Ten-year-old Virginia Tonkin died of appendicitis 125 years ago. Struck with grief, her wealthy family displayed her in a glass coffin for 15 months after her death. The story of young Tonkin has now grown into local legend, the true story buried under decades of history.

Oswego resident Lee Ellen Hickey found herself captivated by the legend, told to her by her SUNY Oswego alum husband, and began to dig into the history of the prestigious Tonkin family. From there, Hickey poured over records and photographs from the Oswego County Historical Society, unraveling piece by piece the legend of the young girl and her family. In her research, Hickey uncovered decades of scandals, twisted tragedies and mystery that accompanied Tonkin’s family and neighbors at the time of her death—a story, she decided, that she must tell.

“My writing just poured out of me,” Hickey said. “The most important lead while writing everything was writing with empathy.” 

Hickey self-published “Girl in the Glass Coffin: The Tonkin Affairs” in February. Since its release, the book has been popular among locals; it has been featured in Barnes & Noble bookstores as well as the River’s End Bookstore. As a wide-reaching distributor, Hickey has also made her book available on Amazon.

History professor Candis Haak invited the author to speak to the campus. On April 24, students gathered on the second floor of Penfield Library to discuss her book and the research.

During her presentation, Hickey walked the audience through each member of the Tonkin and Conde families: the patriarchs of both who built multi-million empires during the Gilded Age, as well as the setting. She showed pictures of the homes of both families and gave landmarks familiar to those who know the area. Seeing the sites where the book takes place helped to bring a sense of reality into Hickey’s writing. Bringing relevance into a past that is so far removed from our current society is always a challenge. The goal was to tell the stories with as much truth as possible while filling in the blank space in between with integrity and respect. 

Breathing life into each real person in the most authentic way possible posed difficulty at first, Hickey said. She wanted students to remember that everyone mentioned in the book was once a real person with their own thoughts, opinions and emotions.

Hickey detailed her dedication to the truth throughout her presentation and emphasized how she considers herself a very empathic person, allowing her emotions to get in touch with those who have passed on to ensure her work remains true to each individual’s journey through life.

Not only does “Girl in the Glass Coffin” cover the lore of the Tonkins and their fellow wealthy Oswego residents the Condes, it explores the case of 12-year-old Cora Sweet, who was murdered by Henry Manzer on her way to church in 1905, as well as a development in a local cold case thanks to the research done by Hickey and her husband. 

“All of these stories became personal and important to us because we had that new connection,” Hickey said. “My husband brought me here and we started to go on dates around town… I fell in love with the historical homes and the stories they and this community have to tell.”

Image from Lee Ellen Hickey via Amazon