Old Coffin Opened, New Mystery Found

Scientists Friday opened a 17th-Century lead coffin believed to contain the remains of Maryland’s fourth Colonial governor, but they were not able to tell if the body inside was male or female.

It was the second time that the coffin, the largest of three found under the ruins of a Catholic church, had failed to live up to expectations.

An attempt on Oct. 23 to extract unpolluted air from the coffin before it was unsealed was inconclusive, said Mark Moore, the technical manager of the project. The scientists had hoped to compare the air to modern-day air in a study of the impact of pollution over the last three centuries.

In opening the coffin Friday, the scientists had hoped markings inside would confirm that the remains were those of Philip Calvert, a member of Maryland’s founding family. He died in 1682.

But they could not even tell if the body inside was male or female.

“All we can say is that it is adult,” said Clyde Snow, a forensic anthropologist.

The remains had shoulder-length curly brown hair. The leg bones and feet were visible, but a white powder covered the remains, which had decomposed.

“It’s another Calvert mystery,” Moore said.

Henry Miller, director of research for Historic St. Mary’s City, said scientists hope to eventually identify the remains by studying DNA, which can be extracted from the bones. The DNA could be compared with samples from bones found in the two other lead coffins.

Scientists also hope to establish the burial date by examining the tree-ring markings found on the wood coffin that held the body. That coffin was placed inside the lead coffin.

Scientists are hoping the skeleton examined Friday and the two others in coffins opened earlier this week also will yield information about the health and diet of early colonists.

One of the other two coffins contained the remains of an infant. The other held the remains of a woman believed to be in her 50s when she died.

Calvert’s wife, Ann Wolsley, died in 1681 in her late 40s or early 50s, officials said.

The coffins were found in the ruins of the church called the Great Brick Chapel, which was built in Maryland’s Colonial capital in the 1660s.

Historian Lois Green Carr said she believes that the largest coffin contains Calvert’s remains because he would have been rich enough to afford the luxury of a lead coffin.

“We still have to suppose it is Philip Calvert because there is no better candidate,” she said.