Anybody seen this before? Solid wood "window" sash

[Neighmond]

I went to see friends in KY several years back, and they had a property that was a verified transfer point (the underground railway was only one of the vast array of escape routs north, sort of like calling a paper handkerchief a "Kleenex" or any rifle a "Winchester") They did have a tiny space under a large hearth stone that two could wriggle into in a desperate pinch, but family lore states that people there were explained away as rented labour from another place, or they would leave them in chains and tell anyone that asked they were already headed back home and their owners just hadn't sent the train fare/reward last payment or whatever the case may be.

[SouthernLady]

Isn't that an awesome feature?

Is a coffin door a confirmed real thing? I have never heard of such being in an actual home. My family has always been country farmers with a very heavy Appalachian influence, and we laid out our people at home until I was a very small girl. Never used funeral homes for the wake (or visitation night, as it's called). Nobody I know of has ever heard of a coffin door, either. My mom said when her grandmother died (I was three months before being born), they had the coffin in the living room of the old house and all the family (very large extended family) crammed in and ate pound cake and sat wherever they could find a hole.

In Charleston, South Carolina, many of the old homes had this feature you have in your home. The door could be opened for both added circulation and for use as a door. If someone wanted to, they could easily step outside for some fresh air.

Neat feature!

[Don M]

I think coffin doors were installed in Victorian homes in certain parts of the country. The Victorians had some strange fears about death. They were afraid of being buried alive and some had coffins with intricate systems that could open an airway & sound a bell if the dead person came around.

[Mick_VT]

For me its right up there with the house plans in the newel post <grin>

https://historymyths.wordpress.com/tag/coffin-doors/

[Neighmond]

In order to make a good coffin door, you have to be able to tote an adult sized casket and four to six pallbearers through without banging the hell out of the door, trim, or casket. I gotta say, that rules out a good plenty of them! Usually what is called a "Coffin door" is simply a door to show company into the best room(s) without taking them through the working portions of the house, and to facilitate the moving of furniture in a house with tight corners, enclosed stairwells, an narrow passageways.

[Jo_S]

History Myths Debunked -

Myth #104: Coffin doors

http://historymyths.wordpress.com/tag/coffin-doors/