The plight of George Farris's ashes
This week I did a series of posts about Ferris wheels, and wanted to include its creator. George Washington Gale Ferris Jr., the engineer who invented the Ferris Wheel passed away in 1896 of typhoid fever at the age of 37. His death came just three years after the debut of his famous invention at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. He was cremated by a Pittsburgh crematorium, which held his unclaimed ashes for fifteen months awaiting payment of the bill. Eventually, the ashes were given to his brother, but their final disposition remains unknown.
Photo: Unknown author from The New York Times photo archive. For more info: https://www.lindahall.org/.../george-washington-ferris/
