Post by Joanna on Oct 14, 2013 23:02:12 GMT -5
New England Vampires: Sarah Tillinghast - 1799
The following article, published in the late 19th century, details the wide extent to which the New England vampire incidents became known in their day. The author’s opinion these events were worthy of note is borne out by the survival of the article. It is especially significant in its allusions to other regional cases occurring at the time of publication.
The Belief in Vampires in Rhode Island
Sidney Rider, Booknotes – March 1888
Sidney Rider, Booknotes – March 1888
The belief in vampires – that is, in unseen beings, which though dead, nevertheless possess some attributes of a living existence – in beings which wander at night sucking the blood of living human victims – in bloodsucking ghosts, is a delusion of comparatively modern origin, at least in the form in which it will appear in the following narrative.
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It appears to have its origins in the lower Danubian provinces, in Serbia, Bulgaria, Wallachia, Moldavia and the neighboring states. It doubtless developed from the earliest Greek mythology, for the Greeks believed there were beautiful phantom women who feasted themselves on the fresh blood of young men. Lamia was the name by which such beings were known in the Greek mythology. As this legend traveled northward, it seems to have assumed a somewhat different character and to have become more distinct or defined in form. An account of the superstition as it existed in 1697 was written by Rycaut and published in his work, On the State of the Greek and Armenian Churches. These imaginary creatures about which we read in the Arabian Nights and which therein are styled ghouls, were believed to be possessed of the same characteristics as the vampire.
A vampire was developed from a human being who had died. During the day, this unquiet spirit would lie quietly in the grave in which it was buried, but at night, it would assume the form of some animal and wander forth, seeking and sucking the warm blood of its sleeping victim. There were believed to be methods of preventing a dead person’s becoming a vampire, provided those methods were pursued before burial. In Eastern Europe, where this superstition originated, these methods were usually practiced. At a later period, another superstition, somewhat similar in form, arose in Western Europe. It was a belief in the Were-Wolf or Loup-Garou of the Norman French. Were-Wolf is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning “a man in the semblance of a wolf.” This imaginary being was believed to assume the form of a wolf, white dog or black goat and wander forth at night devouring infants and performing other like things. Its skin was proof against every missile other than a bullet which had been blessed at a shrine dedicated to Saint Hubert, the patron saint of huntsmen. This form of the superstition appears never to have taken root in this country. The other form of the superstition seems to have been prevalent at one time here in Rhode Island. In fact, it may even at this day be held in her remote regions, if indeed, that term be not inapplicable with the narrow confines of this little state.
Strange, even incredible is it that anybody should believe in such absurd superstitions. Nonetheless, it is true. There were, and there are now, those who do believe in them, and the purpose of this paper is to narrate a case which took place here in Rhode Island at no very remote period. It was of a genuine vampire. Here, then, it is:
A vampire was developed from a human being who had died. During the day, this unquiet spirit would lie quietly in the grave in which it was buried, but at night, it would assume the form of some animal and wander forth, seeking and sucking the warm blood of its sleeping victim. There were believed to be methods of preventing a dead person’s becoming a vampire, provided those methods were pursued before burial. In Eastern Europe, where this superstition originated, these methods were usually practiced. At a later period, another superstition, somewhat similar in form, arose in Western Europe. It was a belief in the Were-Wolf or Loup-Garou of the Norman French. Were-Wolf is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning “a man in the semblance of a wolf.” This imaginary being was believed to assume the form of a wolf, white dog or black goat and wander forth at night devouring infants and performing other like things. Its skin was proof against every missile other than a bullet which had been blessed at a shrine dedicated to Saint Hubert, the patron saint of huntsmen. This form of the superstition appears never to have taken root in this country. The other form of the superstition seems to have been prevalent at one time here in Rhode Island. In fact, it may even at this day be held in her remote regions, if indeed, that term be not inapplicable with the narrow confines of this little state.
Strange, even incredible is it that anybody should believe in such absurd superstitions. Nonetheless, it is true. There were, and there are now, those who do believe in them, and the purpose of this paper is to narrate a case which took place here in Rhode Island at no very remote period. It was of a genuine vampire. Here, then, it is:
At the breaking out of the Revolution, there dwelt in one of the remoter Rhode Island towns a young man whom we will call Stukeley. He married an excellent woman and settled down in life as a farmer. Industrious, prudent, thrifty, he accumulated a handsome property for a man in his station in life and comparable to his surroundings. In his family he had likewise prospered, for Mrs. Stukeley meantime had not been idle, having presented her worthy spouse with 14 children. Numerous and happy were the Stukeley family and proud was the sire as he rode about the town on his excellent horses, and attired in his homespun jacket of butternut brown, a species of garment which he much affected. So much, indeed, did he affect it that a sobriquet was given him by the townspeople. It grew out of the brown color of his coats. Snuffy Stuke they called him, and by that name he lived, and by it died.
His unquiet quiet was but of short duration, for soon a second daughter was taken ill precisely as Sarah had been, and as quickly was hurried to the grave. But in the second case there was one symptom or complaint of a startling character, and which was not present in the first case. This was the continual complaint that Sarah came every night and sat upon some portion of the body, causing great pain and misery. So it went on. One after another sickened and died until six were dead, and the seventh, a son, was taken ill. The mother also now complained of these nightly visits of Sarah. These same characteristics were present in every case after the first one. Consternation confronted the stricken household. Evidently something must be done, and that, too, right quickly, to save the remnant of this family.
A consultation was called with the most learned people, and it was resolved to exhume the bodies of the six dead children. Their hearts were then to be cut from their bodies and burned upon a rock in front of the house. The neighbors were called in to assist in the lugubrious enterprise: members of the Wilcox, Reynolds, Whitford, Mooney, Gardner families and others. With pick and spade the graves were soon opened, and the six bodies brought to view. Five of these bodies were found to be far advanced in the stages of decomposition. These were the last of the children who had died. But the first, the body of Sarah, was found to be in a very remarkable condition. The eyes were opened and fixed. The hair and nails had grown, and the heart and the arteries were filled with fresh red blood. It was clear at once to these astonished people that the cause of their trouble lay there before them. All the conditions of the vampire were present in the corpse of Sarah, the first that had died, and against whom all the others had so bitterly complained. So her heart was removed and carried to the designated rock, and there solemnly burned. This being done, the mutilated bodies were returned to their respective graves and covered. Peace then came to this afflicted family, but not, however, until a seventh victim had been demanded. Thus was the dream of Stukeley fulfilled. No longer did the nightly visits of Sarah afflict his wife, who soon regained her health. The seventh victim was a son, a promising young farmer, who had married and lived upon a farm adjoining. He was too far gone to recover when the burning of Sarah’s heart took place.
The conditions here narrated are precisely similar to those alleged to have taken place in the Danubian provinces, and the remedy applied was the same. But in those countries certain religious rites were observed, and occasionally, instead of burning a part of the whole of a body, a nail was driven through the center of the forehead. At the period when the event took place, religious rites were things but little known to the actors in the scene, and fire in their hands was quite as effective an agent as an iron nail. Those from whom these facts were obtained little suspected the foreign character of the origin of the extraordinary circumstances which they described; but extraordinary as they are, there are nevertheless those still living who religiously believe in them.
For many years all things worked well with Snuffy Stuke. His sons and daughters developed finely until some of them had reached the age of man or womanhood. The eldest was a comely daughter, Sarah. One night, Snuffy Stuke dreamed a dream, which, when he remembered in the morning, gave him no end of worriment. He dreamed that he possessed a fine orchard, as in truth he did, and that exactly half the trees in it died. The occult meaning hidden in this revelation was beyond the comprehension of Snuffy Stuke, and that was what gave worry to him. Events, however, developed rapidly, and Snuffy Stuke was not kept long in suspense as to the meaning of his singular dream. Sarah, the eldest child, sickened, and her malady, developing into a quick consumption, hurried her into her grave. Sarah was laid away in the family burying ground, and quiet came again to the Stukeley family. But quiet came not to Stukeley. His apprehensions were not buried in the grave of Sarah.
His unquiet quiet was but of short duration, for soon a second daughter was taken ill precisely as Sarah had been, and as quickly was hurried to the grave. But in the second case there was one symptom or complaint of a startling character, and which was not present in the first case. This was the continual complaint that Sarah came every night and sat upon some portion of the body, causing great pain and misery. So it went on. One after another sickened and died until six were dead, and the seventh, a son, was taken ill. The mother also now complained of these nightly visits of Sarah. These same characteristics were present in every case after the first one. Consternation confronted the stricken household. Evidently something must be done, and that, too, right quickly, to save the remnant of this family.
A consultation was called with the most learned people, and it was resolved to exhume the bodies of the six dead children. Their hearts were then to be cut from their bodies and burned upon a rock in front of the house. The neighbors were called in to assist in the lugubrious enterprise: members of the Wilcox, Reynolds, Whitford, Mooney, Gardner families and others. With pick and spade the graves were soon opened, and the six bodies brought to view. Five of these bodies were found to be far advanced in the stages of decomposition. These were the last of the children who had died. But the first, the body of Sarah, was found to be in a very remarkable condition. The eyes were opened and fixed. The hair and nails had grown, and the heart and the arteries were filled with fresh red blood. It was clear at once to these astonished people that the cause of their trouble lay there before them. All the conditions of the vampire were present in the corpse of Sarah, the first that had died, and against whom all the others had so bitterly complained. So her heart was removed and carried to the designated rock, and there solemnly burned. This being done, the mutilated bodies were returned to their respective graves and covered. Peace then came to this afflicted family, but not, however, until a seventh victim had been demanded. Thus was the dream of Stukeley fulfilled. No longer did the nightly visits of Sarah afflict his wife, who soon regained her health. The seventh victim was a son, a promising young farmer, who had married and lived upon a farm adjoining. He was too far gone to recover when the burning of Sarah’s heart took place.
The conditions here narrated are precisely similar to those alleged to have taken place in the Danubian provinces, and the remedy applied was the same. But in those countries certain religious rites were observed, and occasionally, instead of burning a part of the whole of a body, a nail was driven through the center of the forehead. At the period when the event took place, religious rites were things but little known to the actors in the scene, and fire in their hands was quite as effective an agent as an iron nail. Those from whom these facts were obtained little suspected the foreign character of the origin of the extraordinary circumstances which they described; but extraordinary as they are, there are nevertheless those still living who religiously believe in them.
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The preceding paper was offered to the Providence Journal, and refused for the reason assigned, that it was sensational in character. The fatherly advice was given that I enlarge it and offer it to some sensational newspaper where it would doubtless find a market. Regardless of the opinion of the Journal, I maintain the tale which I have told deserves and will receive the consideration of thinking men. It details an extraordinary belief, considered in connection with the supported enlightened intelligence of the American people. Since it was written, another similar case in Wakefield, Rhode Island, has come to my knowledge; and still another new is in contemplation in a family of respectable surroundings, several of the members of which have recently died. Such delusions ought to be obliterated, and the way to obliterate them is to expose them to the light of reason to educate men to better beliefs.
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Following up on the legend of Snuffy Stuke as recounted by Sidney Rider and local oral storytelling traditions, Rhode Island State Folklorist and historian Michael Bell was able to associate the legend with the family of Stukeley Tillinghast of Exeter, R.I. Subsequent research by Dr. Bell provided a wealth of evidence to support the theory that Sarah Tillinghast, Stukeley’s deceased daughter, had indeed been exhumed toward the edge of the 18th century. Stukeley and his wife Honor appear to have had 11 children, rather than 14, at the time of Sarah’s death, but his discrepancy is reasonably accounted for by the historical remoteness of the story. It is often the tendency of such tales to adopt romanticized devices such as prophetic dreams to heighten the drama upon retelling.
To this day the family burial ground exists in a quiet clearing near the former site of Stukeley’s orchards. Ancient and overgrown, the graveyard is inconspicuous and often unnoticed . A few yards from her parents, among the resting places of the siblings she is accused of preying upon, lies the unmarked grave of Sarah Tillinghast – and there her bones sleep for eternity.
The Tillinghast burial site (pictured above) is currently on private property. Dating to the American Revolution, it is in poor condition and its stones are easily damaged.
Compiled by Graveyardbride from the following sources: The Vampire Hunter’s Guide to New England by Christopher Rondina; Food for the Dead: On the Trail of New England's Vampires by Michael E. Bell, and New England's Things That Go Bump in the Night by Robert Ellis Cahill.
Photo: Greenville Paranormal Research.
Photo: Greenville Paranormal Research.
See also “New England Vampires”
“New England Vampires: Nancy Young - 1827”
“New England Vampires: Rachel Burton - 1793”
“New England Vampires: Abigail Staples - 1796”
“New England’s Last Vampire”