When Mercy Brown’s family started dying off one by one, the town blamed her — even though she’d been dead for months.
FlickrGravestone of Mercy Brown .
In 1892 , T.B. was the leading lawsuit of death in the United States . Then known as “ uptake , ” its symptom included fatigue , dark sweats , and the coughing up of white sputum or even effervescing blood line .
There was no cure or authentic treatment for tuberculosis . Dr. often recommended that a affected role affected by the disease should “ lie , eat well , and exercise outdoors . ” Of naturally , these home remediation were rarely successful . citizenry with active tuberculosishad an 80 percent chance of dyingfrom the illness .
FlickrGravestone of Mercy Brown.
The terror surrounding such a gruesome death help explain the lunacy that befell the modest town of Exeter , Rhode Island at the goal of the 19th one C . Residents began to dread a “ vampire ” named Mercy Brown was causing consumption - relate deaths in the townsfolk — even though she was already idle from that same disease .
Wikimedia CommonsIllustration of mesmerism ( aka mesmerism ) , a common early intervention of tuberculosis .
It all begin when a farmer bring up George Brown turn a loss his married woman , Mary Eliza , to tuberculosis in 1884 . Two years after the dying of his wife , his honest-to-goodness daughter died of the same illness .
Wikimedia CommonsIllustration of mesmerism (aka hypnotism), a common early treatment of tuberculosis.
Before long , catastrophe would come across the Brown family again . As the family members die one by one , people began to suspect that the grounds was something far more sinister than a disease .
The Mercy Brown “Vampire” Incident
The residuum of George Brown ’s family appeared to be in good health until his son , Edwin , became seriously sick in 1891 . He retreat to Colorado Springs in the promise that he would recover in the serious climate . However , he returned to Exeter in 1892 in an even unsound state .
Within the same year , Edwin ’s sister , Mercy Lena Brown , died from T.B. when she was just 19 eld old . And with Edwin deteriorate speedily , his sire start to grow more and more desperate .
Meanwhile , several interested townspeoplekept telling George Brown about an honest-to-goodness folk tale . The superstitious notion claims that “ … by some unexplained and unreasonable way in some part of the asleep relative ’s physical structure lively flesh and blood might be found , which is supposed to bung on the living who are in feeble wellness . ”
Matt/FlickrThe crypt where Mercy Brown was likely interred.
Basically , the myth claims that when members of the same family waste away from intake , it might be because one of the deceased is drain the liveliness force from their living relatives .
As a local newspaper report :
Mr. Brown did not place much credence in the old - time theory , and baulk their importunity until Wednesday , when the bodies of the married woman and two daughters were exhumed and an examination had under the focussing of Harold Metcalf , M.D. , of Wickford .
FlickrAn 1896 article from theBoston Daily Globethat describes how prevalent fears about vampires had become in Rhode Island around the time of the Mercy Brown vampire incident.
Matt / FlickrThe crypt where Mercy Brown was likely inhume .
Indeed , on the morning of March 17 , 1892 , a doctor and some topical anesthetic exhumed the bodies of each family appendage who had become flat of T.B. . They found skeleton in the graves of Brown ’s wife and eldest daughter .
However , the Doctor of the Church found that the nine - hebdomad - onetime remains of Mercy Brown looked startlingly normal and un - decayed . Furthermore , pedigree was found in Mercy Brown ’s centre and liver . This seemed to confirm the local fears that Mercy Brown was some kind of vampire who had been sucking the liveliness from her living relatives .
Wikimedia CommonsGraphic showing mortality rates for tuberculosis in the United States.
What Happened To Mercy Brown After Her Death?
The physician tried to explain to the townsfolk that Mercy Brown ’s preserved state was not strange . After all , she ’d been buried during the insensate wintertime month . Nevertheless , superstitious local insist on removing both her heart and liver and fire them before rebury her .
The ashes were then flux with water supply and feed to Edwin . unluckily , this supernatural concoction did not bring around him as multitude had hoped . Edwin die a mere two months by and by .
FlickrAn 1896 article from theBoston Daily Globethat describe how prevalent fears about vampires had become in Rhode Island around the time of the Mercy Brown vampire incident .
Such pattern of labour up and burn the departed over care of lamia - like creatures were not uncommon in many Western countries until the early twentieth 100 . But while the Mercy Brown guinea pig was far from an isolated incident , her digging up came at the closing of an epoch for these vampire - inhale rituals .
The Last New England Vampire
While Mercy Brown had a very myopic life , we can take her legacy as the“Last New England Vampire”will live on always thanks to stories passed down over the years .
Her surviving relativesreportedly saved local newspaper clippingsin family scrapbooks and often discussed the story on Decoration Day , when the townspeople ’s occupier decorated local cemeteries .
Today , Mercy Brown ’s gravesite is popular with sightseers and curious visitor , who often leave gifts behind such as jewellery and moldable vampire teeth . Once , there was even a banknote that read , “ You go fille . ”
Clearly , none of that was encounter during the lamia panic of the previous 19th hundred .
Even though German scientist Robert Koch had key out the bacteria that caused TB in 1882 , bug theory only begin to take hold a decade after as the contagious disease was better interpret . Infection charge per unit then began to go down as hygienics and nourishment improved .
Wikimedia CommonsGraphic showing mortality rate charge per unit for TB in the United States .
Until then , people resorted to pointing fingers at aver vampires like Mercy Brown — even when they were no longer live to defend themselves .
After this look at the Mercy Brown casing , read up onPeter Kürten , the serial grampus know as the Vampire of Düsseldorf . Then , chance upon the story of the“Brooklyn Vampire ” serial killer , Albert Fish .
