Check out 2 blog posts written by our 2024 Ohio Village interns!

By Alexandrea Clark

In the 1800s, the fear of being buried alive was an epidemic. Also known as taphophobia, many sought ways to prevent it from happening, although the occurrence was very rare. Another theory is that the rise of taphophobia later in the 1800s could be due to Edgar Allen Poe. Poe capitalized on the fear by writing a few stories about the phenomenon, such as The Cask of Amontillado, The Black Cat, Pit and the Pendulum, and more.

But why did this fear begin only to be heightened in the 1840s to the Industrial Revolution (1910s)? There were instances in Britain where people were found to have been buried alive since the Middle Ages. One could hope that there had been advancement by the twentieth century. Some also say it started with George Washington, who gave strict orders to wait three days before burying him to make sure he was, in fact, dead. Many medical practitioners had admitted that, in some cases, they were unsure if the person was dead. The answer to this fear is very simple for the 1800s—untrained medical personnel and rumors.  If a person was comatose or unconscious, these medical “professionals” would automatically pronounce a person dead without further investigation, only to have the person wake up at their funeral, which is what usually happened. Newspapers would falsely write articles about someone being buried alive, only to be debunked later. Although there is no known origin of the fear, advancements in news travel and medical personnel being untrained were huge contributors to the fear in the 1800s.

Anna Hochwalt from Dayton, Ohio, was a woman of high status, and her brother was getting married. The morning of the wedding Anna was found in the kitchen and appeared lifeless. After examination, Anna was pronounced dead. It was determined by excitement, temperament, nervousness, and heart palpitations.  By recommendation of the priest, Anna was buried the following day. According to the Hickman Courier, she was buried on Woodland, and her friends had expressed concerns about Anna’s body looking lively and having more color to her face than a dead person. Her parents had the body exhumed and claimed that Anna was found on her right side, nails bitten through to the bone, and handfuls of hair were ripped from her scalp.

The Dayton Herald, on February 5, 1885, 10 days before the Hickman Courier published their story, had already debunked the case of Anna Hochwalt. They stated that she was buried in Calvary, and after a thorough investigation one of their reporters confirmed that Anna is in fact deceased and “sleeping” peacefully in her coffin. The original article published claiming Anna was buried alive was from the Chicago Newspaper.

So, how did people try to prevent being buried alive? Well, they did and thought up various things. Undertakers had requirements for extensive checks before the body was to be buried. This included holding a mirror to the nose or mouth for breath and pressing a heated piece of steel on the skin. Due to the extensive pain, the person would have to wake up. One of the solutions was cremation; although still not common in this era, the person was guaranteed to be dead if they were cremated. Another solution was the request to cut the arteries if suspected of being dead. For a few days after burial a priest would use a tube to listen for breath and any sound that would indicate a person being alive. No one can live after that. Other solutions involved what they called Safety Coffins. There is no evidence of these coffins being used, and they never made it to market and were only patented. More than 400 patents were filed during this time. They were good in theory.

The bells are the most well-known way to indicate life in a grave. If a person were to wake up in their grave, they would find the string, pull on it, and it would ring a bell to indicate life. If life was indicated, the watchmen on duty would insert a tube and pump air into the coffin using a bellow until the person could be exhumed from their grave.

One patented coffin was “Device for Indicating Life in Buried Persons,” Patent no. 268693, December 5, 1882. This coffin was designed by Youngstown, Ohio, native John G. Krichbaum. His device was a t-shaped pipe that ran to the surface and could be turned to indicate life. If pushed hard enough, air flow would enter the coffins until someone came and saved them.

Did all of these precautions work? There is no evidence that lives were saved by using the bell or safety coffins. Although there were a few cases of someone being buried alive, there is no indication that any of these “lifesaving” inventions were used. There is evidence of bells being used. The picture to the right is the grave of Charles F. Mills, buried in Savannah, Georgia in 1876. At the bottom of the stone is a bell that was used in case he was buried alive.

Throughout history, there have been epidemics of fear for multiple reasons. In the 1800s, being buried alive was a bigger fear than getting sick. People took precautions to make sure that they would not wake up in their graves, and if they did, they could be saved.

By Emily Voneman

In 2015, the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Obergefell v. Hodges secured the fundamental right of marriage for LGBTQ+ couples across the United States. Over a century beforehand, women across the country were getting married to each other in “Boston marriages.”

Women, especially those of higher social classes, were encouraged to exist in a separate social sphere from men, outside of the public eye and separate from the working world. This isolated “women’s sphere” meant that extremely close friendships and partnerships among women were common and even socially acceptable. It was not unusual, particularly in affluent spaces, to see women share kisses, hugs, and even addresses. It was even considered good practice for later marriage to a man!

The most extreme of these close relationships were termed Boston marriages. A Boston marriage was not a legal commitment, but women symbolically married one another by living together and supporting one another for the long term. The independence of these women pushed boundaries, but since their activities were with other women, they were often left to pursue their “marriages” in peace throughout the 1800s and into the 1900s. The name “Boston marriage” seems to have been popularized from novelist Henry James’s book The Bostonians, which featured a partnership between two women who move in together, although the book never uses the term “Boston marriage.” It may also refer to the fact that the marriages were popular in New England, where there was a higher population of wealthy women who could afford to live outside of the bounds of heterosexual marriage.

Much of the acceptance of this practice comes from the common view that women did not experience sexual urges like men did. Their affections for other women, however openly expressed, were thus seen as pure and platonic. While this view helped women experience a level of freedom to express love for one another, it is important to recognize that it originates from and contributed to a view that women were unequal to men, even down to their basic human experiences.

Newly founded women’s colleges, like Granville Female College established in 1827 in Granville, Ohio, were often at the heart of these close relationships among women. Students often gave one another flower bouquets, love poems, and trinkets. Same-sex college lingo at the time described women having “crushes” on one another; when the individual won over the affections of their crush, they were said to be “smashed” by their love.

It is important to view these relationships in the context of the time. Undoubtedly, many of these Boston marriages occurred among those we might today describe as lesbians who were looking for an escape from heteronormative social pressures. However, Boston marriages also provided a space of equality and independence to many wealthy women who may have simply hoped to live outside of the domestic sphere, regardless of their sexuality.

In the 1920s, developing psychological views began to reverse the long-held belief that women were not sexual beings. As women’s sexuality began to be explored, psychological literature began to describe close affections among women as “complexes” and “disorders.” Growing awareness of same-sex attraction among women recategorized relationships that had once been socially acceptable and even encouraged as “practice” for heterosexual marriage as sexually deviant. This changing view began to close the door on the practice of Boston marriages.

These women were pioneers of LGBTQ+ history. Although their relationships were relatively socially acceptable in the late 1800s and early 1900s, little is known about their lives and experiences. In many cases, the letters and diaries of these women were censored, hidden, or destroyed by descendants or historians hoping to hide the romance of these relationships as they became taboo over time. As we look to the future of LGBTQ+ culture, it is important to recognize that LGBTQ+ history extends much further into the past than some may think.

Bibliographies:

The Fear of Being Buried Alive in the 1800s

Boston Marriages: LGBTQ+ Women Pioneers in the 19th Century