The Grave of Florence Irene Ford

The Natchez City Cemetery in Adams County, Mississippi, is home to several unusual tombstones. There is one called the “Turning Angel”, which is a statue of an angel that’s carved such a way so as to form an optical illusion. When approaching the statue from the correct angle, the angel appears to turn towards the visitor. There is also a large three-tier tombstone whose rather large size is accounted for by the fact that there is rocking chair inside—as was the wish of Rufus E. Case, whose remains lie besides his trustworthy chair. However, it’s the tomb of Florence Irene Ford that has the most touching backstory.

Florence died of yellow fever at the age of ten. During her life, she was extremely terrified of thunderstorms and needed comfort from her mother whenever there was a storm. So when she died, her mother, devastated by the loss, had a special coffin constructed for her daughter that had a glass window to display her body. Furthermore, Mrs. Ford had a set of concrete steps constructed that descended down to her buried coffin. Whenever there was a thunderstorm, Mrs. Ford would make her way to the cemetery, descend the steps and sit there besides her daughter’s coffin to give her soul solace. After the death of her mother, the glass wall was covered by concrete to prevent vandalism, but visitors can still descend the steps to Florence's grave.