Throughout New England are stories and legends of the paranormal that are rooted in physical evidence. We are all familiar with Salem and its witch stories. But what little many know is of Connecticut and Rhode Island’s Vampire persecutions. Connecticut and Rhode Island in the late 18th century was plagued by diseases that no one knew the cause of. Rumors and hysteria spread from Europe (just like with the Witch craze) came about to theorize that evil spirits were possessing the hearts of family members who recently passed away, causing them to rise from the grave at night to feed on the family members and neighbours, sucking the life force, drinking their blood, until that victim wasted away with consumption (tuberculosis). This led to a practice of concerned villagers going around, digging up graves, and searching for evidence of vampires. This was often seen as corpses that might not have decomposed, that might move, make sounds, have blood around the mouth, seem to have hair / nails / or teeth growth, lightening of skin or rejuvenation, etc. Upon finding such evidence, the vampire hunters would dismember and/or behead the corpse, remove the heart / lung / kidneys and burn the corpse. Sometimes the ash would be fed to victims suffering the mysterious disease in hopes it would cure the illness. This was more of the prescribed practice in North America while the stake through the heart was much more of a common European practice. In the 1990′s, numerous suspected graves of accused vampires were excavated and sent to the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington, D.C. for analysis. Most of them were returned with a determination that the culprit died of tuberculosis (consumption). Those suffering from consumption would often waste asway, but often periodically would have a large burst of energy and known for a powerful sex drive. This would leave some to suspect that such bursts would happen after said vampire fed. This made sense in comparison to European history that when a mysterious disease struck an entire family line, that superstition might settle in to make family members and neighbours believe that one of the recently deceased would be coming back and devouring the life force of the next family member until the entire family was gone.
J.B. the Vampire
??? – 1815
Along route 138, nicknamed “The Vampire Highway”, in rural Connecticut, from Jewett City to Exeter is a corridor of folklore and legend that is home to some of North America’s most documented and research historical vampire stories. It is along this highway, through numerous villages and in the countryside that we have some of our best preserved evidence of early American Vampires. After some heavy rains in the early 1990′s, a few neighborhood kids in the area were sliding down a large sandbank of Geer’s Sand and Gravel Company that they spied numerous body parts and corpses that they passed as they slid down the slope. They notified the authorities who came to investigate the scene. As the coroner determined these were not recent murder victims but those of historic date, they called the next contact on the list when finding human remains. The State Archaeologist. Nick Bellantoni, from Connecticut’s Natural History Museum attended the scene. He determined the remains not to be those of Native Americans, but rather of white settlers. The first grave to be exhumed was that of a body with huge fieldstones piled atop it. Under the stones was the lid of a coffin that had etched in it the initials “J.B.” along with the date 1815. Excavation of the grave revealed a skeleton with a chest cavity caved in and dismembered. Many of the bones were arranged to form an “X” as in the Pirate-like “Skull and crossbones”. This struck the archaeologist as odd and initiated research. Analysis of the bone at the Washington D.C. National Museum of Health and Medicine (Smithsonian) determined that “JB” died of Tuberculosis or consumption. He was missing his front teeth. The analysis of the bones not only determined probably death by consumption, but also that he had a broken collarbone which was a sign he was also a hunchback giving more ammunition for those accusing him of being a vampire. It was determined he had lived with consumption as a wasting disease for a very long time. Everyone else buried nearby him had died rather quickly, most likely from TB. In the area, the practice of exhuming a grave of a community member believed of being a vampire was common practice in the 17th/18th centuries and usually resulted in dismemberment, scattering of bones, creating skull and crossbone patterns, burning of bones, etc. This was a practice done at this time to stop the vampire from rising from the grave at night to feed off the life source of community members who would then waste away with consumption. Since he took so long to die, he was believed to be that vampire. In Connecticut and Rhode Island, documentation from the 1800′s stated it was commonplace for residents to exhume bodies of the dead in search of the suspected vampire, when found, to dismember or decapitate, and perform an exorcism, burning of the bones, or arrangement of the bones in a proper methodology. Keys to finding such a vampire was blood around the mouth, rejuvenated skin or lack of decomposition, hair/nail/teeth growth, etc. A common practice (unknown in this case, but possible because of the caving in of the rib cage) is to remove the heart, lungs, and liver followed by the burning of the corpse. The stones were piled on top as a means to anchor the dead to its grave so it could not rise and attack the community. It was determined that this cemetery belong to the family named “Walton”. It was evident though that J.B. was not part of this family and his identity is unknown. His bones was eventually reburied (for the third time) in the First Congretational Church cemetery in Griswald, Connecticut. As with many of New England’s accused Witches, these vampires were most likely humans falsely accused of being vampires due to fear, hysteria, and lack of medical knowledge.
Other Connecticut Accused Vampires: