'Our friend Willie': Final day to visit iconic 128-year-old mummy in Pennsylvania

A man known as "Stoneman Willie," who died at a Pennsylvania jail over a century ago, has been identified through mummified remains.

After a thorough investigation, Auman's Funeral Home has successfully identified the "Stoneman Willie" body that has been on display for visitors since 1895. The funeral home is now fully prepared to bury the body on Oct. 7, properly.

Visitors can pay their respects to the deceased at Auman Funeral Home from 6-9 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 6. The man's name will be unveiled on his tombstone during the ceremony at a local cemetery.

The deceased's body will be transported to the gravesite, accompanied by a police escort, for the funeral ceremony.

"I think it's the honorable thing to do," the funeral home's director, Kyle Blankenbiller, told ABC News. "It felt good to finally find his identity."

The man was an alcoholic who died of kidney failure at Berks County Prison, Reuters reported. After being arrested for pickpocketing, he provided a fake name and was later referred to as "Stoneman Willie" upon his arrival at the funeral home.

The website Berks Nostalgia reported that the name he gave when he was arrested was "James Penn."

Stoneman Willie boldly admitted to the prison physician, just before his passing, that the name he had provided, James Penn, was a false one. He had given this name to protect the reputation of his brother and sister, Berks Nostalgia reported.

Since the police did not know the man's identity, they could not find family members to take his body, so he was released to Auman's Funeral Home in Reading, Pennsylvania.

He was then accidentally mummified in an attempt to experiment with novel embalming techniques, Reuters said.

Pennsylvania authorities gave Auman's Funeral Home permission to keep Stoneman Willie's body, rather than burying it, to keep monitoring the effects of the embalming technique.

The funeral home informed Reuters that Willie's hair, teeth, and skin are well-preserved.

"We don't refer to him as a mummy," Blankenbiller told Reuters. "We refer to him as our friend Willie. He has just become such an icon, such a storied part of not only Reading's past but certainly its present."

In tribute to his public viewing, Stoneman Willie was clothed in 19th-century garb, a Facebook post from the funeral home mentioned.

During his burial on Oct. 7, Stoneman Willie's real name will be publicly revealed and inscribed on his headstone.

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