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Five pine coffins discovered on the future site of North Summit Middle School had some students concerned ghosts would haunt their hallways, while others just wondered what would happen to the old bones.
The coffins, containing the remains of one man and four children, were found while construction crews finished the footings on the new building. The workers found the first grave on Dec. 10 and the last - the coffin of a 1- to 2-year-old child - was exhumed Friday.
"We knew there used to be an old cemetery here," said North Summit Middle School Principal Lloyd Marchant. "But this was unexpected."
Rumors circulated the bodies were those of American Indians, but a forensic archaeologist told the school and the sheriff's office that the bones are of Norwegian descent, possibly those of Mormon pioneers.
The old graves in that area were relocated to the present cemetery in 1868, according to Summit County Historian NaVee Vernon, but some were obviously left behind. Other such graves were located when North Summit High School was constructed across the street and when a swimming pool was added.
Summit County sheriff's Capt. Alan Siddoway spoke to students during a recent assembly to assuage fears of ghosts and provide the ages of the dead. Two were 1- to 2-year-olds, one was a 2- to 3-year-old, one was a 12- to 13-year-old girl and one was an older man with gray hair. He does not believe authorities will discover the deceased's identities.
English teacher Michelle Williams plans to incorporate the discovery into her lessons. Her three eighth-grade classes will tour the county's museum and visit with Vernon in preparation for writing a historic fiction based on the life of one of the bodies found at the new school site. She will start the project after the Christmas break.
"They are very interested," she said of her students. "This brings a real-life focus to our curriculum."
The school will also participate in the re-burial of the five people. The bodies will be placed in new caskets and buried in the Coalville cemetery. Siddoway will use his personal horse-drawn hearse to cart the remains from the school to the burial site.
"These folks should be accorded a ceremony and should be accorded the respect they deserve," he said.
The re-burial has not been scheduled, since the bodies have not been released by the state. An archaeologist is still working at the site, postponing the scheduled construction of the new building located next to the current school. Marchant said the building should still be finished on time.