Translation of the Official Certification of the Participants and Witnesses.

At the request of his excellency, Gen. Horace Porter, American ambassador, grand cross of the Legion of Honor, recipient of the Congressional medal of honor, I, Justin de Selves, prefect of the Seine, grand officer of the legion of honor, and I, Louis Lepine, prefect of police, [Page 445] grand officer of the legion of honor, went on Friday, the 14th day of April, 1905, at 10 a.m., to the School of Medicine, where a leaden coffin was deposited containing the presumed remains of John Paul Jones.

The said coffin was discovered in the former cemetery for foreign Protestants under the conditions stated in the report drawn up by the service des carrières (quarries) of the department of the Seine, and annexed to the present certificate. It was transported to the School of Medicine through the care of M. Géninet, a municipal superintendent of public works, on Saturday, April 8, 1905.

In our presence and in the presence of the ambassador of the United States and in that of the following persons: Mr. Henry Vignaud, first secretary of the embassy of the United States, commander of the Legion of Honor; Col. A. Bailly-Blanchard, late aid-de camp to the governor of Louisiana, second secretary of the embassy of the United States, officer of the Legion of Honor, officer of public instruction, etc.; John K. Gowdy, consul-general of the United States; Doctor Capitan, professor of the school of anthropology, member of the committee of historic and scientific works (Ministry of Public Education), member of the municipal commission of Old Paris, late president of the Society of Anthropology of Paris, etc.; Dr. G. Papillault, assistant director of the Laboratory of Anthropology of the École des Hautes Études, professor in the School of Anthropology; Doctor Hervé, doctor of medicine, professor in the school of Anthropology; Dr. A. Javal, doctor of medicine, physician of the ministry of the interior, laureate of the School of Medicine; Mr. J. Pray, architect in chief of the prefecture of police; officer of public education; M. Paul Weiss, mining engineer, inspector of the quarries of the Seine, doctor of laws, the examination of the coffin and body was proceeded with. General Porter, Colonel Bailly-Blanchard, and Mr. Weiss declared that they recognized the coffin and the body as being those found in the former cemetery for foreign Protestants and transmitted to the School of Medicine for the purpose of identification.

Doctor Papillault read a detailed report and concluded that the body was that of John Paul Jones.

By the side of the body were placed the bust of the Admiral by Houdon, a plaster cast, loaned by the museum of the Trocadéro, of the original bust in the Academy of Fine Arts at Philadelphia, also the medal signed Dupré, which was struck in honor of Paul Jones by order of Congress to commemorate his famous battle with the Serapis and the Scarborough, which enabled one to verify the perfect resemblance existing between the reproduction of the features of the Admiral and the corpse.

The shirt and winding sheet in which the body was wrapped were likewise examined. On the cap which contained his hair those present noted the existence of an initial which in one direction is a capital “P” and in a contrary direction a “J,” both letters constituting the initials of the Admiral.

After these various examinations Doctor Capitan read his report upon the result of the autopsy which he had made upon the corpse and which revealed the symptoms of the disease of which it is known the Admiral died. Doctor Capitan and Doctor Papillault were both in accord in affirming as a scientific truth the identity of the deceased.

In view of the perfect coincidence of all the facts relating to the burial and of the agreement of all the physical measurements, those present were unanimous in recognizing the body as being that of Admiral John Paul Jones.

Consequently, the body was replaced in the leaden coffin in which it was discovered, to be ultimately inclosed in a new triple coffin of pine, lead, and oak sealed and transferred to the vault of the American church in the Avenue de l’Alma.

In witness whereof we have drawn up and signed with all those in attendance the present certificate in triplicate, one of which will be sent through his excellency the minister of foreign affairs to his excellency the American ambassador for delivery to the Government of the United States, and the two others filed in the archives of the prefecture of the Seine and the prefecture of police.


(Signed)
J. de Selves.

(Signed)
Louis Lepine.

(Signed)
Horace Porter.

(Signed)
Henry Vignaud.

(Signed)
A. Bailly-Blanchard.

(Signed)
John K. Gowdy.

(Signed)
J. Capitan.

(Signed)
Dr. G. Papillault.

(Signed)
Geo. Hervé.

(Signed)
A. Javal.

(Signed)
J. Pray.

(Signed)
Paul Weiss.

[seal of the municipality of paris.]