Happy October! My personal favorite time of the year...the leaves changing color, a bit cooler temps, and, of course, Halloween!!! It's the time of year for all things spooky...ghosts, witches, werewolves, vampires...and more!
What do you think of when I say vampire? Twilight movies? Count Dracula? Nasferatu? Do you think you've ever met an actual vampire? Back in 1892, people of Rhode Island thought they had...and here's their story.
Exeter, Rhode Island, 1892, tuberculosis is on the rise. Back then, known as "consumption", tuberculosis was a respiratory illness that had no cure. Physicians didn't really know what to do about it. Many times people were told to rest, eat well, and exercise. My guess is people were so sick that they were not really able to do any of the above, but what do I know? I'm definitely not a medical professional in any way, shape, or form. Back then, people had an 80% chance of dying from tuberculosis. Imagine the fear people may have had, wanting to survive an awful illness and, because of that fear, how quickly superstitions could arise.
One example would be of the Brown family. George and Mary Eliza Brown had three children; one son, Edwin, and two daughters, Mary Olive, and Mercy Lena. In 1884, the matron of the family, Mary Eliza, died of tuberculosis, followed six months later by her daughter, Mary Olive, age 20.
In 1891, Edwin became ill with tuberculosis and went to Colorado Springs for the dry air and mineral waters, hoping to heal from the disease. This, unfortunately, did not work and, after 18 months with no improvement, Edwin decided to go back home to Exeter in 1892. Upon his return, Edwin learned that his other sister, Mercy Lena, had died of tuberculosis on January 19, 1892.
So that is now three people dead in the Brown family of the same disease and a fourth probably close to death from the same thing. George decided to try to find some answers. What do you suppose the townsfolk did to help George? Of course they gave George the answer that makes the most sense...someone in his family who died must be a vampire and they are now "sucking" the life out of the living family members. Makes perfect sense, right? No. And George didn't buy into that thought process either...in the beginning. After George could not find a scientific answer (it wasn’t until March 1882 that Dr. Robert Koch discovered Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacteria that causes tuberculosis), George began to give some credence to the town’s supernatural beliefs including a “vampire hysteria.”
They told George that either his wife or one of his two daughters were sucking the life out of the living family members and, therefore, the cure for Edwin lived within their "dead" bodies. That definitely makes the most sense to me (very heavy sarcasm). And how do you find out which deceased person is sucking the life out of a living family member? By exhuming the bodies, of course!
Eventually, George allowed Dr. Harold Metcalf to exhume the bodies of Mary Eliza and Mary Olive. On March 17, 1892, the coffins were opened and it was noticed that their bodies had decomposed sufficiently and were nothing but skeletons.
Then it was time to exhume Mercy Lena. By the way, remember that she died in January 1892, Rhode Island. My guess is that even in 1892, Rhode Island is cold weather during January. What happens to a body in cold temperatures? It may preserve the body quite well for some time after death. Not to mention they exhumed her body only two months after burial. They opened Mercy Lena's coffin and she was very well preserved (shocker!), which to the townsfolk meant that Mercy Lena was a vampire!!! Dr. Metcalf did try to explain that that should be expected due to her being dead about two months and the cold temperatures, but the townsfolk did not want to hear it.
It's a vampire, I say!!! We need to remove her heart and liver! What shall we do with the heart and liver? We will cook them down to ash, mix them with water to make a tonic that Edwin shall drink and then will be cured! Guess what? They actually took out her heart and liver, cooked them, and made a tonic. And Edwin drank it! And he was cured and lived to a ripe old age! Hahaha! No he didn't! The tonic did absolutely nothing (surprise, surprise) and Edwin died of tuberculosis on May 2, 1892.
Nothing else is really discussed as to what the townspeople thought about their superstition being just that...a superstition. All that is really noted is that Mercy Lena Brown was again laid to rest in Chestnut Hill Cemetery.
To this day, Mercy Lena Brown is known as the “Last New England Vampire.” People often still visit her grave, leaving behind gifts and notes. It is said that one note left for her read, “You go girl.”
Do vampires "live" among us? Supposedly in 1892 Rhode Island they did. I personally prefer the vampires to be in the movies and books.
-- Audre
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercy_Brown_vampire_incident
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