In May of 1928, as Charles “Speedy”
Atkins sat on an old wooden pier on the banks of the Ohio River fishing for
what probably would be his supper, he suddenly
tipped over, fell into the water, and drowned. Two nearby fishermen pulled him
to the bank and tried to revive him, but it was too late, testifying later that
Atkins “appeared to have dozed off, slumped over, and just fell into the river.”
Having no relatives to claim the body, undertaker A. Z. Hamock took custody and
kept the corpse at his funeral home until some decisions could be made. With no
apparent means to pay for a funeral, Atkins was given a pauper’s burial in
Maplelawn Park Cemetery……66 YEARS LATER!
Charles Henry Atkins had
rightfully earned the nickname “Speedy” for the fast and efficient way he could
strip, tie up, and hang tobacco leaves. He was seen almost daily headed, on
foot, to one of the drying barns in and around his hometown of Paducah,
Kentucky.
Hamock, out of curiosity,
had concocted a preservative he thought might mummify a body if properly
administered…and under the circumstances, Speedy might be the ideal prospect to
try it on. He never revealed the formula but told that the “fixins” could
all be bought in a grocery story.” And the townspeople let it go at that.
Unlike other processes where
the body is rubbed with salt then wrapped with strips of linen, Hamock’s
preservative was simply injected into the body’s bloodstream. And strangely
enough, the process worked well. With the exception of a reddish skin tone and
a wooden-like texture, the physical appearance of Speedy was almost true to
life.
After A. Z. Hamock’s death
in 1949, the funeral home was sold and his wife, Velma, assumed custody of the
body. After considering a limited number of options, she decided to keep Speedy,
standing in a closet, in her home where he remained for the next 45 years. With
the strange story of the “mummy in the closet” being featured in newspapers, magazines,
TV programs, and on Paul Harvey’s popular radio program, The Rest of the Story, Speedy became a circus-like attraction, with
people coming from near and far to “visit” him. And with her usual cordial
manner, Velma would always welcome them into her home.
Soon after Velma Hamock’s
death in 1994, the people of Paducah, agreeing that Speedy should have a proper
and respectful burial, raised the necessary funds for a short and simple
graveside service and interment. On the bronze marker at the head of his grave
is this simple inscription: ~ Charles
“Speedy” Atkins ~ Lived 53 years as a pauper…buried 66 years later as a
celebrity.
