Florence Irene died when she was 10 years old. While being buried, her mother had a rather strange request – she wanted her daughter’s coffin to be fitted with a small window. It gets stranger – she wanted the hatch to open with stairs leading down to the casket. *goosebumps*
Shanna Riley / Flickr
The late Florence was born on September 3, 1861. During her short life-span, the girl was terrified of storms. Whenever it was a stormy night, she’d run to her mother, Elle, who’d patiently comfort her. She would do this well until the storm passed.
Shanna Riley / Flickr
Sadly, at the age of 10 in 1871, Florence died of yellow fever. Her mother was distraught and couldn’t bear the thought of her daughter being buried. The grieving mother wanted to comfort her daughter during storms, even as she lay underground, resting.
Shanna Riley / Flickr
The mother had a small window fitted at her daughter’s casket coupled with a narrow stairway dug six feet down. Ellen installed hinged metal trapdoors at the top to shut them during storms. This was to protect her daughter from the wind and rain while she her coffin, singing ot reading or to her until the storm passed.
The epitaph on the gravestone reads, “As bright and affectionate a Daughter as ever God with His Image blest.”
Shanna Riley / Flickr
As heart-touching as this story is of the now late mother and daughter duo, it’s also slightly unusual and spooky if nothing. A mother’s love is endless and she will go to any extent to comfort her child, even in death. It is safe to say that the 1800s were an intense era.
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