The Ordinary, Extraordinary Cemetery

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Join Jennie and Dianne as they delve into the intriguing world of Fisk metallic burial cases, also known as Fisk coffins. Unearth the remarkable story of Almond Dunbar Fisk, the visionary behind the cast iron coffin, whose innovation forever changed the way we lay our loved ones to rest. From first lady Dolley Madison who made the cast iron coffin fashionable among the leaders in Washington D.C. to the mysterious "Lady in Red" discovered within the sturdy embrace of another metallic burial case, this episode uncovers the secrets of one of history's most unique burial methods. They also share the Ordinary Extraordinary narrative of an African American woman whose remains, preserved for over 150 years, were found in one of these remarkable coffins reminding the world of the many freed African American communities that made up the fabric of New York City long before the American Civil War.

To purchase tickets to the third annual Beyond the Grave: an evening with Bram Stoker, click here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beyond-the-grave-an-evening-with-bram-stoker-tickets-696195337997?aff=oddtdtcreator

Resources used to research this episode include:
, Family Search. "Dr. Almond Dunbar Fisk." https://ancestors.familysearch.org. ancestors.familysearch.org/en/LCJT-LJG/dr-almond-dunbar-fisk-1818-1850. Accessed 27 Aug. 2023.

Warnasch, Scott. "Almond Dunbar Fisk." https://ironcoffinmummy.com. ironcoffinmummy.com/inventors/almond-dunbar-fisk/. Accessed 27 Aug. 2023.

, Genealogy Trails. "Fisk Metallic Burial Case South Carolina Genealogy Trails ." http://genealogytrails.com. genealogytrails.com/scar/fisk_coffins.htm. Accessed 27 Aug. 2023.

Blart, Art. "Photgraphs: Exhumed Coffins." https://artblart.com. 2 May 2019. artblart.com/2019/05/02/photographs-exhumed-coffin/. Accessed 27 Aug. 2023.

Bot, Citation . "Fisk metallic burial case ." https://en.m.wikipedia.org. 4 Nov. 2022. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisk_metallic_burial_case. Accessed 27 Aug. 2023.

Biesinger, Meredith . "The Mystery of Mississippi’s Lady in Red ." https://www.ourmshome.com. 11 Jan. 2023. www.ourmshome.com/the-mystery-of-mississippis-lady-in-red/. Accessed 27 Aug. 2023.

Broom, Brian. "She has no one to pray over her:' Lady in Red remains a Mississippi mystery. Who is she? ." https://www.clarionledger.com. 14 Feb. 2019. www.clarionledger.com/story/magnolia/2019/02/14/lady-red-who-woman-unearthed-mississippi-1969-unsolved-mystery/2766496002/. Accessed 27 Aug. 2023.

McBride Jacobson, Molly. "Grave of the Lady in Red ." https://www.atlasobscura.com. 17 Oct. 2016. www.atlasobscura.com/places/grave-of-the-lady-in-red#:~:text=No%20one%20is%20sure%20about,traveling%20the%20nearby%20Yazoo%20River. Accessed 27 Aug. 2023.

, The White House Historical Association . "Dolley Madison ." https://www.whitehousehistory.org. www.whitehousehistory.org/bios/dolley-madison. Accessed 27 Aug. 2023.

Schwartz Foster, Feather. "The Funeral of Dolley Madison: End of an Era." https://featherschwartzfoster.blog. 28 Dec. 2018. featherschwartzfoster.blog/2018/12/28/the-funeral-of-dolley-madison-end-of-an-era/. Accessed 27 Aug. 2023.

Public Media, WOUB. "Found in Queens, NY, “The Woman in the Iron Coffin” on SECRETS OF THE DEAD ." https://woub.org. 2 Feb. 2023. woub.org/2023/02/02/the-woman-in-the-iron-coffin-secrets-of-the-dead-wednesday-october-3-at-10/. Accessed 27 Aug. 2023.

PBS, Rocky Mountain . "The Woman in the Iron Coffin." https://www.pbs.org. 3 Oct. 2018. www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/woman-in-the-iron-coffin-about-the-film/3923/. Accessed 27 Aug. 2023.

, Inside Thirteen. "A Queens Tale: Woman in An Iron Coffin ." https://www.thirteen.org. 7 July 2022. www.thirt

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A Google search for Martha's Chapel Cemetery will lead you down a reportedly haunted road where any number of ghostly spirits and demons are said to roam unsettling the living who pass through this desolate corner of Eastern Texas. But what happens when a cemetery’s main attraction is only about its ghosts and otherworldly atmosphere? We tend to lose sight of why the cemetery even exists, as a burial ground for real people who lived Ordinary Extraordinary lives and they deserve to be respectfully remembered. In this episode Jennie and Dianne learn the true story of Martha's Chapel Cemetery and share the stories of many who were laid to rest among the peaceful shade of its pine trees. From Methodist ministers to Civil War soldiers to women who dedicated their lives to caring for their families, they uncover a tapestry of lives, showcasing the depth and richness of history that resides within the cemetery's grounds.

To purchase tickets to the 34th annual Gilpin County Historical Society Cemetery Crawl, click here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/gilpin-historical-society-34th-annual-cemetery-crawl-tickets-657128116887

To purchase tickets to the third annual Beyond the Grave: an evening with Bram Stoker, click here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beyond-the-grave-an-evening-with-bram-stoker-tickets-696195337997?aff=oddtdtcreator

Photos from https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/5045/martha's-chapel-cemetery - Photographers include: T. Demars, Janet Bertram, Becky Dale, Mark D. Peters, and G. Walker

Resources used to research this episode include:
Goolsby, Dana. "Martha's Chapel ." http://www.texasescapes.com. 16 Mar. 2012. www.texasescapes.com/DanaGoolsby/Marthas-Chapel-Texas.htm. Accessed 20 Aug. 2023.

Hulse, James. "Martha's Chapel ." https://www.hmdb.org. 6 Apr. 2022. www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=195026. Accessed 20 Aug. 2023.

, National Archives And Records Administration . "Pensions for Military Service in the Army of the Confederate States of America." https://www.archives.gov. 1 Dec. 2010. www.archives.gov/files/research/military/civil-war/confederate/confederate-pensions.pdf . Accessed 20 Aug. 2023.

, Texas State Library And Archives Commission . "Confederate Pension Applications ." https://www.tsl.texas.gov. www.tsl.texas.gov/arc/pensions/introcpi.html. Accessed 20 Aug. 2023.

"Taxas 1821-1836." http://www.let.rug.nl. www.let.rug.nl/usa/essays/1801-1900/anglo-american-colonization-in-texas/texas-1821-1836.php. Accessed 20 Aug. 2023.

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Children in many parts of the U.S. gathered their supplies and donned their backpacks, as they headed back to school. Many more will be doing so in the next coming weeks both here in the U.S. and around the world as summer comes to its official end. This inspired us to share the stories of some teachers from the past and some of the challenges they faced. Join us for the Ordinary Extraordinary stories of two teachers who impacted their students and the communities in which they worked. First, we meet Sister Blandina who helped tame the wild west through her gentle ways as both a school teacher and a nurse. She even gained the trust and respect of the notorious Billy the Kid! Next, we travel south to the Appalachian mountains to recall the fond memories of Leonora Whitaker Wood and her time spent teaching in a mission school off the beaten path. Her stories inspired her daughter Catherine Marshall, to publish the novel Christy, based on many of her experiences as a teacher in the early 1900s.

To purchase tickets to the 34th annual Gilpin County Historical Society Cemetery Crawl, click here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/gilpin-historical-society-34th-annual-cemetery-crawl-tickets-657128116887

To purchase tickets to the third annual Beyond the Grave: an evening with Bram Stoker, click here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beyond-the-grave-an-evening-with-bram-stoker-tickets-696195337997?aff=oddtdtcreator

To preorder The Souls Close to Edgar Allan Poe: Graves of his Family, Friends and Foes, through a local bookseller visit: https://bookshop.org/search?keywords=Souls+Close+to+Edgar+Allan+Poe%2C+The%3A+Graves+of+His+Family%2C+Friends+and+Foes

Photos:
Sister Blandina - Sisters of Charity/https://www.srcharitycinti.org/2021/01/21/the-journey-to-sainthood/
Grave of Sister Blandina - Sister Joyce Brehm/https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/62719319/blandina-maria_rosa-segale/photo#view-photo=226238630
Leonora Whitaker Wood - Leonora Wood at the Mission compound. From the Emma Wood Hoskins collection./https://christyfestinthesmokies.wordpress.com/historian/
Grave of Leonora Whitaker Wood - Steve Brannan/https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/103604967/leonora-haseltine-wood

Resources used to research this episode include:

, San Felipe De Neri Parish. "Servant of God Sister Blandina." https://sanfelipedeneri.org/. sanfelipedeneri.org/sister-blandina. Accessed 13 Aug. 2023.

Segale, SC, Sister Blandina. At the End of the Santa Fe Trail. 2014th ed., 1932. Cincinnati, Sisters of Charity , 2014.

Shirley, Gayle C. More than Petticoats: Remarkable Colrado Women. 1st ed., Kearney, Morris Book Publishing Company , 2002, pp. 32-44.

, Christyfest In The Smokies. "Leonora: The Real Christy ." https://christyfestinthesmokies.wordpress.com/. christyfestinthesmokies.wordpress.com/historian/. Accessed 13 Aug. 2023.

Martin, Christy. "Christy, the Favorite of Appalachia ." https://thesouthernvoice.com/. 10 Oct. 2022. thesouthernvoice.com/christy-the-favorite-of-appalachia/. Accessed 13 Aug. 2023.

Tabler, Dave. "Christy and Leonora: City Girl, Country Gal ." https://www.appalachianhistory.net. 3 Nov. 2011. www.appalachianhistory.net/2011/11/christy-and-leonora-city-girl-country-gal.html. Accessed 13 Aug. 2023.

HEICHELBECH, Rose. "The Strange And Strict Rules Teachers Had To Follow In The 1800s ." https://dustyoldthing.com/. dustyol

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On the western side of Paris, France, not far from the Eiffel Tower, is Cimetière de Passy, a small cemetery where a simple mausoleum whose doors are topped by an owl sits among its fellow graves in a most unassuming manner. Yet the story of the man who rests inside this mausoleum is one straight from the Gilded Age and had fate delt him a different hand, his remains may have been laid to rest in America in a very different mausoleum; one that would have gained world-wide fame had it been built. This week Jennie and Dianne are joined by retired librarian Elizabeth Broman as she tells the story of James Gordon Bennett Jr., an American newspaper publisher and editor, who at one time planned to spend eternity inside a giant owl-shaped mausoleum, the likes of which had never been seen or imagined. Discover the twists of fate that led to his burial in Paris, rather than on a hill overlooking the New York City skyline. Prepare to be transported to the Gilded Age, where ambition and eccentricity intertwined, in a story that sheds light on the Extraordinary amidst the Ordinary.

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Jennie and Dianne are joined this week by a favorite returning guest, Dr. Sharon Pajka, to discuss her new book being released on August 21st, The Souls Close to Edgar Allan Poe: Graves of his Family, Friends and Foes. In her book Sharon helps readers to visit the graves of the people with whom he worked and socialized, who he loved and at times loathed and gain a fuller understanding of Poe's life. These were individuals who supported, inspired, and challenged him, and even a few who attempted to foil his plans. Join us for this delightful discussion that includes some of the Ordinary Extraordinary correspondence between Edgar Allan Poe and his friends, family and foes!

To preorder The Souls Close to Edgar Allan Poe: Graves of his Family, Friends and Foes, through a local bookseller visit: https://bookshop.org/search?keywords=Souls+Close+to+Edgar+Allan+Poe%2C+The%3A+Graves+of+His+Family%2C+Friends+and+Foes

Additional ordering links include:

Arcadia Publishing: https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/products/9781467154543/

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/souls-close-to-edgar-allan-poe-the-sharon-pajka/1143173771

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Souls-Close-Edgar-Allan-Poe/dp/1467154547/ref=pd_aw_ci_mcx_mh_mcx_views_0?pd_rd_w=00dep&content-id=amzn1.sym.fd1bcf73-0bd1-4593-9619-21db50d4d761%3Aamzn1.symc.2b06b7e8-a86c-4e6e-b02c-90d58278f4f1&pf_rd_p=fd1bcf73-0bd1-4593-9619-21db50d4d761&pf_rd_r=NNX9ACCBQQPX6AYME1J7&pd_rd_wg=A4kLL&pd_rd_r=eaf4dc50-4f77-44ba-b162-9dbad3df726e&pd_rd_i=1467154547

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Jennie and Dianne are joined by first time guest Dr. Joy Giguere to learn how American burial grounds changed from merely Ordinary Extraordinary places of interment, to rural landscapes meant to appear natural and ease the burden of grief, to the streamlined lawn cemeteries we often see today. Dr. Joy M. Giguere is an associate professor of history at Penn State York where she teaches courses in US History, African American history, medical history, the history of technology, the history of death and mourning, and the Civil War era. Her research focuses on American commemorative culture, with particular emphasis on the rural cemetery movement of the 19th century and the public history and memory of the Civil War. She is the author of Characteristically American: Memorial Architecture, National Identity, and the Egyptian Revival (University of Tennessee Press, 2014) and Pleasure Grounds of Death: The Rural Cemetery in Nineteenth-Century America (forthcoming, University of Michigan Press).

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"Be kind, be kind because kindness may always help out someone who is suffering." These words of advice were written from a mother to her daughters when she feared that her time on earth was growing short, that mother was Mary "Queen" Mellen Palmer. She was mother to three daughters whom she adored and loving wife to the founder of Colorado Springs, General William Jackson Palmer. But she was so much more than just a wife and a mother and until recent years, history has done her Ordinary Extraordinary story several injustices. Fortunately, Dianne has spent many years researching and portraying Queen and shares the story of her life and legacy; it was Queen who opened the first public school in Colorado springs. She was a trustee for the library association and she helped to bring music and culture to a corner of the Wild West. Even though she was often in poor health due to a heart condition, she traveled extensively, doted on her children, and did her part to help care for her family, her friends, and those in her community who had so much less than she; helping not only with their material needs, but bringing beauty into their lives as well. "Any beauty we have once felt is ours always - and nothing can take it from us, so long as we can think. This is an eternal Now- and is a joy forever. "  -  Mary "Queen" Mellen Palmer

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The New York Times called him "the foremost citizen of Colorado." William H. Spurgeon said he was "the soldier, the builder of an empire, the philanthropist, the friend of the people, whose life was a blessing." At his funeral in 1909 Colorado College president William Slocum told more than 3,000 mourners that gathered in the snow at Evergreen Cemetery, "A great man has passed, but the influence of his life can never go from us." All of these men were commenting on the life and legacy of General William Jackson Palmer, the man most famously known for founding the city of Colorado Springs, Colorado but his Ordinary Extraordinary story is so much greater! William Jackson Palmer was an adventurer, a soldier, a railroad pioneer and a community builder. Raised in the Quaker faith, he was a man of high moral and ethical character who valued human equality, peace and education. His vision founded not only Colorado Springs, but communities throughout the Southwest.
In this episode Jennie and Dianne are joined by special guest Bob Stovall, who has been sharing the story of General Palmer for many years in a personal and entertaining style. Often dressed in period costume, Stovall becomes Palmer as he relates first-hand the General’s voyage from his early days on a Delaware farm to creation of a vast enterprise of railroad, manufacturing and communities, and the many people who joined him on the adventure. 

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This week on the Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery podcast...Nestled in the Bitterroot Valley beneath St. Mary’s Peak, a mountain in the northern portion of the Rocky Mountain range that runs through the state of Montana, is a small, simple churchyard where rests the body of Father Antonio Ravalli alongside approximately 329 other souls whose resting place is part of historic St. Mary’s Mission. Jennie and Dianne learn the fascinating history of this mission; how  a Salish prophet had a vision of "Black Robes" coming to live among their people; this was later interpreted as the Jesuit priests who established the first St. Mary's Mission in 1841. One priest in particular, Father Antonio Ravalli, had a huge impact on the settlement and his story is interwoven with that of the Salish people and the trials they endured as westward expansion took over their homeland and begin to erase their culture and heritage. Also, shared is the Ordinary Extraordinary story of Mary Ann Pierre Topsseh Coombs, a Salish woman who was forced, along with her family, to leave the Bitterroot Valley at the age of 10 only to return to it as an old woman in 1975 with two other elders to share the traditions and burial sites of generations of Salish people with their young descendants determined that their culture should not disappear, but remain proud and steadfast.

Resources used to research this episode include:

Forest Service, USDA. "Bitterroot National Forest." https://www.fs.usda.gov. www.fs.usda.gov/main/bitterroot/learning/history-culture. Accessed 25 June 2023.

Weiser-Alexander, Kathy . "The Salish Tribe of Montana ." https://www.legendsofamerica.com. 1 June 2021. www.legendsofamerica.com/salish-tribe/. Accessed 25 June 2023.

, Historic St. Mary's Mission & Museum . "St. Mary Peak Stevensville, Montana ." https://saintmarysmission1.homesteadcloud.com. saintmarysmission1.homesteadcloud.com/st-mary-s-peak. Accessed 25 June 2023.

"St. Mary’s Mission Cemetery - St. Mary's Mission - ." https://www.waymarking.com. 19 Jan. 2018. www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMXJD9_St_Marys_Mission_Cemetery_St_Marys_Mission_Stevensville_MT. Accessed 25 June 2023.

"History ." https://saintmarysmission.org. saintmarysmission.org/history/. Accessed 25 June 2023.

, Montana.gov. "BRIEF HISTORY OF MONTANA ." https://mt.gov. mt.gov/discover/brief_history.aspx. Accessed 25 June 2023.

Mussulman, Joseph A. "Meeting the Salish." https://lewis-clark.org. lewis-clark.org/native-nations/salishan-peoples/salish/meeting-the-salish/. Accessed 25 June 2023.

"Pierre-Jean De Smet, SJ (1801-1873) ." https://www.ignatianspirituality.com. www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-voices/18th-and-19th-century-ignatian-voices/pierre-jean-de-smet-sj/. Accessed 25 June 2023.

Emmons, D.D. "Father Pierre-Jean De Smet ." https://www.simplycatholic.com. www.simplycatholic.com/father-pierre-jean-de-smet/. Accessed 25 June 2023.

Evans, Lucylle. "Father Antonio “Anthony” Ravalli, S.J. (1812-1884) ." https://montanacowboyfame.org. montanacowboyfame.org/inductees/2017/11/father-antonio-anthony-ravalli-sj. Accessed 25 June 2023.

"Mary Ann Pierre Topsseh Coombs and the Bitterroot Salish ." https://montanawomenshistory.org. 14 Oct. 2014. montanawomenshistory.org/mary-ann-pierre-topsseh-coombs-and-the-bitterroot-salish/. Accessed 25 June 2023.

Todd, Tom. "Fr Anthony J Ravalli ." https://www.findagrave.com. 1 July 2007. www.findagrave.com/memorial/20210714/anthony-j-ravalli. Accessed 25 June 2023.

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Jennie and Dianne are joined by Rick Hendricks, PhD to learn about a series of fascinating witch trials that took place not in New England, but in the border town Abiquiu, New Mexico beginning in 1756 and spanning over the course of ten years ending in 1766.  Governor Tomás Vélez Cachupin had a plan to bring peace to the early settlers of New Mexico by granting land to the Genizaros, who were indigenous peoples with a Hispanic influence. The colony was in danger due to the resistance of the Pueblos against Christianization and the attacks by nomadic tribes including the Utes and Comanches. At the same time, Father Juan José Toledo, claimed that the Genizaros had cast a spell on him. In response, Governor Vélez Cachupín gathered religious leaders to discuss the unusual events in Abiquiu. Rick Hendricks explains the finer points of these Ordinary Extraordinary witch trials while also explaining the differences and similarities to the more widely known Salem witch trials of the 1692.

Illustrations of events related to the Abiquiu witch trials and posted to social media and our website, are by Glen Strock and are shared with permission.

To purchase the book, "The Witches of Abiquiu: The Governor, The Priest, The Genízaro Indians, And the Devil", follow this link: https://www.amazon.com/Witches-Abiquiu-Governor-Genizaro-Indians/dp/0826320325/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=JUNYH6KP8JH0&keywords=the+witches+of+abiquiu&qid=1688019287&sprefix=the+witches+of+abi%2Caps%2C135&sr=8-1

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