Little girl found in 19th century casket identified

Discuss the last days, Zion, second coming, emergency preparedness, alternative health, etc.
Post Reply
User avatar
DEEPER storm
captain of 100
Posts: 107

Little girl found in 19th century casket identified

Post by DEEPER storm »

About 140 years later – last May – the story came back. A construction crew at a home on Rossi Street near the University of San Francisco found the sealed casket.

Inside they found a little girl with long blonde hair, wearing a long white lace dress. She had a cross made of flowers on her chest and she was nicknamed Miranda Eve. Now we know that her real name is Edith Howard Cook.
Elissa Davey, a genealogist and founder of the Garden of Innocence Project, reburied the little girl in Colma last year. Davey says she was also determined to discover the real story of the girl, including the date of her death.


Through the use of DNA we now know the girl’s identity and have tracked down a living relative.

The information below was compiled by the Garden of Innocence:

“Who was she?

Her name was Edith Howard Cook, the second born child and first born daughter of Horatio Nelson and Edith Scooffy Cook. She died on October 13, 1876, at age of two years, ten months and 15 days, and was buried in family plot in the Yerba Buena section of the Odd Fellows Cemetery on October 15, 1876.

How did Edith die?

Funeral home records indicate the cause of death was “Marasmus.” Marasmus was a term used in the
1800s for severe undernourishment, a condition which could have had a number of underlying causes, unknown or not fully understood at the time.

Given what is known today about late 1800s urban living, an infectious disease is the most likely cause of her marasmus.

How was Edith’s coffin discovered?

A contractor doing remodeling work on the residence of John and Ericka Karner in the Lone Mountain neighborhood of San Francisco uncovered the casket while excavating a section of their back yard. The Medical Examiner was notified and, after opening the casket, determined that further disposition of casket and the young girl inside was the responsibility of the Karners.

The casket was made of metal, 37 inches in length, with two viewing windows in the lid. It was tightly sealed, thus preserving the body of the young girl it held.

User avatar
Durzan
The Lord's Trusty Maverick
Posts: 3728
Location: Standing between the Light and the Darkness.

Re: Little girl found in 19th century casket identified

Post by Durzan »

why was this posted in the last times forum? This might fit better in the general forum.

User avatar
Elizabeth
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 11796
Location: East Coast Australia

Re: Little girl found in 19th century casket identified

Post by Elizabeth »

No one had the right nor reason to open the coffin.

Post Reply