Henry County, KY, Obit of "Big Winnie" Johnson, 1888

Submitted by:  ezecho@aol.com   (Walter Chisholm)
20 April 1999

Obituary from "The Baltimore Herald"  5 Sep 1888


Born ? 1839
Died    September 14, 1888

Big Winnie's Burial
The Prize Fat Colored Woman Laid at Rest Yesterday

Winnie Johnson, better known as "Big Winnie, is no more.

Her obsequies took place from her late home on East Street at 4 o'clock
yesterday afternoon.

"Big Winnie" died of fatty degeneration of the heart at 11:30 p.m. Monday. 
She was well known to the public as the prize fat colored woman in the world,
tipping the scales at 849 pounds. Evans and Spence, the undertakers who had
charge of the funeral, experienced the greatest difficulty in preparing the
body for burial.

They searched every establishment in the city to find a coffin large enough,
but without success, and finally they were compelled to order a special box
from Maryland Burial Case Company,

A Tremendous Coffin

The funeral case measured 5 feet 11 inches in length (inside) 3 feet 8 inches
in width and 2 feet and 2 inches in  depth. It was impossible to raise the
woman from the bed and the box was placed slanting against the bed and the
body rolled into it. None of Evans and Spence's wagons was large enough to
hold the box, and one of Frey's theatrical express wagons was required to
carry the corpse to the cemetery. 

When it was learned that "Big Winnie" would be buried at 4 o'clock, some 600
or 700 persons gathered on the street about the house and stood expectantly 
to see the huge box, containing all that remained of Winnie, carried to her 
last resting place.

It took 20 pall bearers to lift the coffin.

Even then it was found that it was too large to pass through the door. The
window of the store on the first floor was removed and the sash was knocked
out before the aperture was large enough.  Then the express wagon was backed
upon the sidewalk and the huge coffin pushed out, and proceeded to Laurel
Cemetery, where the interment was made.

More Difficulties Encountered

Fully 100 colored people followed the funeral, which consisted, besides the
impromptu hearse, of two hacks containing the two sons of the deceased and 
the undertakers and T. A. Johnson, proprietor of the Baltimore Street Dime 
Museum, where "Big Winnie had been on exhibition the greater portion of 
last season.

Arrived at the cemetery, the grave, which had been prepared for the remains,
was found to be almost entirely filled with water and Manager Johnson refused 
to allow the body to be laid at rest there. Another grave had to be dug and, 
when the excavation had been made, night was fast approaching.  The grave was 
5 feet 6 inches deep, 4 feet in width and 6 feet 2 inches long.

No minister had been brought along, but Brother Walker, of the Sharp Street
church, was found in the vicinity, and he was willingly pressed into the
service to conduct the ceremony. With the burial of "Big Winnie", the biggest
woman known to the world had passed away.

Winnie Johnson was born in Henry County, Kentucky, in 1839. As a child she
gave no signs of attaining her wonderfully unusual size. When she was 15
years of age she married a man of her own race by the name of Johnson, and
when 20 years of age she began to grow large, until Monday night the time of
her death, she had amassed the enormous weight of 849 pounds.

She was the mother of 10 children of whom three survived. Her husband died
about six years ago, and soon after she contracted with a showman to go on
exhibition, and has since then traveled over a considerable portion of this
country.  She was in Baltimore nearly all last winter and left in June to
visit her old home in Kentucky. She returned to this city on Tuesday, August
28, and at the time of her death was under contract to go on exhibition at
Johnson's Dime Museum in about one month's time. 
(Baltimore Herald, September 5, 1888)

Texas is usually the state that can claim such bigness, but this woman was
from Henry County, Kentucky, and she was billed as the biggest woman in the
world at this time in history. She was known and loved here and everywhere as
"Aunt Winnie.  Her arms measured 36 inches around, she was said to be of a
small bone, and was rather short in height. Her skin was a very deep black.

She was employed with a circus, which toured the country.  They came to her
house and had to put her in a chair, which had a set of double rollers, which
was on all four legs. They then rolled her in this chair onto a dray, or a
special wagon, then they would back it up to a railroad boxcar, the kind that
had the two sliding big doors on the side. It took these big doors to open
wide enough, then they could just roll her onto the car.  When they toured 
the town and cities, they would just push the doors open on the railroad box 
car to let people see her without having to move her on and off. 

There was no bed big enough for her, so she slept on the floor. Born in a
cabin on Boyd Club farm, or on E. M. Bryant farm near Franklinton, Kentucky.
This located on a map printed by the D. L. Lake and Company in the year 1882
which a copy, I am including to show the location of the cabin she was born
in.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The Obituary from (The Baltimore Herald) September 5, 1888.

Copied from an old scrap book found in the List Homestead.

Mrs. Harold Tingle (of Franklinton) now has the scrapbook. 

Mrs. Harold Tingle was interviewed.

Mr. Joe Clubb has the post card of her picture.

The map, with her cabin location on it, is the Atlas of 1882 by D.L. Lake and
Company.
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