Rhode Island is such a peaceful, beautiful place. And if you drove through it today, you’d never know it has a pretty sinister history. In fact, Rhode Island used to be called the Vampire Capital of America. And while those days are thankfully long behind us, they are a dark part of our past.

Every single state in New England has at least one vampire story.
Artur Staszewski / Flickr
The Great New England Vampire Panic of the 1800s was likely linked to the rampant tuberculosis outbreaks of the time. People assumed the early victims were vampires who returned to get others sick.
In Rhode Island, it all started with Mercy Brown, the state's most famous alleged vampire.
Steve Masiello / Flickr
Mercy Brown (or Lena, as her family called her) lived in the town of Exeter with her family, farmer George Brown, Mary Brown, and her siblings.
Tragedy struck the Brown family quickly. First, Mary Brown passed away from mysterious causes.
Eden, Janine and Jim / Flickr
George and Mary's daughter, Mary Olive Brown, also perished. Sadly Mercy died not long after at the age of 19.

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Not long after Mercy's passing, George's teenage son, Edwin, got sick.
Josh McGinn / Flickr
Edwin was diagnosed with consumption, but the townsfolk thought something more sinister might be happening. They wondered if the Brown family was being turned into vampires.
In a desperate attempt to save Edwin's life, the locals stormed the cemetery and dug up the bodies of Mrs. Brown, Mary, and Mercy.
Josh McGinn / Flickr
The first two bodies raised no suspicion. But Mercy's body looked remarkably well-preserved for having been deceased for two months. Her hair and nails also appeared to have grown since she died. When they poked the corpse and found it full of blood, they determined that Mercy was a vampire.
In a scene straight out of a horror film, Mercy's heart was removed from her body and set on fire.
slack12 / Flickr
Later, the ashes were mixed with Edwin's medicine, and he drank it. Unfortunately, Edwin died anyway... and based on what we know now, the whole family most likely had tuberculosis.

For nearly 30 years, between 1870 and 1900, Rhode Island was called the Vampire Capital of America. We don’t know about you, but we prefer its current nickname, the Ocean State, much better.

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