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

Death, Burial and Iron Coffins How Almond Dunbar Fisk’s invention revolutionized death’s place in American life. 

By Scott Warnasch

 Iron coffins are fascinating artifacts of a time when friction between technology and tradition created a spiritual crisis in the early days of the United States. They’re also a great example of how the unintended effects of one invention can beget new and seemingly unrelated inventions and even new industries. Iron coffins were created to mitigate some of the negative effects of long-distance steam transportation on a traditionally sedentary society. The benefits of steam travel are many and obvious; however, there were also downsides that began to seep into the most personal corners of American life. One unintended consequence was that steam travel enabled unprecedented numbers of people to head out, die and be buried by strangers far from home. read on PBS

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.

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.

 M.M. White provides services or products to Indian Department in April 1857 ? Not sure what he provided 

 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