FEATHER DEATH CROWNS

Back in the 1980's I went to visit an older cousin, Ollie Breakfield Laramore, who lived in Courtois, Washington County, Missouri to interview her about our family tree. During this visit she showed me something that was very unusual. At least it was to me. She opened a box that was about 8"x 5"x 3". Inside were two thick circles of clustered feathers. She asked me if I knew what it was or had ever seen anything like that before which I hadn't. Then she told me that when someone dies with their head on a feather pillow the feathers form a circle where the dead person's head was. Well that just creeped me out! lol I had never heard of this phenomenon before. Since I was mostly interested in the family tree at that time I didn't ask any further about it - or maybe I was afraid to. lol Anyway, more than 20 years later in 2004 I was trying to find the old two story farm house that Ollie (now deceased) used to live in & this got me to thinking about those feather circles. I inquired through the Washington County Missouri GenWeb discussion list & found several other people who knew of the phenomenon. They referred to them as a "Crown of Feathers".

From Washington County GenWeb mail list:
Esther's letter certainly brought back a memory. My grandmother Parmer had a crown of feathers that she said came from the feather pillow that her youngest son died on.. It was actually a thick circle and almost like the feathers were woven together. I remember that when a person died the pillow was hidden away and not used because a crown would be forming in the pillow. I only recall seeing that one though and if memory serves me correctly it was about 2 or 2 1/2 inches in diameter. I do know it was certainly believed in as different famillies seemed to have one in their memory boxes. I used to love to hear the stories that people told about being "warned" of things to happen. Some of those old tales were certainly interesting as they bordered on the supernatural. I certainly hope you locate one........I have no idea what happened to the one that my grandmother had. I have enjoyed the responses about this that have been on the Washington County list. My sister (who has a better memory than I do) said she seemed to recall that people believed if a crown was formed in the pillow a person died on - it indicated they had gone to Heaven......She said there was more than one in our keepsake or memory box but I just really remember that one that grandmother had. It looked almost as if the feathers were swirled togeher & was sorta "slick". I called a lady that lived nearby that grew up with me & she didn't know what I was talking about ......Oh well, supernatural?????
Edith Fisher - A former Washington County girl

From: Washington County Amigo Forum:
I saw one as a young child. It was the crown from the pillow of Bud Cain who had the little store on E Hwy. My grandmother told me it's the mark that this person went to heaven and received his real crown. I will always remember that! It was so beautiful!
Blondie#1- Washington County resident

First time I have been here in a long time & I found some interesting stuff. A few pages back someone talks of the crown of feathers. I am Bud Cain's grand daughter & I can tell you the crown was real. Grandma Price, grandma Cain's (Evelyn) mother lived with grandad & grandma for some time. Granddad lived in a two story house on E. highway. Grandma Price passed away, when she passed she was laying on a feather pillow. Keep in mind that everyone has said my Great grandmother was a wonderful woman, pure in heart & soul a true christian. Grandma Cain was in a wheel chair for years I personally can never remember her walking. When we went upstairs to clean the bedrooms Grandma scooted up the stairs then someone would take the weel chair up for her. Grandma had a feather pillow on Grandma Price's bed. The pillow had a huge lump in it & was aggravating to Grandma Cain. So we tore the pillow open, sure enough there was a Crown of Feathers , perfectly. They were bonded together so tight. It was a sight to see grandma siad this was the pillow Grandma Price died on. She had us to put the crown in a Double Bubble bubble gum box. Grandma took it to the Church & showed everyone. The little white church on E highway, grandma said the crown was the same size of grandma Price's hat size. Over the years we have no idea what happened to the box with the crown..........Memories.........
Related - Washington County Resident

From Cathy Vest: I remember one of these crown of feathers. My grandmother found one in her feather bed. It was probably late 1940s. It was as you describe--every feather was in a clockwise circle with the feather quills in a very tight center. Center was probably 3/4 in thick and crown about 4 in. diameter. Several years later I asked her about it and she had thrown it away. She told the same story about them being there after someone died. But she had had the feather bed many years and no one had died on it since she had it. My grandmother passed away in 1997. She was born in 1895. The featherbed in which she found the crown had belonged to her mother-in-law (my ggrandmother). She gave it to my grandfather and grandmother when they married in 1912. I remember my grandmother fluffing up that featherbed every morning when she made the bed. She fluffed it until it was about 8 inches high and very smooth on top. One morning as she was fluffing it, she found something hard in it. She split the middle seam enough to get her hand inside and pulled out the crown. It was very smooth and tight. She kept it in a Chiffarobe drawer in a large match box. Several years later when I asked her about it, she had thrown it away. My grandmother kept very few keepsakes. She had a slogan she went by that I think came from the depression years. "Use it up, make it do, or do without." I lived with her from 1st through 5th grade and I still miss her.

From: Lela Helzer

I was thrilled to discover your website and see the photos of the Feather Death Crown from the family of Gloria Morgan of Tennessee and Elaine Napier, Mary Fisher & Gladys Brinkley of Missouri.

I have searched for years trying to find some mention of this phenomenon, but no book on the paranormal or esoteric philosophy had anything about them. I was about to think no information existed.

When I was a small child my mother showed me a Feather Death Crown that my aunt kept in a small tin box. I saw it several times in my life after that. She said the object came from the pillow that my great-grandfather died on. She also said it was not unusual in her family and other families that they knew in Texas and Oklahoma. It seems that an aunt had three crowns in her pillow – more than one in a pillow did not seem too rare at the time – this was back in the early 1900’s. They called them Death Crowns because they looked like the hair at the crown of a person’s head. It is my understanding that the soul leaves the body at the top of the head at the time of death – but why there would be more than one is uncertain. Some people believed that more than one were for children of the deceased who had also passed away.

I do not know what became of the little tin box and the crown which was approximately 4 inches in diameter and looked very much like the one from Gloria Morgan.

I have always believed them to be very spiritual in nature (angelic in origin).

I don’t know if anyone else has noticed how much they resemble some of the crop circles – the manner in which the grain is laid down.

My name is Lela Helzer, I am seventy-six years old and was born in Los Angeles, CA; you can contract me at the following Email address. keiserk@email.msn.com

I don't have a feather crown, but I did see one once. A neighbor had one. The neighbor's name was Faye McCown Haywood in Louisa, Kentucky. The crown had come from the pillow of her sister, Olive McCown, who had died has a child. It was made of brown and white feathers spun around in a very organized way. She kept it in a corsage box. She is dead, but I know that she had a son, Charles Haywood, who lived in Louisville, Ky.

Beverly Crabtree

Special Assistant to the President

University of Rio Grande

Rio Grande Community College

Rio Grande OH 45674

Feather Death Crown.jpg (33685 bytes)

Hi, Just found your page on feather death crowns. I have never met another person that knows what i'm talking about when I mention it. "They think I'm nuts". Here is a picture of one my father gave me that came out of my great grandfather John Robertson Painter Pillow after his death. He was born 13 March 1858 and died 03 October 1944. My father put it in a glass globe and sealed it many years ago so it wouldn't be handled and come apart. I do remember he let all us kids feel it before putting it in the glass globe and it was very firm to the touch.I wouldn't take anything for mine. Gay Cheatham

Just looking at your site and reading all the interesting stories about feather crowns. I grew up in a small appalachian town in eastern KY. My grandmother who is 96 years old, has many stories she tells about appalachian life. She would often tell of people who died and right away the beds and pillows would be searched for feather crowns. My father who is 79 can also remember this. It seems that it was common in the area where I grew up and a lot of my ancestors practiced looking for feather crowns upon someone's death. My grandmother does have a feather crown from her father's death pillow. It was found immediately after he passed. It is over 100 years old and is in remarkable shape, much like the one I have viewed in your photos. If a crown was found in a person's bed or pillow it was a sign from god that they were going to have a crown of their own in heaven. My grandmother holds true to this belief to this day. It has always been a prized possession of hers and she does not let many people view it. It is kept in an old Remington shell box somewhere in her house. I think of all the old customs of appalachia this is the one that holds so much interest. Glad to see there are other people who have seen and heard of feather crowns. Annetta Arnett Hill

Hi, I am in Charleston, WV. My eldest son, a college student, will be home March 9th to 18th for spring break. He has a digital camera so I will ask him to try to get a couple of good pics. The story behind the crown is that at the time of her death, my great grandmother was living with my grandmother. Mama had nine children, a husband, a brother, and her mother living there. So the very night great grandmother died, my granduncle slept in her bed. He felt something hard in the pillow and cut open the feather pillow with his pocket knife. Lore here was that only the very good, destined for heaven, would receive a crown. Mama said her mother was like that, a very good woman. I will send you photos when I have some. Thanks for the response. KB

I have my wife's family feathered crown. There are four in her family owned by the sisters. If I can find it I will send you the blurb - I felt it was of such importance that, at the age of 80 years and in a wheelchair, I took it to the Antique Road Show in San Antonio this year. There were two appraisers, one was fascinated by it and the story. The other was a Yankee and when I said that there were others - from middle America - he immediately laughed at it, ridiculed the existence and said that the "would the people of Maine be interested in this?". He dismissed me laughing. I have interviews on tape and pictures with others that have feathered crowns. I did them at a special Genealogy Historical Meeting in Lawrencesburg, TN where I spoke.. Getting up in age but still interested in story. After, doing my research, I went out and bought a pillow of duck feathers to sleep and die on. You might check back later with my wife to see if she found one. Tom Russell, Dallas, Texas 75208

Crown of Feathers
By Lori Fogerty

My grandmother will be known for her legacy of preserving cherished family memories through narratives, letters and scrapbooks. Undoubtedly, I inherited this passion and that is why I am recording the events of a unique miracle that happened almost 70 years ago.

When Helen Voss was 13 years old, her little sister, Wanda, age 3, became very ill. Her parents took her to the doctor and he discovered she had diabetes but did not tell her parents. Knowledge of diabetes in 1938 provided few treatments and little Wanda was sent home to rest. Her blood sugar was very low and she became more lethargic and disoriented. My great grandmother, Carolina Rodgers, laid Wanda on the couch with a small feather pillow beneath her head. Later that night, she passed away.

The tragedy deeply wounded the family, especially Helen who often cared for her younger siblings in a motherly role. About 6 months after Wanda’s death, Carolina decided to replace the ticking or cloth pillowcase that held the down feathers where Wanda laid her head. When Carolina opened the pillow case, she was shocked to find a beautiful treasure inside. A small crown of feathers about 4 ½ inches in diameter and 3 ½ inches tall laid perfectly intact. The intricate weaving of feathers one on top of the other symmetrically in one direction simply could not happen by chance. It’s difficult to imagine how a human could create such a piece outside of the wear and tear of pillow use. It was a miracle from God.

Carolina remembered a story passed down from a previous generation that told a crown of feathers would be formed by angels when a loved one died on a feather pillow and God took him/her to heaven. I can’t imagine the joy and comfort this small crown awarded a grieving mother. It’s only an example of God’s infinite mercy and love for His hurting children. Helen and the other children were elated! They knew God was caring for their little sister.

For many years, the crown of feathers was stored in an old cedar chest until one day my great Aunt Edna Rodgers-McCumber carefully preserved it in a display case. Amazingly, the feathers have not yellowed or grayed and the intricate crown still maintains its shape. Experiencing a miracle first hand is a memory that lasts a lifetime. I want to ensure that it lasts for generations to come. Some people believe God doesn’t do miracles anymore. But is it only because we believe little that we receive little? Let this story be a reminder that God is still in the miracle making business.

Rest assured that Helen beheld a masterful crown of earthly feathers that day. But more importantly, her heavenly Father is crafting a far more beautiful crown of gold, silver and rubies that she will inherit one day in the company of her little sister. That’s a crown I can’t wait to see!

Page established: 2004 Page is updated whenever people send more information.