M.M.White undertaker WashingtonDC Matthias M. White undertaker of Washington , DC Fisk and Raymond metallic coffins

 

 

Fanny was youngest child of -- Baron Adolph Wilhelm August Friedrich von Steinwehr (September 25, 1822 – February 25, 1877) was a German-Brunswick army officer who emigrated to the United States, became a geographer, cartographer, and author, and served as a Union general in the American Civil War.

 

 Fanny died Sunday October 26th at Fairfax County Court House and must have been brought from Virginia to DC to be embalmed before being sent to Albany NY

Union soldiers in front of Court House 1862

 

Lots more can be found out about this family here ; Family Search

 

I like to highlight known burials by MM White this one is August 1857 at Congressional Cemetery

Commodore John Thomas Newton (May 20, 1793 – July 28, 1857) was an officer in the United States Navy who commanded several ships over a period of decades, undertaking missions in the Caribbean and leading the first crossing of the Atlantic by an American steam-powered warship. He was court-martialed following a fire that destroyed that vessel, but his suspension from service was remitted by President John Tyler, after which Newton commanded Pensacola Navy Yard and the Home Squadron for periods. He died while serving in his last post as president of a Naval Court of Inquiry. 

Death 

Newton died on July 28, 1857, in Washington, D.C., at age 64, of apoplexy, while visiting the residence of Charles Winder.[1] The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported at the time of his death that Newton "considered Brooklyn as his home", and that he "had a large circle of relatives and friends in this city".[35] The Washington Evening Star reported that it had "stopped the press" with their edition of the day half-worked off to add the announcement of his death.[1] Volunteer companies of the District of Columbia were ordered to attend his funeral.[1] The members of the three Naval Courts of Inquiry met thereafter and appointed a committee to draft resolutions commemorating Newton, which were published in The Washington Union and transmitted to Newton's family.[34] He was buried at the Congressional Cemetery. Burning of the USS Missouri

 Gone but not forgotten: cemeteries in the nation's capital

Gone but not forgotten: cemeteries in the nation's capital by Nancy on Scribd

 Fisk endorsement: Washington April 5th 

Gentleman- We witness the utility of your ornamental " Patent Metallic Burial Case " used to convey the remains of the late Hon. John C. Calhoun to the Congressional Cemetery, which impressed us with the belief that it is the best article known to us for transporting the dead to their final resting place.

With respect , We subscribe ourselves , yours etc.

{Signed} Henry Clay, Lewis Cass, Dan. Webster, Wm. R King, Jeff Davis, J.M. Berrien, J.Y. Mason, D.R. Atchinson, A.C. Green, Wm. P Mangum, Henry Dodge, D.S. Dickinson.

Similar testimonials might be added without number.

The vault was used many times by M.M. White. Congressional Cemetery President Paul Williams discusses the cemetery's public vault and tells stories of people whose bodies resided there.

The vault was used many times by M.M. White.

 

Full 27 minute video here Part 1: https://www.c-span.org/video/?301813-1/congressional-cemetery-part-1 Full 29 minute video here Part 2: https://www.c-span.org/video/?301813-2/congressional-cemetery-part-2

The vault was used many times by M.M. White.

 Temporary interments have included three U.S. presidents: John Quincy Adams (F

ebruary 26 – March

6, 1848), William Henry Harrison (April 7 – June 26, 1841), and Zachary Taylor (July 13 – October 26,


1850). President Harrison stayed in the vault almost three months, more than twice as long as the time he spent as president. 

The Causten family vault, built 1835 Dolley Madison was interred in the Public Vault from July 16, 1849, to February 10, 1852, the longest known interment in the vault, while funds were being raised for her re-interment at Montpelier.Her body was transferred to the Causten family vault, directly to the west of the Public Vault, for another six years before the funds were raised. She was briefly joined in May 1852 in the Causten vault by First Lady Louisa Catherine Adams, though it has been reported that Adams was interred in the Public Vault.

Senator John C. Calhoun was interred in the Public Vault following a formal funeral and grand procession from the Capitol on April 2, 1850. He was encased in an early version of the Fisk metallic coffin which slowed down decomposition. On April 22 his remains departed the vault for a trip by steam ship to Charleston, South Carolina.

While the development of transportation and mortuary technology increased the use of the vault, it also limited its use as well. For example, following Henry Clay's death in 1852, his remains were also encased in a Fisk metallic coffin and transported to his home state by railroad without an interval at the Public Vault.

Was a representative of Lewis County in the General Assembly of Kentucky in 1823. Married Anna Doty (1784-1815) 19 Oct 1803 Father of John 1804-1814 Thomas 1806-1879 Mahala 1808-1848 married Mr. Jamison Thersa 1810-1868 married Mr. Gaw Married Isabella Boyle (1790-1880) 25 Aug 1815 Father of Patrick Henry Clay Bruce 1818-1912 Ann Bruce 1819-1886 Aristides 1821-drowned ? Isabella Bruce 1822-1877 Jane Bruce 1826-1855 Margaret J 1827 Andrew J 1828-(1880-1900) Capt Alexander Bruce 1830-1892 Simon Boliver Bruce 1832-1893 Robert Bruce 1834-1855 

Mister Bruce was placed in the public vault in Congressional cemetery.

 This is from the article Lost Capitol Hill: John L. Wirt it describes what happened to John L. Wirt as he was trying to break up a fight on the House floor. This is another step in the MM White timeline

:tussle between Representatives Rathbun and White on the House floor." While Rathbun and White were going at it, one William S. Moore was trying to get onto the floor of the House. Moore, originally from Kentucky, was in Washington attempting to get some satisfaction from an unknown government agency. Presumably, he hoped to pester one of the Representatives for assistance in this matter. Not being a member of the House, the Sergeant-at-Arms attempted to keep him from the floor. Representative William C. McCauslen of Ohio came to the Sergeant-at-Arms’s assistance, and escorted Moore out, then turned to return to the floor. At that moment, Moore pulled out a pistol and fired. Who he was aiming for was undetermined, but the fact was that the bullet went home–not to McCauslen, but to one John L. Wirt of the Capitol Police. Wirt was just exiting the floor when he was struck in the thigh. Moore was tackled and dragged off to the post office of the House, where he was relieved of both the gun and a dirk he was carrying and placed under arrest..... 

Wirt, for his part, did quite well for himself. A few years later, he was elected Alderman, and served as such for four years. He also assisted his neighbor Mathias M. White , a funeral director. 

White noted in an ad that ran in the Daily Union of May 1, 1850 that “John L. Wirt will see to the filling of all orders during my absence with the remains of Hon. John C. Calhoun.” Calhoun (pic) had died on March 31st of that year, and was taken back to Charleston, SC, for burial. Wirt was also assaulted two more times in the following years, but it was the injury caused by Moore that caused him the greatest problems. 

In 1854, one of his colleagues, Aquilla K. Arnold, wrote a letter to Congress in which he testified that Wirt’s health was “feeble” and that walking up hills was so difficult that “the police and watch in the Capitol grounds … close the gates assigned to him as his duty … which I believe he would do if he had to crawl to do it.” Two years later, he reiterated his belief. The following year, on November 20, 1857, Wirt died of ‘hemorrhage of the lungs” He was not yet 50 years old. 

Wirt was buried in Congressional Cemetery, where he was joined less than two years later by his widow, Margaret Rebecca Wirt, nee Duley. She, too, was young, having just passed her 45th birthday. Here is the report from House of Representative during the 34th Congress.

Wirt John Shooting House Report 34th Congress by Nancy on Scribd

 FUNERAL OF MRS. MADISON.

The most distinguished honors have been paid to the memory of Mrs. Madison. No mark of respect has been withheld. It was the first occasion on which the metallic air-tight case of Fisk & Raymond’s patent

manufacture has been used in this city for the interment of remains. It is of a different shape from a coffin, and is stripped of the painful associations which usually attend the ordinary receptacle of the dead. The case is metallic. When the lid is put on, it is strongly cemented and made air-tight, and thus the body is preserved in a great degree from the process of decomposition, and does not become disagreeable to the senses. In that part of the lid which is just over the face a small glass is put, which enables the spectator to catch the features; and when it is buried in the ground, the glass is covered with a metallic plate, on which is inscribed the name of the deceased.

To make the necessary arrangements for a public funeral, it was determined to postpone the ceremony until 4 o’clock last evening. The body had been deposited <...><...><...><...><...>in St. John’s Eposcopal<...><...> where hundreds went to see it.

The ceremonies on the occasion were conducted according to the programme, which we published on Sunday morning. The Church was crowded with officers of the government and citize

ns—with ladies and gentlemen. The President was present. Two of his cabinet were pall-bearers. Many ministers of the Gospel attended the last ceremonies that were paid to this beloved and celebrated lady. The Rev. Mr. Pyne was assisted in reading the funeral service by the Rev. Mr. French. Mr. Pyne delivered an appropriate and eloquent discourse upon the deceased.

The procession was one of the largest we have seen in this city. The remains were carried to the Congressional Burying Ground, where they were deposited in one of the vaults, there to repose until they can be conveyed to Montpelier, in Orange county, Virginia, to lie by the side of her distinguished husband, James Madison, ex-President of the United States. The whole ceremony was of the most august and touching description. It was worthy of the character of the deceased, and of the sympathies of this whole community.

Greenville Mountaineer, Greenville County, North Carolina, 27 July 1849

 

 

was an attorney, politician and diplomat, serving as U.S. Representative from Texas. When the Republic of Texas was independent, he served in both houses of its legislature, and as Chargé d'Affaires of Texas to the United States. He served as a member of the Texas House of Representatives 1838–1843. He served in the Texas Senate 1843–1845. He was appointed Chargé d'Affaires of Texas to the United States in 1845 Upon the admission of Texas as a State into the Union, Kaufman was elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-ninth Congress. He was reelected to the Thirtieth and Thirty-first Congresses, serving from March 30, 1846, until 1851. He served as chairman of the Committee on Rules (Thirty-first Congress).Kaufman died from a heart attack in Washington, D.C., on January 31, 1851. Kaufman was originally interred in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, DC. In 1932 his remains were moved and he was reinterred in the Texas State Cemetery at Austin.

 

  
Payment from congress for funeral of Rep. Kaufman to M.M. White

 

This article from the Florida Journal May 18, 1850 which describes the preparations of Vice President John C. Calhoun body in the Congressional cemetery prior to DC funerals and trip to South Carolina and it describe M.M. White,  John L. Wirt and the Fisk & Raymond agent (? )attending the Vice President and his casket. Fascinating ... 

Born in 1782 of wealthy parents in Upstate South Carolina, he was schooled in the North at Yale College. He read law in Connecticut, and returned to his home state to establish a successful practice. He was elected to Congress in 1811. Six years later, President James Monroe made him secretary of war, and he later served as vice president under John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. (The latter famously threatened to have him hanged.) He resigned as Jackson’s vice president to take a Senate seat from South Carolina. President John Tyler named him secretary of state. He later returned to the Senate and until his death was the South’s most powerful defender.

News of Calhoun’s death reached Charleston by the new telegraph, and as word spread, church bells tolled in the city and would continue to do so throughout the day. On public buildings and on ships in the harbor, flags were lowered to half-staff.

In Washington, a committee of six senators was appointed to accompany Calhoun’s body to his home state. The journey began a few weeks later. His heavy iron casket moved by rail to Wilmington, North Carolina, where it was placed on board the steamer Nina.

Full article HERE

 Congressman buried by MM White

Senator. Born in Laurens District, the son of John Archer Elmore, he graduated from the South Carolina College at Columbia in 1819, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1821 and commenced practice in Walterboro. He was solicitor for the southern circuit from 1822 to 1836, a colonel on the staff of the Governor from 1824 to 1826, and was elected as a State Rights Democrat to the Twenty-fourth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of James H. Hammond. Elmore was reelected to the Twenty-fifth Congress and served from December 10, 1836, to March 4, 1839. From 1839 to 1850 he was president of the Bank of the State of South Carolina 1839-1850; he declined appointment by President James Polk as Minister to Great Britain. Elmore was appointed as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of John C. Calhoun and served from April 11, 1850, until his own death in Washington, D.C. in 1850. He was interred in the First Presbyterian Churchyard in Columbia.
of the US House of Representative from South Carolina, serving from 1853 until his resignation in July 1856 and again from August 1856 until his death. Brooks, a Democrat, was a fervent advocate of slavery and states' rights. He is primarily remembered for his May 22, 1856, assault upon abolitionist and Republican Senator Charles Sumner; Brooks beat Sumner with a cane on the floor of the United States Senate in retaliation for an anti-slavery speech in which Sumner verbally attacked Brooks' second cousin,[1][2] Senator Andrew Butler. Brooks' action was applauded by many Southerners and abhorred in the North.[3] An attempt to oust him from the House of Representatives failed, and he received only token punishment in his criminal trial. He resigned his seat in July 1856 to give his constituents the opportunity to ratify his conduct in a special election, which they did by electing him in August to fill the vacancy created by his resignation. He was re-elected to a full term in November 1856, but died in January 1857, five weeks before the new term began in March.[4]Sumner was seriously injured by Brooks' beating, and was unable to resume his seat in the Senate for three years, though eventually he recovered and resumed his Senate career.[5]Brooks' act and the polarizing national reaction to it are frequently cited as a major factor in the rising tensions leading up to the American Civil War.[6]