LOCATION FILE
Mercy Brown Grave, Chestnut Hill Cemetery
FOLLOWExeter, RI
DIRECTIONS →OVERVIEW
A rural churchyard beside the Chestnut Hill Baptist Church in Exeter. It holds the grave of Mercy Lena Brown, a 19-year-old who died of tuberculosis in 1892; amid a family devastated by the disease and a wider New England "vampire" panic, townspeople exhumed her body and burned her heart, believing it would stop the illness from spreading. The episode is among the best-documented cases of the folk practice and is thought to have influenced later vampire fiction.
REPORTED ACTIVITY
Visitors report a strong sense of presence at the grave, and the marker has long drawn respectful pilgrimage; the historical case is treated as folklore and social history rather than the supernatural.
VISITING
An active cemetery open to respectful daytime visitors; the marker is secured against past vandalism.
SITE PLAN
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EXTERNAL RESOURCES
Curated references and articles coming soon.
INVESTIGATION RECORD
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HISTORICAL RECORD · 0 CITED ENTRIES
SIGN IN TO CONTRIBUTENo cited entries yet. Deeds, newspaper reports, census lines, photographs, ledgers — anything with a source.
COMMUNITY EVIDENCE
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GROUP FINDINGS