Circa 1912 photo from our collection showing members of the Williams family visiting the grave of Joseph Williams (1850-1911). The older woman was possibly (probably) Joseph’s wife, Henrietta (born 1853), whose name is also on the grave, with the date of death waiting to be added. It turns out Henrietta lived until 1934, and she was buried with her husband.. interestingly though, her date of death was never added. See photo #2 (taken by John VanCamp in 2016). The Williams are buried in Kidwell, West Virginia, in the Lazear Chapel Cemetery there. <> Visit our website for more of our post mortem and mourning photography collection. Click here to access the entire archive for only $9.99

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1885 cabinet card, widower James Cochran and his children (l-r) Bertram, Earnest and Dwight, posing with an enlarged portrait of his wife and the boys’ mother Ella Carile Newell Cochran. who died at the young age of 34 on December 14, 1884. The cabinet card of Ella on the right was used to make the enlargement.

The previous year, in May of 1883, the Cochran family lost their young daughter Mabel at only 5 years old. A premortem photo of a very ill Mabel being comforted by Ella is available on our website, here. Thanatos Archive membership is required. Not yet a member? Review Thanatos Member options here ).

Close up of view of the inscriptions on the miner’s grave, Archive image 3582, Mourning & Memorial section.

The entire uncropped cabinet photo and the history of this miner, who committed suicide,  available here (Thanatos Archive membership is required to access. Not yet a member? Review Thanatos Member options here ).

The back view of George Peabody’s funeral car. Peabody (February 18, 1795 – November 4, 1869) was an American financier, widely regarded as the father of modern philanthropy.  -The front view showing the interior of the funeral car,  is available to Thanatos Archive members here. in the “Mourning & Memorial” section of our Archive.

Not yet a Thanatos Archive member? Consider a membership for full access to our collection.

Young man, photographed in death. The photographer used this image to create a second image, showing the man “As He Was”, with his eyes drawn open – That image is available to Thanatos Archive members here. Not yet a member? Review all of our subscriptions options here ).

Photographer’s backing paper and grave stone, relating to Sarah Chard. From the photographer’s date and the grave date, we can see that she had been deceased for about four days by the time her photo was finally taken. A somewhat disturbing post mortem photo of Mrs. Chard in her coffin is available to Archive members, here (Thanatos Archive membership is required to access. Not yet a member? Click here to access the entire archive for only $9.99

Death certificate of 15-year-old Hazel Climena Manchester, who died of a cerebral thrombosis while suffering from typhoid fever. A touching memorial card with her portrait is available to Archive members, here (Thanatos Archive membership is required to access. Not yet a member? Click here to access the entire archive for only $9.99

Death certificate of 4-year-old Charles Orlando Dutton, who died of appendicitis in 1899. A post mortem photo of Charles photographed at home in his bed is available to Archive members, here (Thanatos Archive membership is required to access. Not yet a member? Click here to access the entire archive for only $9.99

Close up of view of Archive image 3560. The entire photo, his name, location, cause of death are all available here (Thanatos Archive membership is required to access. Not yet a member? Review Thanatos Member options here ).