The truth about the 'vampire' remains was grave 200 years ago

John Barber was said to be a "vampire" by his contemporaries, however, in fact, he was just a normal farmer and died of tuberculosis.

After his death, Barber was devoured by his family members, placing skulls and limbs above the ribs according to the skull and crossbones symbol because they believed he was a vampire, and in the countryside of New England in the early years. 1800s, that's how they 'eradicate' demons.

People put his remains in another stone grave, in place of the old wooden coffin, engraved on the cover of his initials and his name, 'JB 55'.

200 years after the death of America's most famous 'vampire' , with modern DNA analysis and anatomy technology, scientists not only knew their identity but also identified John Barber in the past. perhaps a hardworking farmer .

The skeleton of a man named John Barber is currently kept for research at the Museum of Health and Health.(Photo: Michael E. Ruane / Washington Post).

Fear of "vampire"

He lost his maxillary incisors, which proved that it was impossible for Barber to be a 'vampire' that could bite someone else's neck to suck blood. He had broken his clavicle, arthritis and marks on his ribs, suggesting that Barber might have died painfully from tuberculosis.

People began to study John Barber's remains since 1990 when his coffin was found in a gravel mine in Griswold, Connecticut. The new findings were published on July 23, in a report by experts from the DNA Laboratory of the Armed Forces Force Inspection System in Dover, Delaware.

John Barber's case received special attention because this was the skeleton that was rumored to be the only surviving 'vampire' to study.

The skull bone of John Barber's skeleton.(Photo: Michael E. Ruane / Washington Post).

These findings shed light on the strange fear of vampires in New England - particularly Connecticut and Rhode Island - at the end of the 18th and early 19th centuries, as well as its link to the tuberculosis epidemic.

The TB epidemic spreads quickly and frightfully, but the contemporaries do not know about the disease and believe that the dead become vampires, live up to graves, take blood and spread the disease to the living. People with tuberculosis cough up blood, pale, haggard, cyanotic and have blood veins floating around their mouths - perhaps so they are said to be 'vampires'.

At that time, they believed that vampires were stronger after death and had to grave to kill it again. Vampires are often suspected that people in their homes have died of epidemics and returned to infect other family members. Therefore, it is the relatives who have to conduct a grave ritual to eliminate ghosts. Experts have recorded about 80 similar cases, mainly in rural New England.

They do not want to but still do this in despair and fear because there is no other way to protect those who are living off vampires.

A fragment from John Barber's coffin engraved with the initials of his name and his age of 'JB 55'.(Photo: Washington Post).

The best way to kill vampires is to check the corpses to see if there is any liquid (blood) left in the heart. If so, the dead are said to be vampires. People will take the heart out and burn it, family members must inhale the smoke to prevent it from getting worse.

Similar incidents have long appeared in Europe, where many cases have recorded the corpses that have been dug up, burned, rearranged parts, beheaded .

The search for a man who died 200 years ago

In Barber's case, his body was decomposed so there was probably no heart left to burn. Therefore, the sternum was broken, the skull and femur were replaced according to the 'cross skull' symbol .

At first when he discovered the remains of men about 30 years ago, his identity could not be determined.

However, thanks to advanced technology for analyzing Y chromosomes in DNA codes and predicting their names through genealogical data available on the Internet, experts have found the lost person's surname is Barber. After that, they checked the old cemetery and press data to see if any of them had Barber who lived in Griswold.

Experts have discovered a piece of news in the newspaper referring to a 12-year-old boy who died in 1826 named Nathan Barber, whose father was John Barber. They also found a grave near 'JB 55 ' with a coffin with the symbol 'NB 13' engraved on the lid.

Walton family cemetery diagram.(Photo: Bill Keagan / Connecticut State Archaeologist).

This project started in November 1990 when an abandoned cemetery was discovered during the gravel mining process in Griswold. The human skeletons and coffins crumbled sprawling in the rock, and the three boys playing nearby caught two human skulls falling on a embankment.

Investigators finally collected the remains of 27 people including 5 men, 8 women and 14 children from 28 old burial sites called Walton's Cemetery (including a grave). empty).

Tomb # 4 is the most unusual. The remains are all in normal posture, except for JB 55.

However, instead of vampires, John Barber is just an ordinary person - a farmer who is not ample, working hard (guessing from the traces of arthritis in his bones). He died of pulmonary tuberculosis, which is evident in the results of the examination of lesions on the ribs. Parts of the bone are rearranged when the grave is dug up to 'subtract ghost'.

In the New England 1800s, traditional families often had many members. They are not knowledgeable about infectious diseases, so when someone in the house has TB, they still eat together, sleep in the same room and inevitably infect each other. That creates plague and the baseless fear of vampires.

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