The Poetry of Empty Tombs

Longfellow crypt - Photo by Michelle Y. Souliere, (c)2016

Hi folks! Hope your spring is going well. Here's a little treat from Troy Bennett over at the Bangor Daily News, a piece about one of Portland's long-running mysteries to entertain you while we continue to thaw out.

If you click on the link below, it will take you to the site where you can watch Bennett's 20 minute documentary about his search for the truth about the Longfellow family's tomb.

https://vimeo.com/298098528

Longfellow’s tomb is totally empty. We went looking for the bodies.
By Troy R. Bennett, BDN Staff • October 31, 2018 5:56 am
October 31, 2018

[...]

In 1986, the city of Portland went to brick up the Longfellow family tomb in its historic Western Cemetery to protect it from vandals. But when they did so, they discovered the tomb completely empty — no sign of the six family members, including Henry’s parents, who were interred there in the late 19th century.

As a local historian looked into the case more at the time, the mystery deepened.

In his new investigation into the curious case, Bennett retraced the steps of historian Bill Jordan and discovered some new leads.

[...]

[Source:
https://bangordailynews.com/2018/10/31/news/portland/the-curious-case-of-the-poets-empty-tomb/]

If you'd like to see more of Troy Bennett's features on the Bangor Daily News website, you can find them here:
https://bangordailynews.com/author/tbennett/
You can also follow him on Vimeo:
https://vimeo.com/user11806700/videos