Old newspapers reveal numerous skeletons having been found while digging pits, basements, etc. The skeleton mentioned below was found outside of Marion, Indiana in 1905. He was buried inside a box, in a sitting position, and was believed to have been murdered by counterfeiters.
Sitting on a Box
Skeleton is Found
Marion, Indiana – Workmen employed on the farm of Sylvester Bond, adjoining Marion, unearthed the skeleton of a man who had been buried in a box.
The body had been in a sitting position when buried, and only about two feet of earth covered the box. The point where the skeleton was found is in a cove near the Mississippi River, an unfrequented place. A quantity of counterfeit coins and one dollar denomination dies and metal for making coins were unearthed near where the skeleton was found by the same workmen a short time ago. The men were employed in opening a gravel pit.
A gang of seven counterfeiters is known to have operated in that locality during the last year. About two years ago a posse of officers surrounded a cave in the bluffs along the river where the gang was known to be coining the counterfeits. When the officers closed in the cave was uninhabited, but a stove, ladles, and metal used in the work were found. Since that time the members of the gang have not been seen.
The skull of the skeleton was crushed, and the officers are of the opinion that the man was a victim of the gang, being a member who they were afraid would betray them. The skeleton is that of a man six feet tall, of large build, and the teeth indicate that he was young.
Source: The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.), 11 May 1905.
