A
community consultation was convened and it was decided to exhume
the bodies of the dead children. Gathering their picks and spades,
the Wilcoxes, Reynoldses, Whitfords, Mooneys, Gardners and other
neighbors proceeded to the family cemetery and began to unearth
the Tillinghast children. One by one, they found the bodies in
advanced stages of decomposition, until they got to Sarah, the
first to die, whom they found in a "remarkable condition." According
to historian Sidney Rider, "The eyes were opened and fixed. The
hair and nails had grown, and the heart and the arteries were
filled with fresh red blood." Knowing what they had to do, they
removed her heart and burned it on a rock in front of the family
home. After the bodies were returned to their graves, "peace then
came to this afflicted family, but not, however, until a seventh
victim had been demanded. Thus was the dream of Stukeley fulfilled."
Text © Dr. Michael Bell |