07 Mar 1908, Sat
The San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, California)
Newspapers.com
“Are you sure that your relative is actually dead, when the coffin is fastened, never to be opened”? –
Louisville Daily Courier, 1868
What options did a person have over a century ago if they wanted to avoid being buried alive? A look through historical newspapers from both sides of the Atlantic gives us some answers!
Safety Coffins
One option for preventing “premature burial” (also called “premature interment”) was the safety coffin. Though designs differed, safety coffins typically included a signaling device that let people above ground know the person in the casket was still alive.
Numerous illustrations and articles about safety coffins appeared in newspapers of the time. One featured in the papers was designed by Russian count Michel de Karnice-Karnicki.
According
to the Stockton, California,
Daily Record
in 1901,
[The] apparatus consists of a tube four inches in diameter, a box, and a few appliances for signaling. The tube is placed over an aperture in the coffin, and the other end of it appears above the surface of the ground, where it is surmounted by the box. Through the tube passes a rod, on the end of which, inside the coffin, is a ball. The slightest movement of the body in the coffin is communicated to the rod, which in turn releases springs. The door of the hermetically sealed box flies open, the bell rings, and the signal ball rises above the grave to a height of six feet.
Karnice-Karnicki’s safety coffin design
26 Apr 1901, Fri
Stockton Daily Evening Record (Stockton, California)
Newspapers.com
Other types of safety coffins were featured in newspapers as well, such as:
One safety coffin got quite a bit of newspaper attention in 1868 when its inventor, Franz Vester, gave a public demonstration in New Jersey about how it worked. In addition to the typical alarm system,
newspapers noted
that Vester’s coffin also included a “receptacle for refreshments.”
Beyond Coffins
But not everyone who feared premature burial wanted (or could afford) a safety coffin, so other methods focused on ensuring that a person was truly dead before burial.
One option frequently discussed in newspapers was to build “
waiting mortuaries
,” which were
reportedly
used in Germany. The ideal waiting mortuary was a closely monitored, comfortable institution where bodies could be kept until they showed signs of decomposition?or signs of life.
Description of waiting mortuaries
23 Oct 1896, Fri
Belfast News-Letter (Belfast, Antrim, Northern Ireland)
Newspapers.com
Newspapers also documented other suggestions for verifying death, including:
Some people’s fear of being buried alive even led them to
request
specific procedures prior to burial, such as asking that their head be amputated, their heart pierced with a needle, or their jugular vein cut.
Turning Anxiety into Action
Just how often people were actually buried alive during the Victorian era is unknown. Even at the time, its prevalence was hotly debated in the European and American medical communities?and in the press.
20 Dec 1899, Wed
Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois)
Newspapers.com
13 Dec 1897, Mon
Freeland Tribune (Freeland, Pennsylvania)
Newspapers.com
Whether premature burials were
common
or
not
, the popularity of the topic reflects a
real anxiety
among some segments of the population at the time?an anxiety that certainly wasn’t diminished by the numerous “true”
newspaper accounts
of people being buried alive.
But in some cases, this concern led to action. Perhaps most noticeable were the
associations
that lobbied for
regulation
of death certificates and
other aspects
of the death verification process?hoping to prevent the “
unspeakable cruelty
” of premature burial.
Find more
newspaper stories about premature burial
on
Newspapers.com™
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