Mysterious Grave Cages from the 1800s

[@doug3959]

Those are known as mortsafes... popular in Scotland when cadavers were in short supply. The poor folks used mortsafes while the rich built mausoleums to keep granny in the ground.

[@chriswinchell1570]

Mortsafes. That’s great. I’ll remember that till the day I need one.

[@julieinsley7654]

That was some useful information hun thanks

[@johanna7254]

I remember first seeing these "mort safes" on Caitlin Doughty's channel. Fascinating! Really cool cemetery!

[@julienielsen3746]

Really? I don't remember seeing them on her channel.

[@bethpeters3187]

This is first I've ever seen this. Really interesting. They seem more needed in today's times with the stuff I see people are capable of.

[@70applejack]

People are more evil than ever.

[@julieinsley7654]

I found this information interesting..

[@spookygirl7761]

N New Mexico. You see alot of cages at the cemeteries. It's for the coyotes, to keep them from digging the corpse up.

[@jimritzheimer7465]

The bodies aren't buried in coffins?

[@spookygirl7761]

Some are not, no..wrapped n blankets.

[@christinemott8799]

That too

[@351clevelandmodifiedmotor4]

Cayote guna dig 6 or even 12 feet deep ? Lol that's a hungry ass cayote lol more like 2 legged cayotes

[@johndavies9270]

These used to be fairly common in Great Britain as well as in other countries, particularly near cities which had a medical college. I'm from the English West Midlands, where at one time the 'resurrection men' had a roaring trade, often in cahoots with local sextons and undertakers. A couple of years back, when an abandoned non-conformist graveyard in West Bromwich was being cleared for building a new road, a number of these were unearthed, as well as several coffins filled with bricks or scrap iron. The BBC News report said that this was to fool the resurrection men. Not likely! It was to fool the relatives - the dear departed had been removed before leaving the undertaker's premises, and the bricks etc were to make up the weight!

[@351clevelandmodifiedmotor4]

It all sounds a bit silly eh, they should just make it highly ileagal to tamper with or steal a body,. Like give them 10 year prison sentence if caught ,

[@spencerspence1678]

Can you imagine being a medical student and after Uncle Fred's funeral, he's your next mid term.

[@crossarmkid42]

If a witch or vampire can free itself from a buried coffin and tunnel through 6 feet of dirt; I'm pretty sure a flimsy metal cage isn't going to stop them...

[@realname2158]

Thanks for the actual factual explanation. Many would play up the whole vampire myth to attract more views but you did an outstanding job in this video.

[@bluelava4282]

Thanks Mobile Instinct…….. especially your details, very well done……

[@wildgirl484]

Im from Armagh, Pennsylvania and there was some in a small graveyard. Its been awhile since i been in Armagh so not sure it there are still up but the kind of scared me as a kid they was from the 1800s

[@NeilRoy]

I used to love walking in graveyards and reading the tombstones. I once seen some tombstones with the picture of the person embedded into the stone, which I thought was an interesting idea. I would always wonder about the life of the person buried there. What was it like? What was their happy moments etc... so many stories out there, so many people just like us. Our time is coming and someone may someday be standing on our grave, wondering what our life was like...

[@pugsunset1]

Check out Faces of the Forgotten, he has lots of videos with the people's pictures on them.

[@akashdas9292]

I also have the same feeling although I live far far away from you guys and from a totally different culture. Europe really fascinates me.

[@wsg4847]

"There comes a time when all graves go unvisited." - Conan O'Brien

[@sd906238]

Seen the same thing in a graveyard in South Carolina. One that we looked at was for a soldier that was killed on a troopship that was sailing to Europe during WWI. He wasn't a relative but we still paid our respects to him.

[@NeilRoy]

@@sd906238 Ironically, and sadly, my wife died three months after I made that comment. I didn't expect her to go so fast, she had cancer for only four months. :(

[@apfelschorle28]

Thanks Chris, i'm always enjoying your videos!!! 👍 Greetings from germany

[@Ganiscol]

Interesting, wasnt aware of this method to protect against "body snatchers" - the more you know! 💫

[@deborahbaker4770]

Check out Faces Of The Forgotten on KZbin he definitely has a lot of interesting fact’s of Cemetery’s and the people buried in them.

[@lizbradford7706]

@@deborahbaker4770 love him as well forgotten faces amazing history

[@SlimshadyVictoria]

Thank you...very informative!

[@JoshuaMuse]

Glad you put this back up.

[@kilterkaos1]

I didn’t know they existed until your video. Interesting!

[@bobbiejeanraper5156]

Wow very interesting. Had never heard of this. Thanks for the video.

[@lizbradford7706]

Just love these wee videos and the history behind them I’m from Scotland av never seen the gages but will be looking now

[@taffykins2745]

Thank you. Very informative video. 😊

[@theirishprincess7110]

Very interesting, Chris. Also noticed your wearing a Cubs hat. :) You must be a fan.

[@patmccamy4126]

I know all about this. Still interesting that you found the actual items intact!! Thanks for that!!!! Have to keep those bodies safe! Pat

[@billphillips5006]

If you were going to dig down for the body....how would this stop you at all? Does it go deeper then 6ft?

[@fallingstar6792]

I enjoy videos like this. Hope you post more grave videos. Enjoy the stories and history

[@ericmcquiston9473]

Great story and video Chris ! I guess they won’t be cutting the grass inside them until it grows through the top.

[@EssenceOfChicagolandAreas]

Pennsylvania is one place I had not explored yet with my videos. You have a very interesting video here man good production. Thanks for sharing

[@RandySchartiger]

interesting stuff thank you for sharing!

[@angelahartley3212]

Very interesting! Thank you. I noticed on the first closeup headstone that someone named under the deceased was a consort. Do you know what that would imply? Thank you

[@jerrymeeuwse859]

Consort, noun, a wife, husband, or companion. Or an associate.

[@bonemachine1975]

I was unaware of body thief cages. Interesting. Thanks

[@tamitoohey2392]

Interesting story! Great lunch idea!! Awesome shirt!!!

[@stephanie_a333]

I learned something new, thank you Chris. I would like to have one to grow vineing flowers upon. I think the design would make a beautiful framework and allow breezes to waft fragrance freely.

[@JChrisTurner1234]

Great treat to find a new video. Hope this finds you doing well, Chris. Enjoyed this very much, as usual. Hope you enjoyed your garlic bread.

[@tashasmith6179]

I clicked on this real quick because I didn't want it to disappear like the other one lol. Very interesting. Have you heard about the abandoned mausoleum in Rhode Island? I hope you or Lamont can go there and do a story on it. It's a very interesting story. There was a news outlet about it but I think it would be fantastic if one of y'all could do the story on it. I mentioned it to Lamont on his live stream the other day but he probably didn't see it. "HEY, YOU GUYS!!!" I love the Goonies.😃

[@monkeybusiness1999]

Super interesting. Maybe look into Sarah Ann's life & history? You might find forgotten stories about her that led to this cage. The church, local historical society or library could have records.

[@Hugginsince79]

I just learned about grave torpedo's yesterday. Crazy how grave robbers were so popular.

[@EssenceOfChicagolandAreas]

What's that grave torpedo? How did you learn about it yesterday? Were you searching for it?

[@shaygetz52]

Personally...I preferred the grave mines that were used for awhile. Dr. : "Igor..." Igor: "That's 'Eye-gor'..." Dr.: "Ok, Eyegor...watch out for the..." BOOM!!

[@unrulyjulie4382]

Gotta watch out where the brain comes from...pass on Abbey Normal's. 😊

[@jamiescountryliving]

Wow very interesting. Thank you very much

[@casselc9]

Love the goonies, awesome shirt

[@rogerrendzak8055]

@Ac1dra1ndrops. HEY, YOU GUYYYSSSSSS!!!! Yes, I spotted that too!

[@gorillaau]

It's still a good watch with a good fun plot line.

[@samanthab1923]

I also read that the family who had them were known iron workers.

[@missjody4142]

Interesting 🤔.

[@thosg1750]

LOL garlic bread...great video interesting history lesson!

[@W.Y.W.H.40]

Very interesting video, I had no idea that there were any left at all. Great job and watch out for those witches.

[@StephenAndrew777]

Goonies was definitely my favourite movie when I was little. That and pipi long stockings, but I had younger sisters. I couldn't help it.

[@andrew141]

Great video, hopefully Lamont would do his own video on this subject, it's interesting.

[@lablackzed]

Seen these in old cemeteries in the UK .

[@IntrepidFraidyCat]

I sort of like the look. It would make a nice trellis for a flowering vine. 🕴🕴🕴 You could have a nice green leafy canopy over you.⚰😜

[@oldenweery7510]

Now, that would be pretty. Nice thought!

[@Supercell725]

Very interesting video young man

[@wendyjohnson8639]

There's a dead body farm in Texas it's use for forensic science it very intense you should look into that. This is a great find I learned something new today.

[@truthbydesign5146]

The excellent Cinemax TV series “The Knick,” based on a New York hospital at the turn of the century (1900) , actually had the buying of cadavers as one of its plot points. The hospital would pay $25 to $75 per cadaver, for the cutting edge surgeons to practice new techniques. That was a LOT of money back then, so there was quite a shortage of fresh cadavers.

[@rogerrendzak8055]

Yes, but how secure (firm), are these? It looks like you can just lift the cages up, are they attached to the ground?

[@NeilRoy]

I think he said they went into the ground a ways.

[@clairexxx7473]

I loved this, ive always been pretty interested in the history of body snatching. Im from Scotland, living in Australia just now, next time I'm home im gonna go look for some of those caged graves. Although in Edinburgh, Burke and Hare just straight out murdered people to then sell the dead bodies to the doctors for their anatomy lessons,so pretty much cutting out the middle man!🤣🤣 xx

[@neilurwin9670]

Another Good Video All The Best.

[@TheMonkeyBizzness]

Love the T-shirt!

[@dmmchugh3714]

I would think a vampire could get past the cage, considering a vampire has that "undead" thing going on.

[@julieinsley7654]

I found this to be fascinating information tbh 👍

[@vaccumsealed]

Chris, you're always my boy with your cubs hat, but you trumped it with the goonies shirt. Heck yeah!

[@davideverdell9145]

Really good run down ( from Australia)

[@hh7407]

Those are beautiful because it is ornate and wrought iron and someone could plant a climbing rose on it so it could cover it beautifully.

[@march6693]

Faces of the Forgotten just did a video on ‘Shattucks Grave Cemetery’ in Belvedere, Illinois, about these covered graves.

[@jerrymeeuwse859]

I once read this practice was used to keep animals/people off the fresh dirt and seed. Once new grass had established itself they would remove the cage. The cages were owned by the cemetery they said. Some cages were just left in place because the maintenance men, ( grave diggers) were lazy. No idea if it's true, just something I read somewhere.

[@tooge47]

there's one today on the west side of Zachary, LA

[@brendakrieger7000]

Thank you very much🪦🪦

[@nightshadekelly]

Some cemeteries have cages over them because of people bodies being super radioactive. (most know is the radium girls) a few were even buried in led coffins

[@ShadowRhapsody81]

Hmm could see those being erected due to folk-lore reasons (vampires, witches, ect), but also for more practical reasons, such as discouraging organ-harvesting for black-market, and to help prevent graves from 'floating away' if heavy rains/flooding happen.

[@alleycat1117]

Those cages are in really good condition. Thanks for the video.

[@Carolbearce]

Stealing new dead bodies was unfortunately very common. I had to check where you were. Yep, Pennsylvania. I knew there were these cages in this state.

[@mignondehning2199]

Graves like that are so awesome, although won't last long here in South Africa - that steel will be cut up and sold within seconds p.s. love your channel!

[@EssenceOfChicagolandAreas]

That's hilarious

[@EssenceOfChicagolandAreas]

I don't think you get a lot of money for that still.

[@mignondehning2199]

@@EssenceOfChicagolandAreas here in SA they'll sell anything even for two Rand

[@EssenceOfChicagolandAreas]

@@mignondehning2199 I had a friend from South Africa a few years ago that was here for work. He told me of all the crazy stuff going on in South africa. People coming to White farm owners homes and causing harm to them

[@EssenceOfChicagolandAreas]

@@mignondehning2199 I would really like to visit South Africa but I think it's pretty dangerous in many areas

[@cj4688]

PLEASE go back to making longer 20-30min videos. They were so good.

[@erroleabrown4317]

Horrifying that people do such disrespectful things, but honestly the side of the grave would have been just as easy to break into, people never look beyond what they’re told it’s sad and dangerous

[@oilersridersbluejays]

I live in rural Saskatchewan and there is a lot of German settlement in this area and throughout rural Saskatchewan in general, I myself being of German origins. Here, the prairies were homesteaded mostly from the 1900s to early 1930s. In areas of German settlement, old graves up until the 1930s sometimes have a wooden fence around them. Sometimes they have a gate, and are sometimes locked. I always thought it was peculiar. I don’t think it was ever a thing with Mennonite or Hutterite graves (that I know of, as I’m neither) but they seemed fairly common in Lutheran (which I am) and Catholic graveyards. It seems especially common with Germans who came from Russia (Bessarabian, Black Sea, and Volga Germans), although it is also seen with some who were “Home Germans” (Germans directly from Germany). I’ve never really delved into it or have it a lot of thought until now. Perhaps it’s a German version of a mortgage, although I would highly doubt it as it would be rather easy to break into, and isolated rural prairie cemeteries sometimes up to a hundred or so miles from any sort of city with nothing but rifle carrying farmers nearby would be the last place anyone would want to grab a cadaver, nor was grave robbing a thing by this time. It could purely have been elaborate decorations. I should point out that they didn’t seem too overly common, but was they mostly seemed to have been constructed with wood (and probably poplar wood which is poor quality), they probably have rotted over the last 90 to 110 years. If anyone knows which I’m referring to, give me a reply here. I really haven’t seriously researched this and would like to know more about it. Also, big fan of the channel and your newest subscriber!

[@GoodDayforDecay]

Great video

[@gregggoss2210]

What happened to the one you posted yesterday?

[@asmodeus1274]

This is it...

[@RobertW6924]

Nice shirt bro!!👕🧟‍♂️

[@penelope-oe2vr]

There's more of these grave cages around the country than just these

[@diegoflores9237]

Very interesting

[@GeoFishing]

Can’t go wrong with garlic bread 🥖 🧄 ✊🔥✌️❤️ Awesome watch. Thanks for sharing.

[@大疯狼]

I'm pretty sure they are meant to deter grave-robbers: at least *I HOPE*

[@jessicahrutkay8113]

I love your shirt!!!

[@mitch_2498]

i didnt know it was hppned there... i have no idea until i saw ur vid

[@lauratibbles6598]

This was very interesting

[@gatorpics09]

Who built the cages, Joe?

[@garygilbert1127]

Where I live in Scotland the old graveyards have a small building to house the security guards/night watchmen but some still have caged or more commonly fenced burial plots, I'm not really sure but think the fenced plots were for well off families and as monuments for covenanters who were murdered, im not religious but if you don't know about the covenanters it's worth a read.

[@angiewanders7272]

That's what I always thought! I've heard a lot of people say that.

[@wms72]

Garlic bread! LOL. Subscribed.

[@cathysummers7558]

I heard because Vampire or to protect a body from being stoled. I enjoyed very much.

[@351clevelandmodifiedmotor4]

6:25 nope not for vampires lol,. And even if the cages were for keeping vampires in the ground. They could easily just dig around the cage right? Grave robbers could dig around the cage as well right?

[@americanschweitzer45]

Very interesting!

[@rorygalusha5549]

This reminds me of Burke and Hare.

[@sircampbell1249]

Yes body snatchers and in west when ground was frozen they lay coffin on top until spring when ground was thaw...

[@randallbates9020]

I have been to the actual grave of Mercy Brown in Exeter Rhode Island where it is said that vampire stuff really got busy, I don't know that for sure seeing I wasn't alive before the civil war, lol, but her grave is real and she was dug up by her family and was accused of being the undead. The actually cut out her heart and cooked and ate it if not mistaken, gross. The headstone near it says " I will be watching and waiting. " Everyone from my generation called that place Vampires grave. I have not lived there in a very long time so I don't know of the conditions there any longer I live in Arizona and won't be going back to check. Lol. Thanks for a neat video.

[@ronaldsmith6829]

Yes, grave robbers were a problem for several hundred years. The Universities weren't very picky where they got their cadavers for the interns and students to work and practice on. The story Tale Of Two Cities deals with this in one of its central characters. So yes, people were justified in being concerned about weather they enjoyed their rest, in peace.

[@tennesseewoodsigns8637]

4:29 looks like 2 legs standing upper left.

[@tennesseewoodsigns8637]

Hopefully his wife and not a ghost. lol

[@thepikachuoftexas3871]

IM EARLY! BEST HISTORY AND ADVENTURE KZbinR EVER

[@cynthiacronin2794]

Seems like people were creepy way back too.

[@TheLanise]

Wow very interesting

[@sarafinasegale8726]

During this time period the stealing of clothes off those who were buried in high end garments was common...They were devised of garment type hangers..Thus to protect the clothes warn by the deceased....

[@josephpadula2283]

The metal is probably True Wrought iron. That is why it has not rusted. What is called wrought iron today is just steel an rusts easily. True Wrought iron is no longer made anywhere. Well in Williamsburg VA at the historical reenactment site they may make some. A company in the uK is a specialist in find it from old projects but it is expensive. I think one in US too.

[@rangercwgbear6352]

This is pretty cool deal you every get in Iowa

[@overthenever4262]

That was creepy , that one dude died on my birthday 🤔 ...

[@piratecove9450]

During those times, grave robbing was not an offence. The body/bodies had to be taken when naked, if taken still wrapped in a shroud it was considered as theft and a death penalty could be imposed.

[@hungrymon7887]

keeps critters from digging down to the body and feeding on it

[@familyfuntime9922]

I don’t know how for you would travel … but there a place in erath Louisiana where there is a old sugarcane facility where they used to burn sugarcane it’s been abandoned for years