Great article on the Burials and beyond blog :

Victorian Iron Mummies: The Fisk Casket

The Victorian ‘cult of death’ is a term often thrown around. We use the word ‘cult’ as though all things macabre were worshipped and accepted without question. 

We consider postmortem photos, hair jewellery and elaborate monuments of proof they were celebratory of all things decidedly finite and mortal. 

However, as much as burial was an elaborate and sentimental affair, there were deathly alternatives a little too ostentatious or simply odd for Victorian palettes. LINK

There was a famous article that circulated in American papers in 1858 that purported that a Fisk casket had exploded and M.M. White even had to respond to it in an advertisement in 1858.

A Grave Warning About Iron by Nancy on Scribd

An unearthed Fisk casket in DC contained a mummy of a young boy that was for a time, believed to possibly be William White, son of my great, great grandfather M.M. White. I worked with the
Smithsonian team to help trace the genealogy of the boy. Because M.M. White was the sole proprietor of Fisk caskets in DC from 1849-1867 and had a son named William that also died during that time he was a candidate for the found body It turned out to be another William White but was very interesting project. The mystery was solved through DNA and his rightful family was found. My brother and I (by special invitation) visited with the anthropologists and the William White mummy at the Smithsonian Museum DC in 2006. Featured the wonderful Deb Hull-Walski.

The ‘Boy in the Iron Coffin’ Comes Home to the Natural History Museum LINK 

150 years later, a boy is remembered LINK

Boy in Iron Coffin Identified LINK

Remains of William Taylor White (1837-1852) donated to Smithsonian with his coffin and clothing LINK 

Putting a Face on William White LINK

M.M. White contracts with city of DC to bury Small Pox Paupers 1863 How damgerous it was to handle the bodies of these victims.

A Brief History of Fisk by Nancy on Scribd

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) 

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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)