17. High Society Coffins
Researchers now knew that their mummy was a smallpox victim. However, that implied she might have been a poor resident of Queens. How did she come to be buried in an iron coffin? Warnasch knew, from his research, that iron coffins were typically reserved for high society burials. In fact, first lady Dolley Madison was buried in an elaborate iron coffin. If such devices were primarily reserved for the wives of US presidents and other wealthy members of society, why was a black smallpox victim found in one?