Is Rhode Island the Vampire Capital America…Or Was It?

“The villagers of Exeter, Rhode Island, knew that farmer George Brown had a problem. First, in 1883 his wife, Mary, succumbed to a mysterious illness. Six months later, his 20-year-old daughter, Mary Olive, also fell ill and died. Within the next several years, his 19-year-old daughter, Mercy, was also dead, and George’s teenage son Edwin, a healthy lad who worked as a store clerk, became suddenly frail and sick. The village doctor informed George that “consumption” was taking his family. But the country folk of Exeter had another explanation…”  –Excerpt from “The Words on Nelly’s Tombstone,” Yankee Magazine, January 1994.

Read the full story from Yankee Magazine here.