Last
month construction workers made a bizarre discovery while digging under a San
Francisco garage – a glass paneled coffin. But things got even stranger when
they realized they could see the well-preserved remains of a 19th
century little girl holding a flower.
The
3-and-a-half foot long lead and bronze coffin has two glass windows covered with dirt and grime. But when workers wiped them off, they could see a
blond haired young girl dressed in white.
Researchers
have determined this residential neighborhood was once the home of an Odd
Fellow Cemetery during the late 1800s. It is estimated that about 30,000 people
were buried there. Apparently, when bodies were relocated to a common burial
plot in Colma, California during the early
1920s, the toddler’s grave was missed.
The
City of San Francisco said it was the homeowner’s responsibility to deal with
the child’s remains so the residents contacted Garden of Innocence; a California group
that buries abandoned children. The organization estimated the girl to be about
three-years old when she died. They plan to hold a graveside service for her at
Colma, California where the other caskets were reburied almost 100 years ago.
The
child’s body was nestled in a bed of eucalyptus leaves. Her clothing indicates
that she came for a family of means. She held a pink rose in her hand and
someone had woven lavender in her long blond hair. Her identity is not known.
~
Joy
*Special
thanks to Mike Murray for this fascinating tip!
