I am a Tombstone Tourist: someone who loves to wander cemeteries. I find it akin to visiting a museum: an opportunity to enjoy rarely seen sculpture, intricate carvings, and amazing architecture, all in a tranquil outdoor setting. This blog is about cemetery culture, art, history, issues of death, and genealogy - subjects of current relevance. I usually find something that intrigues me and makes me want to dig deeper. Care to join me? Read on...
They
went by many names; resurrectionists, sack’em up men, resurrection men, body
snatchers – all referring to the men who secretly disinterred bodies from a
graveyard in order to sell them.
A Body Snatcher Gang
Body
snatching was usually done at night when the chances of getting caught were
minimal. It could take about an hour for a gang to remove a body from its
grave. Those who worked as resurrectionists usually did so in order to sell the
corpses for dissection in anatomy classes at medical schools. A fresh body
could bring the bearer several pounds.
Medical Class Lecture
Body
snatching was popular in Scotland and England from the early 1600’s to the
early 1800’s. As medical schools began to expand throughout the UK, legally
available cadavers were needed for use as teaching tools in the classrooms, and they were
in short supply. The only corpses legally available for dissection at that time
were those of executed murderers.
Opened Grave
In
order to supply the schools with cadavers, body snatching became a widespread
profession. In order to try and stop such attempts, family and friends of the
recently deceased had to keep watch over the body until burial, and then guard
the grave to keep the body from being removed.
MortSafe
MortSafe
Several
contraptions were built in an attempt to thwart the resurrectionists from
gaining access to a newly buried body. Such devices included mortsafes; heavy
iron cages that were padlocked together and placed over the grave with the intention
of the cage remaining for 6 weeks – until the body had decomposed. A mortsafe could
also be an iron or stone coffin that might or might not be buried.
Outer Door
Mort House
Mort
houses or vaults were another option used to protect the bodies of the dead
from thieves. Mort houses were usually circular granite buildings where bodies
could be safely stored until they began to decompose – at about 6 weeks,
although bodies could remain there for up to three month. The roofs were made
of stone or slate, and the door was created in two sections, the outer made from
oak and the inner crafted from iron. Mort houses fell into disuse after the
passage of the Anatomy Act of 1832.
Coffin Collar
Coffin
collars were another attempt to prevent corpses from being stolen. The collar
was placed around the deceased’s neck and bolted to the coffin floor, thereby
preventing the body from being dragged out of the end of the coffin.
Watch House
Watch
houses were built in several Scottish and English cemeteries. These tall
structures provided a good view of the graves so the guard could keep watch
over the entire cemetery. Some watch houses had gaps where guns could be placed
in order to shoot at anyone bothering a grave. Others also had a bell tower
that could be used to raise an alarm for assistance.
Burke's Body List
The
two most famous body snatchers/anatomy murderers in history were Hare and
Burke. William Hare and William Burke
were involved in a series of at least 16 murders, which occurred within a ten-month
period in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1828. Most of their victims were paupers, drunks
or lodgers who stayed at William Hare’s lodging house.
Dr. Robert Knox
Ad for Knox's Lecture
Hare and Burke killed
their victims by smothering and compressing their chests. They would then sell their victims bodies to Doctor
Robert Knox for dissection during his popular medical lectures. This method of killing people in order to sell their bodies became known as "burking."
William Hare
Hare
and Burke were arrested, along with the two women who assisted them, Hare’s
wife, Margaret Laird, and Burke’s mistress, Helen McDougal, in November 1828. William
Hare (with his wife) was offered immunity if he would turn King’s evidence
against Burke. It was thought that Burke was the smarter of the two men;
therefore he must have been the instigator.
William Burke
Burke's Hanging
The
trial was held on Christmas Eve, 1828 and lasted 24 hours. A guilty verdict was
pronounced on Christmas Day for William Burke, and the charge of murder against
McDougal “not proven.” William Burke was hanged on January 28, 1829 in front of
a crowd estimated to be around 25,000.
Burke's Death Mask
Burke's Skeleton
Burke’s
body was publically dissected the following day at the Old College in
Edinburgh. A death mask was made of his face and exhibited in the Surgeon’s
Hall. Burke’s skeleton was sent to the University of Edinburgh’s Anatomy
Museum, where it is still on display.
Jean Waldie
But
Burke and Hare were not the first. In 1751, Jean Waldie and Helen Torrence were
convicted of murdering an 8 year-old boy and selling his body to medical
students in Edinburgh.
William Smellie
Textbook Illustration
Even
a Scottish surgeon, William Smellie, was alleged to have murdered, or
encouraged the murder of, several pregnant women so that he could use the
cadavers for his illustrated textbooks on childbirth.
Anatomy Act of 1832
The
Anatomy Act of 1832 finally put a stop to most body snatching by legally increasing the supply of cadavers for medical purposes. After its passage, the
unclaimed dead from prisons and workhouses were then donated for medical
study and dissection before burial, greatly increasing the number of cadavers available.
Mob
After
its passage, the Act was protested by mobs of paupers and the poor who feared
their bodies could be sold for medical research without their consent. The
medical community became worried that their source of bodies would “stop dead”,
so they began keeping medical reclaiming activities quiet. (A practice that
continued well into the 20th century.)
Garbage Picker
Although
it’s been 185 years since William Burke was executed for his crimes, anatomy
murders (killing for a body) still occur. In 1992, a Barranquilla,
Colombia man led police to a warehouse where they found the freshly killed bodies of 10 paupers, and body parts belonging to 14 more bodies. Night guards at the medical school were allegedly coaxing garbage pickers and street people into the building and then murdering them so the medical students would have fresh bodies to dissect. (And making about $200 per body.)
Michael Mastromarino
In 2005, Michael
Mastromarino, CEO of a company called Biomedical Tissue Services, was arrested for stealing body parts, some infected with HIV and cancer, and selling them for tissue replacement. He was charged with running an illegal bone, skin and tissue harvesting scheme in New Jersey and sentenced to prison where he died a fitting death last July - of bone cancer.
~
Joy
In
2010 (UK) and 2011 (US) a movie about the crimes of William Burke and William Hare, called Burke and Hare, was released by John
Landis. Watch the trailer below:
Throughout
history it was believed that a cemetery had an appointed guardian; a soul
who was left there to protect the cemetery grounds and the departed, not only
from visiting humans, but from evil forces as well.
Today you can take a stroll
through a cemetery and find a few graves and monuments thatare being “guarded”
by stone sentries. These may take many forms including lions, dogs, eagles, angels and soldiers.
Cemetery
and grave guardians are never caught looking down as many other statues are in
mourning, but a guardian stands with head erect, watching over those they
protect. Here are just a few to look for.
Lions
Lions
are a symbol of power and strength. They are usually found in pairs, guarding
the entrance of a mausoleum against intruders and evil spirits. They are
usually shown with one resting while the other keeps watch over the grave. The
lion is a noble animal and symbolizes the courage of the departed.
Sphinx
The
sphinx closely resembles the lion. It is composed of the head of a human
and the body of a lion. A sphinx represents the strength and bravery of the
deceased. These are also found in pairs at the entrance to a tomb, guarding against evil spirits.
Eagles
Eagles
can be found guarding Civil War military graves. They are strong birds that
represent faith, courage and generosity of spirit. A double eagle is usually
found at the grave of a 33rd Degree Mason.
Dogs
A
dog standing watch at a gravesite symbolizes loyalty, fidelity and vigilance.
But there are also reports of ghostly black dogs, known as grims, which guard cemeteries. These shadow dogs are seen mainly in
southern US cemeteries and graveyards in Europe. The black dog is known
as guardian over the entire cemetery and, according to legend, will chase people
out of the cemetery if they are there after dark.
Foo Dogs
Foo
Dogs are found at the gates of many Chinese cemeteries. These guardians are a
combination of a dog and a lion, and usually are mated in pairs. The male and
female Foo dogs guard entryways to tombs and mausoleums. The male is usually located
on the right with a ball under his foot, and the female is on the left holding
down a playful kitten under her paw. They are said to mimic our roles in life
and show that these ties continue after death.
Elks
Elk are found at the site of B.P.O.E. community graves (Benevolent
Protective Order of Elks). This fraternal organization was popular during the latter half of the 19th century and
first half of the 20th century.
Angels
Angels
intercede for the benefit of humans to God. While many are shown in mourning, some angels
are shown carrying a child or leading a person toward heaven. In this role, the
angel is acting as a guardian of that soul as it is escorted to heaven.
Hooded Figures
The
mysterious, hooded and draped figure can be found sitting or standing in front
of the grave it guards. Several versions of this guardian can be found in the
U.S., and many have names.
Eternal Silence
Grief
In
Chicago’s Graceland Cemetery, it is called Eternal Silence. The “Black Aggie”
placed in Druid Ridge Cemetery in Pikesville, Maryland was officially named “The Mystery of the Hereafter and the Peace
of God that Passeth Understanding.”The
public called it “Grief.”
Other hooded sentries
can be found in Bellefontaine Cemetery in St Louis, and in the rear courtyard
of the Dolley Madison House in Washington, D.C.
According
to legend, the figures walk the cemetery at night. There are also tales
that if you look into the eyes of the hooded figure, you will see your own
death.
Soldiers
Most
military cemeteries have guardians keeping watch over the soldiers. Usually it is a soldier standing with his gun, gazing out over his band of brothers. Soldiers are especially popular in Civil War cemeteries, both at Union and Confederate graves.
“Other” Guardians
And
then there are the “other” cemetery guardians. In Europe, the guardian was
considered to be the first person buried in a new cemetery. Unfortunately, it
is said that some people were selected to be the guardian and were then buried alive
in the cemetery in order to achieve it. The same is true of black dogs – a black
dog may have been selected to guard a cemetery and was then buried alive in
order to denote it as guardian.
Could
this be why people have reported hearing disembodied voices in cemeteries
telling them to leave? Possibly it is the cemetery guardian vigilantly making
sure no one trespasses upon the graves of those interred there – a guardian spirit
who takes “rest in peace” quite literally.