Field Trip! And, Vampires.
I assume you're wondering, after my almost two month long blog silence, what momentous occasion I'm posting about. No, I haven't won the lottery or a Pulitzer or the Pillsbury Bakeoff. I went on a field trip!
Fellow http://broaduniverse.org/ members Trisha Wooldridge, Vikki Ciaffone and I recently got together for a workday. Being that I'm pretty much allergic to organized activity, I immediately suggested a distraction. Since we were already in Rhode Island, I suggested we hop on over to Exeter and visit the grave of Mercy Brown, Vampire.
Okay, she probably wasn't really a vampire. Back in 1892 the Brown family underwent some tragic circumstances. First, the matriarch of the Brown clan succumbed to consumption (tuberculosis in modern-speak), then Mercy's sister died before she herself was taken by the dread disease.
When the son, Edwin, began showing signs of sickness the townspeople decided that one of the dead family members must be a vampire. (Oh, science, how i love you) They exhumed all three bodies, decided that Mercy was the undead in question, chopped out her heart, burnt it, and mixed the ashes with water which was given to poor Edwin to drink.
He died anyway, two months later. And, ick.
This is all true. I mean, it's on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercy_Brown
Burnt hearts notwithstanding, the cemetary is a calm place, as you can see by the pictures below. Interestingly, Mercy's grave was the only one (I saw) with any offerings. Coincidence?
Chestnut Hill Baptist Church, where the Brown family plot is located
Mercy's grave
Fellow http://broaduniverse.org/ members Trisha Wooldridge, Vikki Ciaffone and I recently got together for a workday. Being that I'm pretty much allergic to organized activity, I immediately suggested a distraction. Since we were already in Rhode Island, I suggested we hop on over to Exeter and visit the grave of Mercy Brown, Vampire.
Okay, she probably wasn't really a vampire. Back in 1892 the Brown family underwent some tragic circumstances. First, the matriarch of the Brown clan succumbed to consumption (tuberculosis in modern-speak), then Mercy's sister died before she herself was taken by the dread disease.
When the son, Edwin, began showing signs of sickness the townspeople decided that one of the dead family members must be a vampire. (Oh, science, how i love you) They exhumed all three bodies, decided that Mercy was the undead in question, chopped out her heart, burnt it, and mixed the ashes with water which was given to poor Edwin to drink.
He died anyway, two months later. And, ick.
This is all true. I mean, it's on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercy_Brown
Burnt hearts notwithstanding, the cemetary is a calm place, as you can see by the pictures below. Interestingly, Mercy's grave was the only one (I saw) with any offerings. Coincidence?
Chestnut Hill Baptist Church, where the Brown family plot is located
Mercy's grave
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