Peabody's Tomb

[gooddogs]

I have been living in Montana for the last 35 years, but
growing up in Chicago in the 60’s I remember the Legend of Peabody’s
Tomb. If I remember right: Peabody, the same guy from the John Prine
song, had donated his estate to a Monastic Order. The legend was that
he was preserved in a glass coffin in some hallway (according to someone
who had seen it and told someone, who told someone…) somewhere in the
Western suburbs and if the Monks caught you on the place they would
shave your head or worse. All kinds of tales were told of being chased
by monks by teenage drunks and liars. Is there any truth to this, I
just remembered the whole thing these many years later.
Gary, East Helena, MT

[CalMeacham]

And here I thought Sherman was in mourning…
I’m clueless. What guy from a John Prine song?

[Harry1945]

Mr. Peabody’s coal train.

It refers to open pit mining in West Virginia, I think.

[samclem]

@CalMeacham

And here I thought Sherman was in mourning…
I’m clueless. What guy from a John Prine song?

Mr. Peabody’s coal train done hauled it away."

[Colibri]

That would presumably be Francis_S._Peabody, founder of the Peabody Coal Company, now Peabody Energy.

From the Wiki link:

He constructed the Mayslake Peabody Estate in Oak Brook, Illinois. The property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Only a year after Mayslake Hall was completed, Francis Peabody died of a heart attack during a fox hunt on his property. It is said that he was buried near the lake, and a chapel was built on the site where he had died.[5]

This site has a bit more on the Legend of Peabody’s Tomb:

After having a heart attack while fox hunting Francis Stuyvesant Peabody was buried on the grounds of Mayslake in Oak Brook. Her [sic] widow built a small chapel over the site of his grave. Local teens started a legend that it was Peabody’s tomb and that it was haunted. They legend said he was buried in a suspended glass box filled with oil to prevent decomposition. Because of repeated vandalism, the little Portiuncula Chapel almoast was torn down. It was saved by the forest preserve district during conservation and restoration efforts at Mayslake. Mayslake is located on Rt83 and 31st street in Oak Brook.

More here, indicating that the property was purchased by Franciscan monks in 1924.

[Polycarp]

@CalMeacham

And here I thought Sherman was in mourning…
I’m clueless. What guy from a John Prine song?

“War is hell! Just look qhat happened to poor Mr. Peabody!”

Maddened by the loss of his erudite canine friend, Sherman used the Wayback Machine one final time, before donating it to the Internet Archive. Going back 40 years, he set up shop in an abandoned farmhouse outside Frostbite Falls, MN. In the attic, he found a nest where a family of flying squirrels had abandoned their offspring, one of which survived. And from the nearby deep woods he was able to trap a Cervus alces fawn. Using the bioengineering techniques Peabody had taught him, he modified their DNA. As they grew to adulthood, he moved to the western suburbs of Chicago, bought a mansion, and dedicated his life to a monastic regimen, leading to the legend of Peabody’s House.

Some parts of the above may not be true.

[Colibri]

@CalMeacham

I’m clueless. What guy from a John Prine song?

Paradise
And daddy won’t you take me back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the Green River where Paradise lay
Well, I’m sorry my son, but you’re too late in asking
Mister Peabody’s coal train has hauled it away

Paradise, Kentucky, was a real place, but it was destroyed by being flooded by a dam, not because it was strip mined.