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Put this in the medical section, assuming this is the correct place. I would kill for a pic.


The mummified remains of a Berks County Prison inmate resided at Auman Funeral Home in Reading for more than 100 years.

Known as "Stone Willy" to generations of Reading residents, the well-preserved corpse was once on public display.

"You used to be able to stop by Auman's to see him," recalls historian George M. Meiser IX. "Most people over age 50 who grew up in Reading saw him."

Indeed, Willy's story is one of ghastly proportions. Basically, for a petty crime, Willy was sentenced to imprisonment in his own body for eternity.

Based on articles by Charles J. Adams III and news reports in the Reading Eagle, here's the saga of Stone Willy, although as with all such stories, 117 years of telling and retelling have blurred the facts.

What seems certain is that a 37-year-old Reading man was arrested and imprisoned, and died in his cell Nov. 20, 1895.

The Eagle reported that he strangled himself with a cord from a carpet loom at the prison, which was in Penn's Common, now City Park.

"He made a loop in one end and, securing the other end to the door of his cell, strangled himself to death," the newspaper reported.

On the front page, the Eagle ran a sketch of a man in Auman's morgue, with a caption saying he had given police the name of James Penn.

"On his deathbed, he acknowledged that he gave a fictitious name," the newspaper reported. "But he refused to reveal his identity for the sake of his relatives, who were said to live respectable lives in New York."

When no one claimed the body, it was handed over to funeral director T.C. Auman.

Auman was experimenting with various embalming fluids and tried one of the chemical concoctions on Willy.

Reportedly, Auman adapted a German formula for preserving meat in creating his embalming fluid.

Apparently, it worked - maybe a little too well.

"The body has become mummified, past the stages of decay, and it is said it can be preserved indefinitely," the Eagle reported.

Auman was one of the first funeral directors to experiment with embalming, now a standard practice in the industry.

At last report, about 10 years ago, Willy's skin had darkened a bit, but he'd retained his hair and teeth. Not bad for a 154-year-old.

Inevitably, the story has acquired an element of lore. One version described it as an "unliving legend."

Another has Willy living his "life after life" in the Auman Funeral Home.

He was still there in the mid-1990s, when the Auman family sold the business to Service Corporation International, and still is today, said Steven Brennan, Auman general manager.

Although still in the company's care, it has chosen to no longer make Willy available for viewing, even though it still gets requests, Brennan said.

But rest assured, the deceased is well cared for.

"He's pretty much in the same condition as he was 100 years ago," he said.

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Reading Eagle
A sketch in an 1895 edition of the Reading Eagle depicts the dead prisoner who, after embalming, was to become known as "Stone Willy

[RiversEdge]

interesting. be nice if someone snuck in and took a picture or two...

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My friend told me about this a few years ago and I just remembered. Her friend has seen his body and she's reaching out to see if they may have or know of a pic as well. Hoping someone here from back east would maybe assist.

[Zeeta]

Elder McCurdy, anyone? 1st thing to pop in my head reading this.

[Watcher===]

I live in Reading, Berks and have never heard of this. But Reading, Berks in England.

Seems the American town of Reading, Reading PA, is in a county called Berks too. Still, our Reading has a Victorian claim to infamy too - Amelia Dyer, who murdered the babies she adopted for the money she was given to care for them.

[Artemis777]

This is supposedly a pic of him.

[DiamondSmiles]

Yes, there is a Reading, Berks County, PA, in the US

[DiamondSmiles]

Originally Posted by Zeeta ↗

Elder McCurdy, anyone? 1st thing to pop in my head reading this.

Elmer was featured in a couple of tv shows, included HBOs, "Autopsy." He was found as part of a side show.

I just found the story. No one claimed his body and the funeral home or someone, starting charging 5 cents to view it.

2 men claimed the body and he ended up in the side show.

[DiamondSmiles]

The funeral employee who did the embalming has since died. 610.370.0200 is Auman's phone number. I don't know the country code here.

A museum wants Willie, who refused to give his name. The funeral home gave him the name of James Penn. He hung himself in jail and was unclaimed.

They still keep Willie there with the coffin closed as he was turning brown.