and arsenic or possibly strychnine. The corpse Farris’ body was taken to Adams Vermillion Furniture which also sold caskets and functioned as a funeral parlor. No one showed up to claim her, but the body wasn't decomposing, either—supposedly an effect of the poison. With an endless supply of curious visitors the proprietor started charging 10¢ a gander to see the notorious outlaw. The corpse was later loaned out to various exhibitors, including Adams' brother in Tuscaloosa, before it came into the possession of O. C. Brooks in 1907. He featured the well-preserved remains in his traveling show for 40 years. When he died, Brooks left Farris’ corpse to his nephew, on the condition that any money raised from displaying her be donated to charity. Brooks' nephew used Farris corpse to raise money to build churches in Tennessee before bringing her back to Bessemer, where she became an infamous attraction at the newly formed Hall of History. After a long run, and an appearance in a National Geographic Channel documentary, the owners of Farris’ corpse had it cremated. An autopsy performed for the documentary indicated that the mummified woman died of pneumonia. A finger was, indeed, shot off about a year before her death. The procedure further determined that the body was replete with arsenic, but it appeared she had been immersed in, not ingested, that particular poison. Bessemer had no embalmers in those days, so any preservation bath would have been done by amateurs using materials at hand. The documentary makers found no archival evidence from newspapers of these events, leading to the assumption that the story was crafted to fit the remains. References Katz, Elaine S. (Winter 1978) "Variation as Relative Perception in the Legend of Hazel Farris". Mid-South Folklore Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 55–64 Abrams, Vivi. (November 1, 2004) "Bessemer mummy legend endures." Birmingham News. "National Geographic probes story of Ada mummy." Claremore Daily Progress "An Unwanted Mummy". The Mummy Road Show Episode 12. National Geographic Channel (April 1, 2002) Quigley, Christine. (1998) Modern Mummies: The Preservation of the Human Body in the Twentieth Century. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. Conlogue, Jeremy and Ron Beckett. (September 2005) Mummy Dearest:How Two Guys in a Potato Chip Truck Changed the Way the Living See the Dead External links 1906 suicides Deaths from pneumonia in Alabama Mummies People from Louisville, Kentucky People from Birmingham, Alabama Sideshow attractions Suicides in