In The 1800s, Vampire Panic Was Real, And This Young Woman Was Accused Of Being One After People Dug Up Her Grave And Found Her Well-Preserved
These days, vampires are mostly thought of as works of fiction. But back in the 1800s, the fanged creature was considered very real.
People believed that vampires were making everyone fall ill and then draining the blood from their bodies.
They didn’t know that the real cause of all the deaths was tuberculosis, which included symptoms such as fatigue, night sweats, and the coughing up of white phlegm or even blood.
In Exeter, Rhode Island, the family of a farmer named George Brown started dropping dead one by one.
His daughter, Mercy Brown, was accused of being the vampire responsible for their deaths. The first to go was George’s wife, Mary, in 1883.
Six months later, his daughter Mary Olive died at age 20. Within the next several years, Mercy was dead as well. At the time of her death, her brother Edwin was also sick.
The villagers concluded that a vampire must be behind so many deaths in the same family. In 1892, a group of men decided to dig up the Brown family’s graves to see which one of them was attacking their relatives.
It was the only way to save Edwin from succumbing to the same fate as the rest of his family. When they examined the bodies of Mary and Mary Olive, they found that they were properly decomposed.
But upon uncovering Mercy Brown, they were struck with terror. Mercy had been buried for more than two months, but her body was still well-preserved.
MoiraM – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
Her nails and hair seemed to have grown, and her corpse was filled with blood. To the villagers, it was clear that she was the vampire even though she was already dead.
So, they removed her heart, burned it, and added the ashes to Edwin’s medicine. However, the ritual didn’t work, and the boy died two months later.
Science would explain that Mercy’s body had been buried during the coldest time of the year, so the freezing temperatures prevented her from decomposing.
But that did not keep Rhode Island from developing a reputation as the “vampire capital of America.” Mercy Brown’s story made the news and sparked rumors of vampires in New England. She even inspired the classic novel Dracula by Bram Stoker.
Mercy Brown’s legacy lives on thanks to the stories that have been passed down through the generations.
Today, her gravesite is popular with curious tourists and sightseers. It is located in Chestnut Hill Cemetery in Exeter, Rhode Island.
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