Ike Towell’s Grave in Columbus, Texas

Atlas Obscura turns its attention to a grave in Columbus, Texas, and the man who planned it down to the last detail. Isaac "Ike" Towell served as the city's marshal in 1885 and lived as an outspoken atheist, known locally for his uncompromising honesty and his opposition to alcohol and tobacco. About a year before his death in 1934 at the age of eighty-three, he arranged for a headstone at his future gravesite, and just days before he died he purchased his own coffin and left detailed instructions for the funeral. More than one hundred people gathered to hear his final message, which he directed be read aloud by someone not afraid that lightning would strike during the service. The stone marking the spot still reads: here rests Ike Towell, an infidel who had no hope of heaven nor fear of hell, to do right and love justice was his religion.

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