Long before the Twilight movies made vampires cool, there were people, and lots of them, who actually believed in vampires. And was little more afraid.
The threat posed by these bloodthirsty creatures of the night, who never knew when to appear and strike in a flash, ran deep for centuries. Especially in the eastern part of Europe, where nothing frightened so much as the idea of suffering such an attack. The very idea of swelling their ranks was worse than death.
Vampire stories have been around for hundreds, if not thousands of years. These were different versions of demons, which usually took over the human body of a dead person or even a living person, and fed on human blood.
But the idea of vampires, as we know them today, had its roots in Eastern Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, but spread around the world.
But one of the best-known stories about vampires is the story of Mercy Brown, who was called “New England’s Last Vampire.” She is believed to have the dubious honor of being the inspiration, or part of the inspiration, for Bram Stoker’s famous story, Dracula.
She is also known as the last female vampire. And that is well known.
Mercy’s story is strange, terrifying and sad.
But true.
Mercy Brown was only 19 years old.
The Brown Family Tragedy
In the 19th century, tuberculosis was the leading cause of death in the world. Only less than 20% of those who contracted the disease survived it. And for some reason, the tuberculosis epidemic has caused an epidemic, so to speak, out of control, the fear of vampires.
This fear was limited to certain countries and regions, but was greatest in New England, which was then called the United States. The region includes the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.
In the small town of Exter in Rhode Island lived a gentleman named George Brown with his wife. Mary Eliza and three children, daughters Mary Olive and Mercy and son Edwin, who was their youngest.
In 1884 Mary Eliza contracted tuberculosis, she suffered a lot and vomited blood before dying a painful death.
Two years later, the eldest child, her daughter Mary Olive, also contracted tuberculosis. She followed the same path as her mother.
The case drew attention on social media and members of the Brown family hid all the records.
The survivor
The Brown family was understandably full of sadness and longing, but thankfully the curse of tuberculosis seemed to have left the family. That is to say until 1891.
Then the son, Edwin, caught the disease. Edwin had grown up and married by then, and the couple had heard that a warm climate could cure disease. They packed up and moved into the heat of Colorado Springs.
Edwin seemed to be doing very well in Colorado, and a year later his health was so good that the couple decided to return home to Exeter.
But soon after his return, Edwin got much worse and tuberculosis afflicted him more than ever. His then-surviving sister, Mercy, had also contracted tuberculosis which soon led to her death.
Apparently George Brown was overcome with grief after seeing virtually his entire family in the grave.
The fateful encounter
A group of people in town called George to their meeting and told him that an old legend said that if all the members of a family died of tuberculosis, it was almost certain that one of the deceased family members was to blame.
He would be dead, but alive, had turned into a dark being who sucked the life out of his loved ones.
It would therefore be clear that either George’s wife or one of his dead daughters was responsible for Edwin’s deteriorating condition, and the next one would surely kill him.
George initially dismissed all such nonsense, saying he would rather talk to doctors than listen to such bullshit.
But the doctors could do nothing for Edwin, who was now on the verge of death. Edwin was George’s only surviving parent and his despair was such that he was now ready to do anything to keep his son alive. His only surviving child.
The doctor gave up
So one night George walked to the cemetery with some townspeople. The purpose was to exhume George’s wife and daughters to examine the condition of their bodies. There was also a doctor, named Harold Metcalf, but he had offered to come to make sure the situation didn’t get out of control.
He offered to dissect the three women in hopes of ending this nonsense, as he believed it was happening.
Geroge’s wife, Mary Eliza, and eldest daughter, Mary Olive, were little more than bare bones.
But Mercy, on the other hand, looked like she had been buried the day before. There was little or no decay to be found and it did not improve when the doctor had to admit that some rather fresh blood had been found in Mercy’s heart and liver.
The townspeople were sure it was the blood of his brother, Edwin, and that Mercy was sucking his life.
Simple explanation but no one listened
In fact, it was a very simple explanation.
Her mother and sister had been buried in the summer, while Mercy had been buried in the dead of winter. That’s why her body had frozen instead of immediately rotting in the heat.
Dr. Metcalf unsuccessfully attempted to explain the above to the townspeople, but no one would listen to him. Marcy was obviously a vampire.
At that time, several means were considered safe to stop the evil activities of vampires. One of them simply turned the body in the coffin so that the “vampire” could not get out. Another, more disgusting way, was to decapitate the corpse and remove the entrails.
The townspeople didn’t just turn Mercy over and demanded that her head be removed along with her innards. The doctor, realizing that he had lost all control of things and that no one would listen to his explanations, accepted the request. But only with his father’s permission.
Was made to eat her sister’s ashes
George Brown, in his desperation, gave permission, and her body was beheaded, disembowelled, and burned.
Then the ashes of the organs were bound with water, and poor Edwin, in agony and near death, was forced to eat the disgusting mixture. The townspeople waited impatiently. Would that be enough to cure Edwin?
But Edwin only got worse and despite a hard and difficult fight, he died two months later.
Only then was it considered safe to rebury Mercy. Or what was left of her.
Still known as “The Last Female Vampire”
Although Mercy Brown’s case is the best known, there is no doubt that many similar incidents have occurred around the world. Perhaps hundreds, if not thousands, were also dug up and given the same treatment as poor Mercy.
The reason Mercy’s case is so well known is that other members of the Brown family, people who were unhappy with Mercy’s exhumation, dutifully recorded the entire process. They also collected press clippings from contemporary sources, to train the media, on the case and this data was passed down from generation to generation in the family.
Mercy’s story has been the basis, to a greater or lesser extent, of a number of short stories, novels and films.
Mercy’s route is popular among tourists, especially for photos on social media.
Tourists always flock to Exeter to catch a glimpse of Mercy Brown. Her headstone is cast and securely fastened with steel wires to ensure it is not stolen.
Because there have been attempted thefts, and that on several occasions, probably by people looking for a souvenir of this terrifying event.
Some leave flowers or small gifts. Along the way there is also a container where those who wish can write a Mercy line and leave it there. Still others are careful and take crosses and garlic with them, just to be safe, as history says no grass grows in Mercy’s path.
But it is undeniably shocking that the girl, who died in the prime of life from a terrible disease, goes down in history as a vampire.
Which she definitely wasn’t… or what?
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