Summerfield’s supposed sister-in-law of the duke came to claim his corpse on behalf of his wife, who allegedly lived in Baltimore. On one evening a few men gathered around to play a game of poker and one jokingly commented that if he had a poker face as good as the duke’s, he might actually win a game or two.Īfter nearly seven years passed, a woman heard word of the man being kept in Asheville awaiting a familiar face. The duke also always had a seat reserved at the poker table on the top floor of the funeral home. One man was sent to go talk to the boss upstairs and was told “He doesn’t talk much”, to the eager new hire’s horror, the boss did not have anything to say at all. The duke also became an inactive participant in part of Noland-Brown Funeral Home’s new hire practice. The duke was also displayed in the glass case in front of the funeral home, yet another marketing ploy for the funeral home. Asquith’s body was often loaded onto the back of a horse trailer and paraded around the streets of Asheville and then later returned to his coffin where he stayed until his next showing.Īs years went by and Asquith’s corpse made a name around Pack Square, many began referring to his lifeless body as the duke. With no one having any knowledge of a man under this name traveling to the Americas, the mayor of Asheville had the funeral home embalm the body until someone claimed him and paid his overhanging medical bills.Īs time passed and no one to show forth to account for Asquith’s body, the funeral home decided to use his body to market their embalming services. Word of his death was sent to England in hopes of notifying his family, but no one claimed to know the man.Īsquith’s body was given to a local mortician, Claude Holder, at Noland-Brown Funeral home on Church Street. After his death it was discovered, he had only $5 to his name and he was sent to a local mortician. Rumors spread throughout the healing town that a man connected to the English nobility was residing here and thought to be a man of great wealth.Īsquith’s time living in Asheville was short-lived but his stay in the city was quite the opposite. The thin, frail man who appeared in Asheville was taken to one of the many sanitaria houses on Montford Avenue, registering under the name of Mr. Seeking treatment for his persistent cough in the highly regarded tuberculous healing hub known as Asheville or “The Land of the Sky.” According to the Swannanoa Valley Museum and History Center, Asheville and surrounding areas were of the most popular treatment areas for tuberculosis due to the high altitude and climate, it was thought that the fresh air would help heal patients. The mysterious man was accompanied by a nurse who he had hired and knew very little about him. An apparently wealthy man dressed as a respected English man in a well-pressed suit, bowler hat and well-trimmed beard. The train rolled into Asheville on crisp fall morning in 1902 as the frost dissipated from the mountain tops under the morning sun and out stepped a man. RaeAnne Genth,, Arts and Features Writer
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