CALVERT - The town of Calvert, located halfway between Houston and Fort Worth, refers to itself as the antique capital of Texas. For the past 80 years, the town has included a human body in that collection.

The body of a 14-year-old African American was finally given proper burial Wednesday in a ceremony that simultaneously celebrated Juneteenth, the holiday celebrating the Eman-cipation Proclamation's arrival in Texas.

The Rev. Robert Paul, along with the Rev. Rodrick Jackson, organized and presided over the funeral at Robertson County's Chapel Hill, which was paid for with money raised from local businesses by Calvert's new mayor, Briscoe Cain.

The teen-ager died sometime in the early 1920s after running away from home on a train; his cause of death was never determined. The death of the young man was compounded when a mortician used too much embalming fluid to prepare his body, instantly mummifying him.

With no family to finance a burial, or even to provide a name for the young man, the body remained unburied, ending up in the H.W. Funeral Parlor and Chapel.

It instantly became a point of interest in the small town. Downtown gamblers nicknamed the body Mojo, as they believed it gave them good luck in their poker and domino games.

Until recently, Mojo had been seen as "a part of Calvert. Everybody wanted to go down to get a look at the mummy. He was sort of the town ghost," said Sandra Hulsey, owner of the Cardinal Craftmall.

"Kids looking for a scare would go down to the funeral parlor to look in the window and possibly see Mojo," said Amy Ramirez, a customer of the Cardinal Craftmall and lifelong Calvert resident. "They usually kept him pretty well hid out, though."

Cain, who was elected last year, made it his personal mission to provide Mojo a Christian funeral ceremony and burial. He went to Jackson and Paul to plan it and asked local business to help with the funding, which had been the original issue 80 years ago. The three decided that Juneteenth was a fitting date for the ceremony to occur.

Hulsey and Ramirez ex-pressed relief that the funeral finally took place.

"He deserved this," Hulsey said. "I don't know why it took this long to happen."

Jackson expressed similar feelings at the funeral. "How many of us would want to be set somewhere for years and years?" he asked. "His body is free now."

The Associated Press contributed to this story

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