Edith Howard Cook
Edith Howard Cook (November 28, 1873 – October 13, 1876) was an American child who died at the age of 2 years 10 months. Her cast iron casket and mummified body were found in 2016 during a home renovation project in San Francisco, California. At the time of the discovery, her identity was unknown. However, it was known that the modern residence was atop the former location of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows cemetery, which was in use between 1860 and 1901. The Odd Fellows Cemetery was initially on the outskirts of the growing city of San Francisco, but was closed around 1903 and all bodies were exhumed in the 1930s to make way for new residential neighborhoods. Nearly all traces of the former cemetery, including headstones, were removed at that time. Only the columbarium still stands. Under most circumstances, Edith would be just another name in a book of historical records, one of hundreds of thousands of children who died before the age of 5 years in the 19th century United States, mostly due to a range of infectious diseases. However, an archaeoforensics investigation was able to identify her name using genealogy, mapping, stable isotope, and DNA analyses.