WOOD COUNTY, OH (WTOL) - Famous artifacts in the Wood County Museum are undergoing a new preservation technique.
The unusual artifacts are fingers from an 1881 murder. They belonged to Mary Bach, who was killed by her husband Carl. He severed Mary's fingers with a corn knife and they were used as evidence in his trial.
The fingers were first displayed at the Wood County Courthouse for several years before being moved to the museum. They've been kept in the same jar they were placed in in 1881.
"Being that they're human remains, we wanted to take special consideration with this particular artifact," said Holly Hartlerode, curator at the museum.
The fingers are looking dehydrated after more than 100 years, but with the help of the Ohio History Connection's natural history curator, they'll be restored to look more like human remains.
"It's really nice to have resources like the Ohio Historical Society when we run into issues, because every museum has some sort of oddity like this, and this happens to be ours," Hartlerode said.
When the building that is now the museum first opened in the 1800s, it served as a shelter for women. Hartlerode says that is another reason why they want to keep Bach's fingers preserved there.
"The story can be told for future generations," she said. "People are interested in it, and we think that's great, but we want to use it as a way to show that history is relevant to modern day issues."
