In 1911, the remains of a child were found in a wooden box buried in the foundation of a building. An old penny from 1817 was found in one of the skull’s eye sockets.
Rotting Corpse of Child is Found
HAMMOND, In., April 18, 1911. — Workmen digging out a foundation for a building on Sheffield Avenue this morning unearthed part of a wooden box, which contained a section of a human skeleton.
The bones, upon examination, proved to be from the body of a child, from 6 to 10 years old, part of the skeleton was missing, but the skull and the bones of the extremities were pretty well preserved.
On the skull in one of the eye sockets was found a large penny dated back in the year 1817.
The copper penny had turned the color of the eye socket to a greenish tint, due to the fact that the penny has laid there for that length of time.
In those days when a person was buried an undertaker was something out of the ordinary, and the people put coins over the eyes to keep the lids closed.
The skeleton was found on Sheffield Avenue in a lot back of the old Hohman estate.
Source: The Lake County times. (Hammond, Ind.), 18 April 1911.
