8. She Was Well-Loved Woman
Upon further research, scientists found that Martha Peterson was part of a small, close-knit African American religious community that was well-respected for its piety in the New York community. She was well-loved and respected given the cost of her burial in an iron coffin. The means of acquiring one also became much more understandable given her relationship with the brother-in-law of the inventor of the device himself. William Raymond himself may have been wealthy, and it’s also possible that Almond Fisk gave his brother-in-law an iron coffin as a gift.