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
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