Most people had no idea... They simply announced on the Wednesday Evening News that three families were claiming that three of the victims bodies numbered 4, 240 and 281 may be relatives of theirs, and they want the bodies excavated for DNA sampling. Digging starts tomorrow! Being a new Titanic researcher, and of course living here where the history lies, and this is taking place, I had to be there.  This is my journal. I took many pictures for those of us who like a thousand words. I'm really not concerned with what the names are of everyone involved with the exhumation . During this experience I never read any newspaper articles, watched any TV reports, except the announcement, (including myself on the news) or listened to the radio. I wanted this story to be about what I felt and witnessed as an interested amateur Titanic Researcher. I wish I had a digital camera back then. The pictures aren't very good. My only concern anyway, is finding out the names of the people in the graves.

Thursday, May 17th 2001

9:00am
Arrived at the cemetery alone, it's a chilly day. Wind is up a little and the sky is overcast and dull. I pull in the driveway of the Fairview Lawn Cemetery and faced a Halifax Regional Police van parked across from the graves. The news reported that the work would begin in the morning but there is little activity, maybe 8 people around just milling about their duties. I could see no one around the graves, just nearby. I cruised past the Van and parked for a minute to get out and look around and snap a few pictures (which didn't turn out because it was the beginning of the film). I noticed another Police cruiser coming in and pull up to the van to chat. I had to go and get my Mom, so I just drove around the yard down below the graves at the bottom of the hill. As I drove by I wondered if the police car was going to block access to spectators.

9:30 am
We return to the cemetery and there are now two Halifax Regional Police cars and I thought something must be up because there was still very little going on for all these Cops. Although, there was now about fifteen people, all who seem to be reporters or yard workers. We drove all the way around the cemetery and parked down below the graves at the bottom of the hill. Right then a guy came out of the building and he had a couple of rolls of bright yellow tape and we thought ok, here we go. He gated off the whole area around the site. During this more people are arriving and a little group is forming at the grave of the Unknown Child. We decided to move the car and park facing the graves on the top of the hill. I noticed a couple of reporters crouched down in front of the grave of the Unknown Child interviewing a man in a hat and a brown leather jacket. We speculated that he was one of the family members. We drove around and parked to see two Policeman walking towards the group. They reached the man and spoke a few words to him as they helped him up from the ground. By now I'm at the plastic yellow parameter and I ask two men (still adjusting the caution tape) if the man is a protester. One man looks at the other and the first one says, "Yes, he is. He is a self-appointed caretaker of the Unknown Child's grave and has been for a few years. He has no connection to the HRM (Halifax Regional Municipality)". I just kept looking at him so he said it again. The gentlemen was brought away from the grave peacefully and I later learned someone reported that he was chained to the grave, but I didn't see anyone removing chains or chains in anyone's hands or around him. The two Police Officers and two other graveyard officials began talking to him and within a few minutes he was shaking the officers hand when I heard the Policeman say, "Sure I'll drive you home." I found out later that he was banned from the graveyard for the rest of the exhumation and that he was simply misinformed about what was going to happen. He was under the impression that the child's grave was going to be moved elsewhere for testing, and he felt that the child wouldn't want to leave everyone else. So, when they told him that they were only going to take some samples to try and find out who he is, and give the child a family name, he gave up his protest peacefully. Then, the Officer drove him home. In my opinion he was not a publicity seeker because he was visibly upset about what he thought was happening, and kept asking if what he was being told was the truth. He was really trying not to cry. Me too.

He  fenced off quite a large area around the graves.
Nobody was permitted inside after he was finished.

You can't really see the Reporters talking to the Protester,
but he is sitting down in front of the Unknown Child's grave,
as the guy begins to fence off the area with caution tape.
 

Here local Reporters watch as the Police escort the Protester aside.
 

This is the Police and two graveyard officials who explained to the gentleman
in the hat that the graves were to be sampled for DNA and not removed.
Mom and I went over closer to him and we could see that he was very emotional.
 

10:00am
After the man is whisked away the reporters and Mom and I thin out because there is nothing else going on. We go back to the car and notice after a while that the reporters are all leaving. We figure that the work is delayed for some reason so we decide to go and get some tea and hot chocolate.

10:30am
We return to the graveyard and there is no one around. There is only one car parked near the office with two men sitting in it. We were so surprised that there were no spectators! Not a one! I guess that here in Nova Scotia the Titanic is just such a part of our history that no one pays much attention to anything concerning it. Plus the fact that no one knew anything about this unless they watched the evening news the previous night. We sat around in the car drinking our beverages for about 45 minutes and watched as people returned, when one of the men got out of his car. So, we got out of our car and approached him. I still don't know who he was, but he was around all day and seemed to be connected to the graveyard as opposed to the exhumation. We chatted for a little while and he told us that the work wasn't scheduled to begin until 1:00pm. I asked if any of the relatives would be here and he said that they wanted to remain anonymous and would not be here. I said to him that the families must have some pretty convincing evidence in order to get authorities to do this and he proceeded to tell us their findings.

He said one of the victims a young man, (body #240) was found with a watch and chain when his body was recovered. This watch was also a locket that contained two pictures of loved ones. These pictures were photographed before they were buried with him and kept on record at the Public Archives. The family was able to produce the same pictures as well as several other family photos of him with the people in his watch locket.

NO. 240. - MALE. - ESTIMATED AGE, 24. - HAIR, DARK.
CLOTHING - Grey overcoat; blue serge suit; white sweater.
EFFECTS - One pipe; key; silver watch and chain; £1 5s. in purse.
NO MARKS.
 

The woman (body #281) had a very large and noticeable wart on one of her fingers. The family was able to produce pictures of this lady showing her wart as well as a picture of her taken just before boarding the Titanic and wearing the same clothing she was found in.

NO. 281. - FEMALE. - ESTIMATED AGE, 30. - HAIR, BROWN.
CLOTHING - Black coat; blue skirt; red jersey; green blouse; woolen
singlet; grey underskirt; black boots and stockings.
LARGE WART ON INDEX FINGER OF LEFT HAND.
EFFECTS - $26.00.
NO MARKS ON CLOTHING.
 

As for the Child's grave (body #4) the family claims that the child was older than two years, as estimated at the time of recovery, but instead was approximately 4 years old and believe the DNA testing of his teeth will prove that, as well they had a photograph of the child in the same fur cuffed and collared coat he was buried in. I asked him if it was the Paulson family descendants who were having the grave exhumed and he said, "as far as I know, it's not".

NO. 4. - MALE. - ESTIMATED AGE, 2. - HAIR, FAIR.
CLOTHING - Grey coat with fur on collar and cuffs; brown serge frock;
Petticoat; flannel garment; pink woolen singlet; brown shoes and stockings.
 

He also told us that the families have been trying to get the DNA testing done for the last three years and finally got through all of the official channels to do so, the last being our Medical Examiner. After I told the man that we were Titanic researchers working on the two STONE bodies that were recovered, he told us that there was going to be a private memorial service tomorrow at 4:00pm, and that we were welcomed to attend, and please don't tell the reporters. Which we didn't. I don't know if anything he told me was fact, but he certainly seemed to know.
 

The gentleman with white hair and beard is Alan Ruffman,
local Titanic Author and Researcher.

11:20am
We decide to go and get some lunch since there is still hardly anyone around and the digging wasn't going to begin until 1:00pm.

11:40am
We return to find a few reporters have come back and we park the car near them to eat. Just then local reporter Peter Mallett of the ATV Evening News approached the car and introduced himself. I told him I knew who he was, and he said he noticed that we were around all morning and could he ask what our interest here was. So, I got out of the car, took a deep breath and proceeded to tell him about the research we were doing on the two Titanic STONE crew members. I could tell he thought what I was saying was very interesting and he asked if he could interview us for the Evening News. I thought oh boy, now everyone watching will know of the research. I hadn't wanted to go public with my findings until I was sure, but on second thought now is as good a time as any to put it out there. So, I was interviewed and talked briefly about what I have discovered about their names.

The Reporters main agenda was of course to get my opinion on camera about what I thought of the exhuming of graves for DNA sampling. I am of course, all for it. I believe that when we leave our earthly bodies what we leave behind are those memories that remain with those whose lives we have touched, our DNA from the body if buried, and our name (bloodline). It is our birthright to be given a name, as well as having a memorial erected in our name after death. It's our right of passage when we cross over and leave the Earth that people know we were here for good or evil.

After the interview I was too excited to eat so we decided to go for a bathroom break before the workers showed up.

12:30pm
Finally, the men arrived who were to set up the tent that would cover the Scientists and Medical Examiner after the graves were dug. Reporters were to stay behind the caution tape of course. People have complained that all of this digging will disturb other graves, but this rumor is not true. If you look at the first picture you can see that the little grave digger is going to drive up the gravel road there and dig right were that man is bent over. Incidentally, that man in yellow is the one who talked to me about the evidence to get permission to excavate.
 

Ironically, bodies NO. 281 & 240 were right next to each other.
The third and forth stone in from the road, where the man is spraying marking paint.
 

Building the tent begins.
 

      It's bigger than I expected.                                     Up she goes.                          

1:00pm
Things are behind schedule about a half an hour and finally the excavation team arrives. The people who were standing inside the fence and were at the graveside were these five people as well as a couple of others. I was told the man in the long grey coat was a Titanic author and president of some Titanic Society. The other man in the dark suit seemed to be a graveyard official, the woman next to the man in grey an anthropologist, the man in jeans a DNA expert, and the obscure person also a graveyard official. In fact, I'm not sure if those really are those people, it was just talk I heard around the Reporters.

They all seemed very excited to be present and working on this excavation.
They joked around a lot, laughing and talking.
 

This was the first time I had ever seen a grave digger.
How eccentric of me to think graves were still dug by hand. Sheesh.

1:30
The little grave digger moves into place and all the press gathers close. Mom and I included with them. This is the moment everyone is waiting for. The breaking of ground. All of the officials are gathered around the grave including a city Cop who was present all day. Everyone around me is whispering their lines and chatting quietly as they get posed to take shots, and then the grave digger places the scoop right to the ground and stops. He shuts off the machine and steps down. We all just look around at each other as everyone in front of us gathers at the head of graves, taking off their hats as they move to form a line. Oh my God I thought, they're going to pray. As soon as the line was formed and they put their heads down, everyone shot off a picture and then, complete silence. You could barely hear someone saying a prayer in the line. It was very powerful, that silence. Everyone quiet, just the breeze, the birds, and the soaring of my heart. The world was mine for a moment. I was really, really moved by it. In reflection now, it really was the moment I was waiting for...
 

There were two flat graves named Mother and Father where the grave digger sits. When they first brought the machine up the driver suggested a flat board be placed over them to prevent any damage to them. I  inspected them later and they were A ok.
They were really old, probably mid 1800's.
 

The breaking of ground. The picture is a little blurry because
 I was shaky from the prayer. This was history in the making,
and I'm standing right there. It was such a privilege.
 

The Police Officer to the right eventually became really curious,
and spent the rest of the day at grave side.
 

As the grave digger got closer to the casket he would dump the dirt and the Scientists would  inspect it for wood fibers before he would take another scoop. The graves had unfortunately sunk deeper than anticipated, and they had to dig several feet farther than expected.
 

This is the extent of people who were at the graveyard. All together
around 30 people. All were Journalists and Officials, then just myself and my Mom.
 

Here is the crowd from another angle. Not very many people.
My Mom is the lady in the long white coat.
 

A tour bus arrived a little later on, but nobody got out.
I couldn't see anyone on the bus. Maybe the bus driver was just curious.
 

It's nearly time for the tent to cover the site.

3:00pm
We needed a bathroom break so we left for about 20 minutes. When we returned most of the Reporters had left, and the tent was placed over the site for the digging to continue by hand.
 

Once they dug far enough the digger was set back in between the
tombstones and the rest of the work was undercover.
 

From this angle you can see the Unknown Child's grave. I heard that they chose
to do the Child's grave last because of a fear of rain. The other two graves are placed
at the bottom of  the incline and therefore would be much wetter should it rain the following day.

Friday, May 18th 2001

2:00pm
I had to work until 1:00pm so I didn't arrive at the grave yard until 2:00pm, where I found the Child's grave already dug. :( They had the tent over the grave site but for some reason they had one side of it opened. I guess it was because there was only about 10 people around, including a couple of Photographers.

The grave digger is surrounded by the tent for some reason. I guess because
they may have thought they would have to dig deeper, or that it might rain.
 

An up hill look and the first two graves finished. I heard the graveyard officials
say the grass would be replaced as soon as they were finished.
 

Here is the side angle.
 

There are several people bent down inside the
grave and standing around the grave.
 

There seemed to be more people around this
grave then there was the first day.
 

The man in red is holding up a clear plastic
bag with what looks like a DNA sample in it.

2:30pm
I had to go and pick up my Mom and bring her back for the memorial service at 4:00pm, so I left.
 

3:45pm
When we returned the yellow caution tape had been taken down and they were disassembling the tent and picking up the equipment. We figured that there would be no memorial service because of this, plus there was no one around but the cleanup crew, so we had a moment of silence, I snapped a few final pictures and we went home.

The tent coming down
 

Bodies NO. 281 and NO. 240

Body NO. 4
The Unknown Child
 

Here is the work completely finished. As you can see there is plenty of room for the
public to view the graves, as well as do the work without disturbing the other stones.

 

Noteworthy: I visited here a few times over the winter months and never once saw this big Christmas stocking in front of the Paulson grave. Suddenly it's here, so perhaps it just arrived. We did have a record setting snow filled winter this year, so perhaps it was just buried under the snow. I peeked inside it before I left the grave yard and it contained a jar of peanut butter, a loaf of bread, a knife and a note written on a ripped piece of cardboard which just seemed to be gibberish or some other language. There were English words, but they made no sense. Some of them were Sorry, Titanic, and Make.       ...Warmed my heart it did...

Since the bodies were sampled for DNA word has come that there was not enough in the bones of the first two bodies No. 240 and NO. 281 to get any good samples. :( Apparently the graves were too water logged and the bone marrow was gone. I was so heartsick to hear that, to know the names may never be known. Let's pray for the Unknown Child to be identified!

A couple of weeks later I returned to the graveyard to make
sure the work had been completed with new sod.
Without knowing it, the guy was there doing it when I arrived.
How about that!? I chatted with the fellow and he told me he had to wait
for the good sod because of all the visiting traffic :)

I told him he would be on the Internet.
I snapped the picture before he could get away!

 
He had already finished the Unknown Child's Grave.
 

Nice new good sod.
 

---

Articles below are from The Chronicle Herald

November 6th, 2002

November 7th, 2002

We are all overjoyed at this news!
The story of the medallion protecting the only DNA, filled my heart with joy!
I was bursting!
Little did the MacKay Bennett's Crew know that their love for this
Child Unknown, would shine through 90 years later. This is the power of love.

R.I.P.
*Eino Viljami Panula*

I took the liberty of putting his name on his grave picture
(just the picture, not the tombstone at the cemetery),
just to see how it looks. I like it, I hope to see it there some day.

If you have any questions or comments about my Titanic research,
send me an email to the address below.