The Evening statesman (Walla Walla, Wash.), November 10, 1905
Tom Paine’s Brain Shown at Ceremony in New Rochelle
TOM PAINE’S BRAIN
Bought in London and Shown at Ceremony in New Rochelle
A portion of the brain of Thomas Paine, removed at the time his body was taken from the tomb in New Rochelle, N. Y., and carried to England by William Cobbett in 1819, was recently exhibited by Dr. E. B. Foote, Jr., to thousands who attended the public transfer of the key of the Paine monument to the city of New Rochelle, says a special dispatch to the New York Herald. Dr. Foote was chairman of the meeting and turned the key over to Mayor Clarke.
M. D. Conway, author of a life of Paine, bought a relic in an auction shop in London a few years ago and kept its possession a secret until the city of New Rochelle appropriated sufficient money to properly inclose and preserve the plot in North street, where Paine’s body was buried and where his monument now stands. Mr. Conway asked permission to put the relic in the tomb, which was granted. It will be incased in a copper box and reburied in New Rochelle.
This discovery of the brain of Paine leaves little doubt that the story told concerning the theft of his body and that it fell finally into the hands of vandals, who cut it up and sold it for relics, is true.
The key will be hung in the city hall of New Rochelle, where visitors to that city can borrow it to inspect the tomb.