This seems to be some kind of Fisk catalog or advertisement, on the back it is describing the burial of Mrs Dolley Madison.
The vault was used many times by M.M. White.
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 th
e 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.
A policeman and civil servant, in 1849 John L. Wirt was a member of the Capitol Police. He went on to be elected a city Alderman, in which office he served four years. He was also an assistant funeral director, working with and for Mathias M. White, who sold the Fisk coffins (in one of which DPM was buried). Wirt died in 1857, not yet 50 years old, from a “hemorrhage of the lungs,” and was buried in Congressional Cemetery. In 1837 he married Margaret Rebecca Duley Wirt, who lived only two years more than her husband.
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An entrepreneur and inventor, Almond D. Fisk was the son of Catherine Worthington and Solomon Fisk. In 1848, Fisk patented an improvement in the manufacture of coffins. “What I claim therein as new,” Fisk wrote in his patent, “is the manufacturing of coffins of cast or raised metal when made... to the human form.” Molded in two equal parts, the cases “united horizontally.” From these coffins, “the air may be exhausted so completely as entirely to prevent the decay of the contained body on principles well understood.” Thus the body was sealed in a sarcophagus that would preserve the deceased’s remains and prevent the spread of disease and, theoretically, putrefaction.
Due to high demand, Fisk partnered with his brother-in-law, William Raymond, and opened a foundry in New York to manufacture the coffins shortly after receiving his patent. John Payne Todd apparently viewed one of his coffins on display in Washington City in the spring of 1849. A few weeks later, Fisk wrote DPM about the possibility of reinterring JM in one of his coffins. It is unknown what DPM thought of that idea, but when she died that summer, she was interred in one of Fisk’s new coffins.
In 1840 Fisk married Phoebe Ann Raymond, with whom he had five children. In the fall of 1849 Fisk’s foundry was leveled by fire. Shortly thereafter, Fisk fell ill and died in the fall of 1850.
First quotation is from Fisk, Almond D., inventor; “Improvement in Coffins” U.S. Patent 5,920. November 14, 1848; second quotation, Daily National Intelligencer, 18 October 1850.
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
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
This letter from Almond D. Fisk to First Lady Dolley Madison (found in the Dolley Madison archives) answers lots.
This is exactly as the Capitol looked in 1847, its one of the earliest photographs. This is the original copper dome, the one we know know had not yet been constructed.
Her son has seen the display of the Fisk & Raymond casket in the rotunda of the US Congressional Building and asked Capitol police man , John L. Wirt ( MM White's best friend ) to have Almond Fisk contact Mrs Adams about getting a casket for President Adams remains. This is the letter Mr Fisk wrote Mrs Madison in April 1849
New York April 7, 1849
Honorable Mrs. James Madison
Madam,
Mr. J. L. Wirt, police officer of the capital, informs me
that your son, Col. Todd, made some inquiries of him concerning the probable
expense of a metallic case similar to the one I am exhibiting in the Rotunda.
Also that Col. Todd spoke of the desire for more imperishable article, in which
to preserve the
remains of our late, distinguished ex-President Madison.
Feeling the value and importance of the application of my
production for such proposals, (as well also in the hearts of our countrymen,
as in the comfort desired by immediate relatives), and sensible of the
advantage I should derive by introducing my invention through such a channel, I
have ventured to address you upon the subject and would say that if you would
desire it and the expense, and the necessarily borne by yourself, we
would furnish a case of such metal as you might desire and insert the remains
of your late distinguished companion at the net cost to us.
A case of bronze metal would undoubtedly be more desirable, as by a combination which we can make more indestructible.
The expense for the metal and casting alone of a suitable
one of this material would be 
about sixty dollars ($60). Of a composition
principally iron, and enameled, we believe it would last several hundred years
and the expense of the case alone would not probably twenty dollars ($20). With
the necessary expense of transportation be added.
Col. Todd having seen the case in the Rotunda,
you would probably no other than his judgment for the certainty of its advantages. Such an undertaking would be a suitable consideration for Congress yet under different conditions.
May I expect your notice and answer on the subject?
Very Respectfully,
Your Obedient Servant.
This is a timeline and list of know burials/funerals and in many cases Fisk metallic caskets provided by Mathias M. White in Washington, District of Columbia from the years 1849- 1868.
In his many DC newspaper advertisement of the time M.M. White is listed as the District of Columbia's sole proprietor of Fisk airtight caskets.
I am going to do many individual posts for what I know of each deaths and burials including articles, congressional records, images etc. I have created a special label for Madison and Calhoun so you can read all I have on them and all the others are labeled 'congress' so you can read about the Speaker, Senators and Representatives he was undertaker to.
Timeline: MM White Undertaking - Known Congressional/Government Burials
1848- Fisk receives patent for Fisk Metallic Burial Case
1849- Fisk is displaying the caskets in the United State Congressional rotunda April 1849
1849 -Former first lady, Dolley Madison died DC buried Congressional Cemetery (July 12, 1849)
1850- Former Vice President John C. Calhoun died DC buried Congressional Cemetery and South Carolina (March 31, 1850)
1850- Hon Thomas J. Campbell Clerk of the United States House of Representatives & U.S. Representative Tennessee (April 13, 1850)
1850- Hon. Franklin Elmore U.S. Representative and Senator SC died DC (May 29, 1850)
1851- Hon. David S. Kaufman U.S. Representative died DC buried Congressional Cemetery (January 31, 1851)
1852- Hon. Henry Clay, Speaker of the House of Representatives Kentucky died DC National Hotel Penn. Ave. in his room (Room 116) (June 29, 1852)
1852- Hon. Robert Rantoul Jr. U.S. Representative and Senator Massachusetts died DC (August 7, 1852)
1853- Hon. Orin Fowler U.S. Representative Massachusetts died DC (September 3, 1852)
1854- Hon. Brookins Campbell U.S. Representative Tennessee died DC (December 25, 1853)
1854- Hon. Henry Augustus Muhlenberg U.S. Representative Pennsylvania died DC (January 9, 1854)
1856- Hon. Moses Norris Jr. U.S. Representative New Hampshire died DC (January 11, 1855)
1857- Hon. Preston Smith Brooks U.S. Representative SC died DC (January 27, 1857)
1858- Hon. Sampson W. Harris U.S. Representative Alabama died DC buried Congressional Cemetery (March 3, 1857)
Other Known burials Congressional Cemetery
1855- John Bruce (December 24th)
1856- John Neal (January 12th)
1857- Commodore John T. Newton (July 28th)
Known burials Glenwood Cemetery
1856- Benjamin Grenup 1st Fireman killed in line of duty (May 8)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mathias M. White did not only acted as undertaker for his customers, but also for his own family.
Known Family Burials Congressional Cemetery
1856- Unknown White child of MM White (August 28, 1856)
1859- Andrew Bain child (Winnie, grandchild of MM) buries in Congressional Cemetery District of Columbia (July 28, 1859)
1868- E.C. Merriam (In law of MM) buries in Congressional Cemetery District of Columbia (June 7, 1868)
M.M. White acted as undertaker to First Lady Dolley Madison
" Along with his invoice, Fisk unashamedly asked John Payne Todd for an endorsement of his product. “May we ask of you a little expression of your sentiments regarding our Metallic burial Case and the satisfaction with which it was received, to yourself and your friends, Such a favor … would be of great service to us” (Almond Dunbar Fisk to John Payne Todd, 23 July 1849).
Though Todd’s response has never been located, he probably provided a positive review, as Dolley was cited in advertisements for Fisk’s coffin in the years following.
Dolley's Coffin by Nancy on Scribd
