A accidentally mummified man with skin that was exhibited in an open coffin in Reading (Pennsylvania), known to the public only as “Bricklayer Willie”achieved two things this Saturday that he lacked 128 years: funeral and real name.

Dressed in a vintage tuxedo, his afterlife through the generations protagonist of urban legends and ghost stories came to an end when he was introduced to the world as James Murphy of New York at the funeral in Reading.

A group of funeral home workers and sympathizers said in one voice:

“Rest in peace, James,” as they unveiled his tombstone, with his real name written in small letters below the large text: “Willie the Bricklayer.”

His farewell was accompanied by a colorful procession with a motorcycle hearse carrying his coffin.

James Murphy, of Irish descent and an alcoholic.

Murphy was an Irishman, an alcoholic, and was in Reading at a firemen’s convention when died in a local prison from kidney failure Nov. 19, 1895, said Kyle Blankenbiller, director of Theo C. Auman Inc. Funeral Home, where his remains were located.

Blankenbiller said at the funeral that Murphy’s real name was known to the first Theo Aumann, a funeral home director in 1895.

Murphy’s real name had been passed around the funeral home for the past 128 years, but it was only after the final decision on his burial was made that an investigation was conducted to definitively confirm his identity as James Murphy.

Accidentally mummified

A once unidentified man was jailed on theft charges and accidentally mummified. an undertaker who experimented with new embalming techniques.

According to local historian George Meiser, local authorities were unable to locate his relatives.

Weeks, months and years passed without anyone claiming his remains.

Local historians had to do some historical research to find out his real name from prison records, funeral home records and other documents.

Stoneman because his skin was tanned like stone.

The state ultimately granted the funeral home permission to preserve the body rather than bury it in order to control the experimental embalming process.

He was given the nickname “Stone Man” because of his rock-hard skin.

Pastor Robert Whitmire told the crowd that for those who may have known him, “Stoneman Willie…may have once been a dear friend and family member.” (Reuters)

The mummified man known as Stoneman Willie will be given a proper burial after being on display for 128 years at a funeral home in Reading, Pennsylvania. https://t.co/j3ay0sCkvc pic.twitter.com/ESUZAhSfV9

— Reuters (@Reuters) October 2, 2023

An alcoholic pickpocket affectionately nicknamed “Stone Man Willie” who was accidentally mummified by an undertaker trying out a new embalming technique will finally get a proper burial after being on display at a Pennsylvania funeral home for 128 years. pic.twitter.com/ql95WEBRKr

— Janetking (@janetking851241) October 3, 2023