by Gail Jarvis
by Gail Jarvis
One of Edgar Allan Poe's most hair-raising tales is The Premature Burial, in which Poe relates a story of a young wife of a prominent member of Congress, who is incorrectly pronounced dead. The lady's funeral took place three days later, at which time the young woman's coffin was deposited inside the family vault. A few years later, when the vault was opened to receive another coffin, the woman's husband was horrified when a shrouded skeleton collapsed into his arms. Examination disclosed that his wife had revived after burial, and her intense struggle to escape from her coffin caused it to fall from the shelf were it had been placed and break open. Violently shaking and banging the door of the vault, her shroud became entangled with the top arch of the door. There she hung suspended, until she eventually died.
In the 1800s, when this story takes place, the chance of being buried alive was not so remote. The state of medical knowledge at the time — some doctors didn't have medical degrees — could easily lead to an erroneous verdict of "death" simply because attending physicians were unable to detect breath, pulse or heartbeat. Also, the possibility of being buried alive was heightened because modern embalming techniques were not used. In fact, many people were so afraid of being buried alive, they had special coffins constructed with elaborate apparatuses including bells that protruded above the grave and could be rung by a device inside the coffin. Indeed, the fear of being buried alive was so prevalent that it earned a medical classification: Taphophobia
Edgar Allan Poe set his story in Baltimore, Maryland, in the year 1844. But, because of striking similarities, it is probably based on a widely reported incident that took place in Stratford, Virginia, 40 years earlier. The Stratford premature burial also involved the young wife of a famous member of Congress.
Ann Hill Carter was a refined young woman from one of the wealthiest and oldest families in Virginia. She spent her girlhood at the famous Shirley Plantation on the James River, which the Hills' and Carters' had inhabited since the 1600s, shortly after the establishment of the Jamestown Colony. During Ann's childhood, most, if not all, of the Virginia signatories to the Declaration of Independence had been guests at Shirley Plantation.
But Ann did not enjoy good health, and even harbored fears of becoming an invalid; fears that eventually were realized. She is reported to have suffered from narcolepsy, a sleep disorder that was little understood at the time. Victims of this disease experience frequent daytime sleepiness and sometimes fall into "sleep paralysis." An extreme attack of sleep paralysis, a deep trance-like state, could cause the cessation of normal reflexes and sensations.
Ann Hill Carter was only 20 years old in 1793 when she married the celebrated Henry Lee III, then Governor of Virginia and soon to become a member of Congress. Lee's skilled horsemanship had earned him the nickname "Lighthorse Harry" and he was esteemed for his combat heroics in the Revolutionary War where he served under General George Washington. Seventeen years Ann's senior, Henry was a widower with three children by his first wife who died in 1790. With her marriage, Ann became mistress of Stratford Hall and during the first decade of her marriage to Henry, she bore him four children.
Still, Ann continued to be plagued with poor health, and in 1804 she was taken with a severe fever — possibly dengue fever, and bedridden for months. One day, while in the grip of her illness, the family became alarmed that Ann was not responding to external stimuli. They hastily summoned physicians who conducted lengthy examinations of Ann's inert body. Finally, the grim-faced physicians were forced to advise her husband that they could not detect a heartbeat. The grief-stricken husband reluctantly accepted the verdict of death and Ann's body was placed in a coffin. Three days later, the coffin was put to rest in the family vault.
Some time later a sexton, bringing flowers for the deceased wife, thought he heard a noise emanating from the casket. As he listened intently, he was sure that he heard a faint voice calling for help. The sexton quickly unfastened and removed the lid from the coffin and Ann Carter Lee looked up at him with wide eyes as she tried to raise herself into a sitting position.
Over the next several months Ann Carter Lee slowly regained her health. Eventually she was able to become a fully functioning wife and mother. On January 19, 1807, fifteen months after her narrow escape from premature burial, she gave birth to a son who would be her last child to survive into maturity. The infant was named Robert Edward after Ann's two brothers.
January 19, 2005
January 19, 2005
Gail Jarvis [send him mail], a CPA living in Beaufort, SC, is an advocate of the voluntary union of states established by the founders.
Copyright © 2005 LewRockwell.com
No comments:
Post a Comment