Aggregate Death
The Somewhat Strange Story Behind this Double Coffin
From The Madison County Musings, Spring 1987 issue: “On October 15, 1937, Aunt Easter Johnson Eubanks died at her home near Japton after a long illness. Her husband, Uncle Sog Eubanks, a religious man hwo had long expressed the wish that he and Easter would depart this life together, gave his daughters instructions for their burial and began to pray for death. Within a few hours Uncle Sog joined his wife in death.
Sog and Easter Eubanks had been some of the earliest settlers in the Japton area and had raised ten children. Sog was known to all as a good Christian and a staunch Republican. He would lead his entire family to Japton to vote in a block, having agreed on their candidate beforehand. The word of the passing of Easter and Sog spread quickly.
The news of Aunt Easter’s death was carried by messenger down the mountain to Japton. The messenger went to George Harriman, who was working in his blacksmith shop. Mr. Harriman was the natural choice to receive the news first because he was the local coffin maker. A man of large and formidable stature, Harriman was himself a unique individual. Not only did he make caskets, he also kept a general store, a farm, and some cattle, helped manage the lumber mill and grist mill, service the community as blacksmith, carpenter, stone mason, and was a leader in the Japton Church of Christ. Harriman received the news with sadness.
They walked over to where the mill stacked their rough unplaned oak lumber and began to sort out some suitable planks.
It was while he was so engaged that another messenger arrived with the news of Sog’s passing. Harriman signed and his helper, Tommy McCoy, asked him if he had ever made a double coffin. Harriman said, “No, I have made coffins for babies, children, youth and adults of all sizes, but never a double one. He considered the suggestion for a while and then said he thought it was a good idea and that he could do it. Quickly he worked out the dimensions and set to work. Soon, he was joined by Miller Rodgers and John Spurlock, local men who helped with the carpentry.
Harriman sent to Huntsville for a bundle of cotton tucking, fine while muslin, lace trimming, and some brass coffin handles. When these supplies arrived McCoy was given the task of lining the casket and lid. He did so with some carpet tacks and a horseshoe hammer from the blacksmith shop. After the lining was completed the finished coffin was taken by wagon to the Eubanks home.
At the home the bodies had been prepared, but the man who had been asked to shave Uncle Sog was unable to do so until he had braced himself with several stiff drinks. The frail body of Easter, weighing no more than 80 pounds and the tall thin body of Sog were placed together in the double coffin in front of their house and some pictures were taken. The picture that is shown here, shows Eldorado Eubanks, one of Sog’s brothers, standing behind the double casket.
Because of the strong devotion that was shared by Easter and Sog, their united burial in a double casket would be long remembered by all who attended the sinple ceremonies at Groseclos Cemetery, south of Japton. Today a double stone, with a glass encased picture of Easter and Sog, marks their resting place in the quiet, tree bordered cemetery over-looking the Lollars Creek Valley in Madison County.”
Eight Vintage Caskets to Die For
This catalog is full of a number of caskets, coffins, vaults and other sundry items of interest that were sold by “Paxson Comfort and Co.” in 1898. It was given to us by a recently deceased friend whose father-in-law had been an undertaker at the turn of the century.
I paged through it and found some of the more interesting items of sale.
In 1898 many of the caskets/coffins didn’t have hinged lids like the ones today. Instead, like the one below, they had a looking glass on the lid. You could see the deceased’s face through the looking glass. 
Beware the grave robbers. Bwahahahaha! Yes, grave robbers were a legitimate fear, especially for the wealthy and/or famous. In fact, Abe Lincoln’s grave was nearly robbed, but the plot was foiled by a police informant. 
Out of the nearly 100 caskets / coffins in the Paxton Comfort Co. book, there are only a handful that had a hinged lid like this one; most of the caskets had lids that would come completely off. This is a full couch, which is what we generally use in the Southeastern part of Pennsylvania.
This is a variation of the half couch casket, which is what many funeral homes use in the United States. 
Paxton Comfort also offers funeral fur rugs. I have no idea what they were used for. Honestly, they look horrible.
I want this casket. I’d set it up in my living room and just marvel at it’s craftsmanship. “Honey, instead of watching Netflix tonight, let’s grab some popcorn and stare at ‘Design 48’.” It looks like something Dracula would fancy. 
This is another beautiful piece. I imagine it was hand-carved. It’s so beautiful, how could you bury it? I kinda pity the craftsman who worked tirelessly on this gorgeous piece of wood only to have a family purchase it, put a dead person in it and put it in the ground.
For under $65, you can get an ice box … a human ice box. For the bodies that were not embalmed, you could place said body in an “ice box” and let the coolness slow down the decomposition of the corpse.
You can also buy a chic embalming satchel. I’m thinking that after a couple uses those satchels would be stained a permanent dark crimson. 
This is pretty cool. The side folds down so you can see grandma’s hips.
The casket for the uber Christian. The purchase of this casket guarantees a ticket to the celestial paradise. 
Waiting for My Dad to Die: A Guest Post
Today’s writer wishes to remain anonymous.
© 2009 Ulrich Joho, Flickr | CC-BY-SA | via Wylio
I had been waiting for my father to die for three years. That may sound cruel; he was nothing more than an old man with dementia living in a nursing home to the outside world. But to me he was a living lie, an evil, a tear in my soul.
My younger daughter, once a bright little girl, started changing before our eyes into a stranger. I know many parents experience this as their children grow, but what she became was frightening. First came the cutting, drugs, the towering rages full of hate toward us, the suicide attempts, and being put on life support, her father and I just holding each other as we watched the machine breath for her. She spent her teen years in and out of psych units, therapy and drugs. We read everything we could and began to suspect that sexual abuse had occurred, but when we asked she would only say” I have to wait before I can talk about it”.
Three years ago we suffered a loss so great it brought us to our knees. A man we loved as a son was killed. It was his death that unlocked the truth for our daughter. She hit bottom with her grief and very early one morning confessed to her father that grandpa had molested her from the age of 3 to 8. He had told her he loved her and this was how to show special love. My husband held her, but told her she had to tell me. She was fearful, wondering if I would hate her, scream at her and tell her she was a liar. She spoke words that tore deep inside my soul “Grandpa molested me and Grandma knew it”. I actually was not surprised, I had begun to suspect it was him; my father had been exposing himself to children and had been speaking of sexual acts including “I always enjoyed raping my daughters”. I held out my arms and we held each other.
I asked my daughter for permission to speak with my brothers and sisters about this and she gave it to me. And then I found out about the other lies-others in my family had been molested. Family member were present when the police had come with complaints but he was a fine upstanding man so it must be lies, some spoke of my mother begging them not to pursue this. One incident was 58 years ago. My sister said it didn’t happen to me, she watched out for me but who watched out for our daughters. In the beginning they all had stories but a few days later that changed and I was told it never happened,” He couldn’t defend himself because of the dementia, and mom was dead so why raise hurtful subjects”. One of my sisters told me to forgive and forget and we would be fine. That I had to respect him because he was my father. Our family was divided, those whose daughters were molested or had been molested themselves and those who denied it could have ever happened and that we were lying.
And so I waited for him to die. It took three years. Three years where I still paid his bills, did his taxes, made the decisions for his daily living but I never saw him once because with his mental sate he could never answer my questions. My sisters wanted me to give up the legal guardianship (my extended family had been eager for me to take this on years before) I had but I would not, it was the only power I had over him. During those Three years I found out charges would not be brought because of the dementia. And then he died. I was the one to plan the funeral. I picked the minister and kept it simple. No singing, no glorification of the body. I made some family members angry. One half of the family sat upfront and wept. The other half (the ones who came) sat a few rows back in silence. I know both sides were in pain. Questions could never be asked no answers would ever be acceptable. For a few weeks some family members wrote face book posts of “how I miss my daddy.” Having read this post the young women painfully realized that the hopes of a loving extended family supporting them would never be a reality.
I went to the funeral for one reason, so I could attest to my daughter that her Grandfather was really dead and buried. For weeks after the funeral she had nightmares of him reaching out to grab her and She would call in tears asking “was I sure he was dead”. I would assure her that I saw his dead body and he could never touch her again. So now he is dead but his legacy will be with us for a long time, for the rest of our lives. I see my daughter take two steps forward but then I feel him reach out and pull her back a step. We continue to deal with the pain of betrayal and the feelings that we should have known and stopped it. My Husband made a remark to me shortly after we found out. It was “I want to blame you and put this squarely on you because he was your father. And it would be so easy to do. But that would not be true”. I thank God he had the strength to not blame me and yet I continue to blame myself for not knowing. My faith reassures me that while we were denied justice on Earth, my Father did have to stand before his God. I have the unending hope that my daughter will feel joy in her life someday and that this can become a distant memory for us all and I pray the legacy of abuse has ended in our family.
10 Unforgettable Deaths
I wouldn’t mind a memorable, albiet moral, death. It would give everyone something to talk about. Years after I’m dead, people would ask, “Do you remember Caleb Wilde?”, they’d say, “Oh, yeah, isn’t that the guy that died ….”. Here are ten people that have been immortalized in the minds of their family, friends and community because of the way they died.
1. Dead Man Winning
Frank Hayes, stableman and trainer by trade, and maiden racer Sweet Kiss, hold a bizarre distinction in racing history. The pair competed in only one race, and though they won, it was what happened afterwards that puts them in the record books.
7-year-old Sweet Kiss was not well thought-of by her owners. Frank Hayes, who had cared for her, was convinced that she could win a race. On June 4, 1923, he was given his wish, when he and Sweet Kiss lined up for a 2-mile, 12-jump race at Belmont Park. Rated at 20-1 odds they were not expected to do anything special.
Surprisingly, the hard-working filly and her makeshift jockey, riding in just his second career race, won by a head. When the overjoyed owner and trainer approached to lead her to the winner’s circle, they made a shocking discovery: Frank Hayes was dead in the saddle.
A heart attack had killed Hayes sometime during the latter part of the race. It was observed that Sweet Kiss swerved slightly while approaching the final jump, and many surmised that her swerve had been caused by Hayes slumping forward in the saddle. Since he had stayed on her back the entire race, Sweet Kiss was declared the winner, making Hayes the first (and so far, only) jockey to have won a race after death. He is also the only known jockey to have an undefeated record. Hayes was buried in his racing silks three days later.
2. An Exciting Death
This from Reddit:
3. Dying From Reading Your Prematurely Published Obituary
Marcus Garvey’s Death Mask
At the end of May 1940, Marcus Garvey was recovering from a stroke in a dingy, draughty rented house in Kensington when word reached him of his own death.
“Marcus Garvey dies in London” announced the first headline, followed by a stream of black-bordered obituaries, many of them critical or dismissive. Garvey was not happy. On the second day, his secretary recalled, as the letters and cables piled up, “he collapsed in his chair, and could hardly be understood after that”. A few days later, he died, a victim of his own premature demise. Via The Telegraph
4. Three Million Dollar Threesome
William Martinez died in March of 2009 during a threesome with a woman who was not his wife and a male friend. In June of 2012, a jury granted Martinez’s family $3 million in damages because his cardiologist failed to inform him that overexerting himself was a bad idea. They had previously sought $5 million, but it was determined that he was 40 percent responsible for his own death.
Via Oddee
5. Hardcore Gamer
A teenager died at an Internet cafe in Taiwan after reportedly playing the videogame “Diablo 3” for 40 hours straight.
The 18-year-old, who has only been identified by his first name, Chuang, had booked a private room at the Tainan cafe in southern Taiwan on the afternoon of July 13,according to the the Australian, which cited the United Daily News broadsheet. Chuang then proceeded to play the videogame for 40 hours straight without eating.
On July 15, an attendant went into the room where Chuang had been playing and found the teen resting on the table, according to the Australian. The attendant was able to wake Chuang, who stood up, took a few steps and then collapsed onto the ground. He was pronounced dead soon after arriving at the hospital.
According to the Mirror, authorities believe the teenager may have suffered a blood clot due to sitting for such a long period of time.
6. Dying at Your Funeral
7. Dying to Prove a Point
Clement Vallandigham died in 1871 in Lebanon, Ohio, at the age of 50, after accidentally shooting himself in the abdomen with a pistol. He was representing a defendant in a murder case for killing a man in a barroom brawl at the Golden Lamb Inn. Vallandigham attempted to prove the victim, Tom Myers, had in fact accidentally shot himself while drawing his pistol from a pocket while rising from a kneeling position. As Vallandigham conferred with fellow defense attorneys in his hotel room at the Golden Lamb, he showed them how he would demonstrate this to the jury. Selecting a pistol he believed to be unloaded, he put it in his pocket and enacted the events as they might have happened, snagging the loaded gun on his clothing and unintentionally causing it to discharge into his belly. Although he was fatally wounded, Vallandigham’s demonstration proved his point, and the defendant, Thomas McGehan, was acquitted and released from custody (to be shot to death four years later in his saloon).
8. Nut Case.
“A Chinese mother has gone on trial accused of killing a man by squeezing his testicles so hard that he died of shock. According to one witness report as she held him in a vice-like grip she shouted: ‘I’ll squeeze it to death, you’ll never have children again.'”
9. Whoops.
© 2007 The Next Web Photos, Flickr | CC-BY-SA | via Wylio
A British businessman who bought the Segway company less than a year ago died after riding one of the scooters off a cliff and into a river near his Yorkshire estate. Via NBC News
10. Self Embalming
This death earned a Darwin Award. And it’s probably the most ignoble of the bunch; but it’s equally as memorable.
(21 May 2004, Texas) Michael was an alcoholic. And not an ordinary alcoholic, but an alcoholic who liked to take his liquor, well, rectally. His wife said he was “addicted to enemas” and often used alcohol in this manner. The result was the same: inebriation.
The machine shop owner couldn’t imbibe alcohol by mouth due to a painful throat ailment, so he elected to receive his favourite beverage via enema. And tonight, Michael was in for one hell of a party. Two 1.5 litre bottles of sherry, more than 100 fluid ounces, right up the old address!
When the rest of us have had enough, we either stop drinking or pass out.
When Michael had had enough (and subsequently passed out) the alcohol remaining in his rectal cavity continued to be absorbed. The next morning, Michael was dead.
The 58-year-old did a pretty good job of embalming himself. According to toxicology reports, his blood alcohol level was 0.47%.
