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During the mid to late 1920s, a gravestone was uncovered behind Central Methodist Church. The stone is inscribed with the words “Memente Moria” and “Thomas Hoeflein.”

According to accounts, during the 1860s there was a carpenter who made coffins living in a home next to the church. In addition, there was a small cemetery located behind the church.

It is possible there is a connection, but the origin of the stone is not known. Another local mystery was the discovery of a skeleton in the old Stanly County Courthouse.

It was reported in 1968 by a carpenter named Dan Poplin that he was one of the workmen during the 1920s renovation of the local courthouse that found a skeleton in the attic.

The men at the time were unsure what to do with it so they placed it between an old floor and a new one that was being installed.

Newspaper accounts from 1926 confirmed that a skeleton had been found in the courthouse attic. The Stanly News-Herald interviewed a number of the local “old-timers” and several theories of the skeleton’s origin were proposed.

First, several people suggested the skeleton had once belonged to Dr. Richard Anderson, a local physician. Others were adamant it had belonged to one of the “secret societies” of the town. Lastly, the local sheriff was sure that the skeleton had once been used at the old school known as Albemarle Academy in the physiology class.

Why the skeleton had been stored in the courthouse will likely never be known.

{Lewis Bramlett – Stanly County Historical Society}