Check out this is a creepy, intriguing piece that was published in the January 31, 1892 edition of The Cincinnati Enquirer. I’d love more info on this story but have been unable to locate anything further.
A bit of history- St. Mary Catholic Cemetery is located in the St. Bernard area of Cincinnati and dates back to 1873. It’s predecessor, nearby St. John Cemetery came approximately 25 years earlier. Both were founded by the German Catholic Cemetery Society at the behest of Archbishop Purcell who in 1843 entrusted a group of German Catholic immigrants with the task of providing a proper burial site for their peers.150+ years later this group is known as Cincinnati Catholic Cemetery Society (CCCS).
The following is transcribed from The Cincinnati Enquirer;
HUNDREDS OF BODIES Turned Into Stone Lie in the Graves at St. Mary’s Cemetery
John Kellerman sexton of St. Mary’s Cemetery, says that the latter contains hundreds of petrified bodies.
Some are found only partly petrified. Often a hand, arm, leg or head is missing and the rest is all solid stone.
As an Explanation of the strange fact noted Mr. Kellermen said: “The sulphur water fills the coffin and as long as it is full the body keeps all right. If the water goes down it takes with it all the poisons and impurities of the body and leaves just the solid substance which turns into stone. It is just like a piece of meat. You put it into the water and it takes all the blood out, but leaves the superstructure and fibers of the meat intact.”
SOURCE CITATIONS
Hundreds of Bodies, The Cincinnati Enquirer. January 31, 1892 via newspapers.com
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