Nellie Vaughn

Another tale of vampirism--involving Nellie L. Vaughn of West Greenwich, who died in 1889 at age of 19--is said to be based on a case of mistaken identity. According to residents of the neighboring town of Coventry, in the early 1970s a Coventry High School teacher recounted to his (or her) class the story of Mercy Brown of Exeter. He remembered Mercy's age and approximate date of death, but either he could not recall Mercy's name or the exact location of her gravesite or he deliberately omitted that information to discourage the students from going on a legend trip to the cemetery. Perhaps the teacher simply said that the vampire was buried in a cemetery behind a Baptist church somewhere near Route 102.

Text © Dr. Michael Bell