----- Original Message ----- From: Valeria Wigington Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2001 7:19 PM To: 'Clarence Hodnett'; meyermary@hotmail.com; Lou Randall; Charles H. Hughes; henrydrennan; liz Forman; Jesse & Leona Hurst; Janet Wade; Lynn Davis; Bruce Willhoit; Scott Hunter; Ed Foley; Terrell Bunting; James Abernathy; richard smith; Rusty Hunter; Kristen; Rnellbd@aol.com; PDWAT@aol.com; Philip Entrekin; valadez@home.com; Morgan; JCoats5982@aol.com; Charlotte Coats; Sam Smith; William Belton; Brian Wigington; Barry Wigington; Kevin Wigington Subject: Rare find! SIX RARE CAST IRON CASKETS FOUND Newberry---As Newberry Co.officials were moving a family graveyard to make way for economic development, they uncovered a first---six well-preserved cast iron caskets from the 1800s, one with the mummified remains of a 10 month old boy inside. The caskets are the first of their type to be discovered intact in the state, said Jonathan Leader, an archaeologist with the SC Institute of Arch. and Anthropology. Leader said that in the past bits and pieces of cast iron caskets had been found , but these were in great condition. The property the caskets were discovered on belongs to Gene Norris, who agreed to sell the land to the county provided that it exhume and relocate the graves. Newberry Co Public Works found the six caskets, 18 headstones, and bits and pieces of wooden casketx. Officials didn't open any of the caskets, but time and the elements left the casket of 19 month old John Austin Buzzard with damaged hinges. The other caskets contained the remains of two children, two adults, and another infant. "We began the Mon. before the Christmas holidays and found the first casket that week" , said Jim Liptak, dir. of Newberry Co. Pub. Works. "We found the last one Monday." Officials aren't disclosing the grave site to prevent looting. The remains will be relocated to Rosemont Cem in Newberry. Until then , they are being kept in a "safe place." Leader said the caskets are rare because of the materials they were made from. "They're very expensive," Leader said. "Finding them suggests life was considerably more sophiticated than people thought, and very clearly the Buzzards were in the top 1 percent in economic terms." Added note: Edith Greisser is collecting Buzzard /Buzhardt information for the ONDQ article. I had a letter from her today asking for family data. My problem is that I can't get back from Susannah Buzhardt/Buzzard who married Jacob Keller. Am not certain that this was their burial spot, either. I do know they were buried in a family cemetery. Help, anyone??? Val<br clear=all><hr>Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at <a href="http://explorer.msn.com">http://explorer.msn.com</a><br></p>