Mercy Brown: New England's Last Vampire
of for rumor between 1870 and 1900. This inspired many to storytelling including one now famous novelist. It was found that Bram Stoker might have used the myth of Mercy Brown to base his character description of his famous Dracula published in 1897. Newspaper clippings of The Brown family ordeal were found in his files after his death,
The legend of vampires still exist today mostly fueled by fiction and Hollywood. Rhode Island still proves to be the place to go for some good old storytelling. In Rhode Island's Historical Cemetery #2 is the gravestone of Nelly L. Vaughn another alleged vampire of West Greenwich. She died in 1889 at the age of 19. The grave is supposed to be cursed. Despite many attempts to plant, no vegetation of any sort will grow on her grave. Her inscriptions still can chill one to the bone for along the bottom it reads "I am waiting and watching you!"
What caused the belief of the undead to disappear? It was clear to them that what couldn't be explained had to be supernatural. Illness was scary, to say the least ,especially as you watched many members of you own family perish. Consumption, or Tuberculosis as it is known today, was in epidemic proportions and people were in a panic. To research back to 1882, it was clear to see that the medical field was just beginning to get townspeople everywhere to know that tuberculosis was a bacterial disease. As people began to believe, the rituals of vampirism faded away. Embalming also began to take place in rural areas and that of course wouldn't allow anyone to be mistaken for a vampire or other mystical being. It would be explained now that the body of Mercy Brown was probably preserved since she was buried during the coldest time of the year in New England. It was too that she was exhumed only 2 months after her death not leaving much time to decompose.
Mercy's story is still being told at Halloween around the campfire. Her grave is said to attract many onlookers. Some even say, she shows herself in the middle of night just sitting and looking out from her grave. This has lead to one of Mercy's very own descendant, Lewis E Peck JR, to stand watch to keep away vandals on the haunted night of October 31. Her gravestone was taken once during the summer of 1996,
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