The grave of Mercy Lena Brown photo by Ronald Correia
Mercy Lena Brown developed a bad reputation for being a vampire. 19th-century farm families in New England were exhuming their relatives from their graves, suspicious that they were vampires, or as they called them, “undead”.
In 1883 Mercy’s family members began dropping like flies. It was not terribly uncommon then for people to keel over and die as there were a host of illnesses and very poor public health systems in place, but mostly because of “consumption” or, what we now call tuberculosis. In 1892 at the ripe young age of 19, Mercy died…or did she?
“The Mercy Brown Vampire Incident, which occurred in 1892, is one of the best documented cases of the exhumation of a corpse in order to perform rituals to banish an undead manifestation.” -Wikipedia
Two months after her burial her body was exhumed. Strangely, it was found displaced. Her heart was said to be found fresh and completely unscathed by rigor mortis. Her heart was immediately removed and burned.
Such a practice was becoming more common at that time due to great superstitions that surrounded consumption. Her disembodied organ was thought to be a healing agent and was mixed with water in an effort to make a medicinal concoction. It was then fed to her dying brother Edwin, who died just two months later, despite drinking his sister’s dead heart.
You can still visit the grave of Mercy Lena Brown…if you dare. She is buried at the Baptist Church in Exeter, Rhode Island.
As always, your experience, suggestions and questions are enjoyed!
Another intriguing post, Christa! Superstition ruled people’s lives and led to many tragedies! I will be travelling in New England in the Fall for the first time. Is Salem worth a visit?
sistersofthebruce.com
Thank you. I will be doing a 5 day road trip through New England in October as well so i’ll be giving you all the fairytale report then 🙂 I can tell you that it looks pretty sweet. They have a lot of special events going on for Halloween. This link will tell you more. https://thefairytaletraveler.com/2013/08/09/visit-salem-ma-and-uncover-the-dark-past-of-the-salem-witch-trials/
Another cool site. Can’t imagine how much they shit their pants when they dug her up.
You know the real truth behind this is that, unlike her 2 siblings who perished before her, she died in the colder months. Her sisters we well decomposed when they exhumed them but she was preserved from the freezer-like crypt in which she was buried. I do believe her gravestone was stolen at some point as well and was replaced.
People leave her trinkets and flowers which I think is way cool.
Like Elvis…
“Mercy Lena developed a bad reputation for being a vampire.” — that is just a great opening sentence. XD
Thank you! xo
What a great story. Its a fascinating subject. Vampirism exists in almost every culture right back to ancient times from the Jumlin of the Native American Indian tribes, the Dearg Due in Ireland, The Vertalas in India, the list is endless. It was the Irish Writer Bram Stoker whom is best known for our modern depiction of the Vampire.
Back in the day though this was no twighlight scenario, mass hysteria was common and Vampirism was atributed to anything which was unexplainable at the time. Most common was of ending the dead for eternity were removal and the burning of the heart, decapitation, placing stones on top of the corpse or putting a brick in the mouth of the suspected vampire. Steaking the corpse was also believed to work, depending on where you lived various types of wood were preferrable, mainly, Ash or Hawthorn. There have been hundreds of Vampire graves uncovered across europe, but most cases have been reasonably explained.
I read a great novel on holidays by James Becker called the Nosferatu Scroll’, Its well worth the read if you get a chance, 🙂
How cool. I would love to visit vampire graves when I have more time to road trip through the UK and Europe. Those are the type of hidden gems I love to find. Maybe I will try yo put together a google map for that.
I don’t get the chance to read much other than people’s blogs and articles online but I will keep it in mind for October when I am stuck in a car for hours driving through New England 🙂 Thank you x
PS Did you get my email? I sent you a pretty cool map 🙂