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All the United States Texas Corsicana The Grave of Rope Walker

The Grave of Rope Walker

A peg-legged tightrope walker did not reveal his name as he was dying, and so he was buried as “Rope Walker."

Corsicana, Texas

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Susan Harlan
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A detail of his original headstone.   seh256 / Atlas Obscura User
His original headstone with the new grave marker.   seh256 / Atlas Obscura User
His original headstone, set in cement.   seh256 / Atlas Obscura User
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Rope Walker was a peg-legged Jewish tightrope walker who died in 1884, when he fell from a rope stretched across one of the town’s main streets. He had an iron stove strapped to his back.

According to local stories, he asked for a rabbi as he was dying, but he did not reveal his name. And so he was buried as “Rope Walker" in the Hebrew Cemetery of Corsicana, a small town 55 miles south of Dallas.

Rope Walker is something of a Corsicana legend. His original arch-topped tombstone has been set flat into cement, and a new marker has been added with his death date. Babbette Samuels, the 85-year-old secretary treasurer of the cemetery board, is responsible for the replacement headstone and preservation work.In 2016, a possible identity of the Rope Walker was revealed as “Professor Moses Berg," also known as "Professor Daniel De Houne."

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Cemeteries Gravestones Circus Graves

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Added By

seh256

Edited By

tasampso, crollins321

  • tasampso
  • crollins321

Published

July 25, 2016

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Sources
  • David Searcy, "Nameless," in Shame and Wonder: Essays (New York: Random House, 2016).
  • http://www.corsicanadailysun.com/news/rope-walker-revealed-genealogist-claims-to-uncover-identity-of-corsicana/article_dd0a44b2-bbec-11e5-9f7e-a32d9c42cf44.html
  • http://www.corsicanadailysun.com/news/rope-walker-revealed-genealogist-claims-to-uncover-identity-of-corsicana/article_dd0a44b2-bbec-11e5-9f7e-a32d9c42cf44.html
The Grave of Rope Walker
2100-2198 TX-22
Corsicana, Texas
United States
32.086532, -96.487868
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