The Grace of Death's Departure

Death used to be clumsy. Before 1894, burials were done by hand —

coffins lowered into graves with ropes that slipped, tilted, and sometimes… broke.

Then came Amos Herbert Richardson, an inventor from Ohio who decided even death deserved

precision. He patented the casket-lowering device — a system of gears,

pulleys, and cranks that allowed coffins to descend smoothly and silently into

the ground. No jerks. No falls. Just a steady, graceful motion.

It became standard at funerals across the world — used in every cemetery, by every undertaker.

It wasn’t a machine of war or wealth — but of respect. Richardson didn’t