miss Bessie Lewis’ statement in the book Cemeteries of McIntosh County Georgia in which she said “by 1920 the cemetery had washed into the river”. It created a question as to whether more than one grave site had been lost to the effects of riverbank erosion over time.

As previously mentioned, the possibility that more members of the McIntosh clan might be buried in the cemetery complicates identification efforts. Only two known individuals interred fit the time frame in which the Fisk Mummy case was reportedly manufactured and sold. Mazie J. McIntosh and her sister and Marie were buried in 1849 and 1850 respectively, and it would appear that the remains of one of those two might be in the case.

Yet Jeff Gardner is convinced the remains are those of a male since the expensive cast iron coffins were usually used to inter men of means and prominence. Additionally, a leather legging (similar to riding chaps) fell out of a small hole in the case created by some type of fracture. Gardner cannot visualize a female of the period being buried in leather chaps.

So the remains in the mysterious mummy case cannot be identified at the present time with available information, although efforts continue. McIntosh descendants are being contacted, and it is hoped that some may possess records detailing who was buried in Fairhope cemetery.

Some such information has been provided as of this writing. Lamar Smith was contacted by Virginia Floyd, a McIntosh descendent. Virginia stated that if it is a McIntosh family member buried in the casket, he / she would be wearing traditional McIntosh plaid. Should interested parties take the legal steps necessary to open the case, such information would be useful.

Additionally, the story of the McIntosh mummy is being carried on the internet. It can be accessed by going to Google and typing in “Fisk Mummy Case”. On Friday, April 27, 2007, Mark Whitman, of Cincinnati, Ohio, e-mailed this writer and we had an interesting e-mail conversation throughout the day concerning little known facts surrounding the Fisk Mummy Case. Mr. Whitman, who states that he is the great, great, grandson of Almond Dunbar Fisk, provided details that are certainly pertinent to the McIntosh mummy.

Whitman mentioned that Almond Fisk died in 1850, just two years after receiving the patent on the mummy case. After his death, the casket company was taken over by William Raymond who was the brother of Fisk’s wife Phebe Ann. The new company was first known as W.M. Raymond & Company, and the name was later changed to the Metallic Burial Case Company.

Whitman believes the burial case was manufactured in near original form at least through the end of the Civil War. He noted that demand for the coffins during the war must have increased significantly because the patent was extended in 1865 as a “relief to the heirs of Almond D. Fisk”. He also provided a copy of the original patent.

Mr. Whitman’s information tends to further complicate positive identification of the remains. If the original design of the case was maintained through 1865 or beyond, it raises the possibility that someone other than members of the McIntosh family might be buried in the cemetery as the plantation was sold to Daniel McDonald in 1852. Although there is no known evidence to support that possibility, it cannot be discounted since courthouse records were lost and the extent to which river erosion impacted the cemetery is unknown.

On the positive side however, the response of Mark Whitman illustrates the power of the internet to help solve the case. As more individuals throughout the country become aware of the story, the possibility improves that a genealogy researcher(s) might step forward with a family Bible some other record of McIntosh family history, which could provide vital information. In the final analysis, that approach might be the best hope for learning the identity of the person buried in the mysterious casket.

Note: Where to from here concludes the Riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma series. However, if and when additional information concerning the McIntosh mummy casket is discovered, it will be reported in The Tattnall Journal


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