In Clarke County just outside of Carlton, Alabama there stands a little white church with a nearby cemetery and quite a background story.

The burial site contains strange headstones called "death masks" that were created by an inventor named Isaac Nettles, Sr.  Rumor has it, Nettles contrived molds of these citizens' faces while they were still alive then applied to a gravestone after the individual died.

One marker bears three heads and is inscribed with the word "mother." Legend saying that this grave belongs to a woman who perished while giving birth to twins but others believe that it belongs to Nettles' three daughters.

Only two of Nettles' death masks remain intact today although they, too, are eroding.

Ruralswalabama.org | "Death Masks"
Ruralswalabama.org | "Death Masks"
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