The Sunday Carroll Eagle column of October 28 2007
November 4th, 2007
The 2nd publication of “The Sunday Carroll Eagle ” came out today. Please see: 20071021 Baltimore Sun: “To our readers”
On October 28th, 2007 the publication for which I write, The Westminster Eagle and The Eldersburg Eagle, (which is published by Patuxent Newspapers and owned by Baltimore Sun); took over the Carroll County section of the Baltimore Sun.
“The Sunday Carroll Eagle ” is inserted into the newspaper for distribution in Carroll County. For more information, please contact:
Mr. Jim Joyner, Editor, The Westminster Eagle
121 East Main Street
Westminster, MD 21157
(410) 386-0334 ext. 5004
Jjoyner AT Patuxent DOT com
The feedback so far has been very rewarding. Of course, we have to take one thing at a time and so far, The Sunday Carroll Sun does not have a presence on the web.
Below please find my October 28th, 2007 column and it was submitted.
Sunday Eagle
Ghost Stories in Carroll County
October 28th, 2007 by Kevin Dayhoff
Of the horror stories of Carroll’s yesteryear, none was greater than the very real fear of being buried alive. In today’s world, society’s collective faith in the modern advances of the medical arts has gone a long way in alleviating the fear of being buried alive; a fear which was rampant in the 1800s.
A few years ago, local historian Jay Graybeal retold an account by Ruth Gist Pickens about the fear of being buried alive held by one of Carroll County’s most prominent citizens in the 1700s, Colonel Joshua Gist.
It seems that Colonel Gist maintained a coffin in a portion of his bedroom for the last years of his life; “into which he would have his personal servant lay him out and then call the family to comment on his appearance. Each time he would ask them to promise not to bury him until the third day after his death.”
Ms. Pickens recounted that Colonel Gist “feared being buried alive because his brother, General Mordecai Gist was thought to be dead in the 1780s” and would have been buried alive were it not for the fact that the family waited three days for his dearest friend, General Nathanael Greene to arrive.
After General Greene arrived, he spent, what he thought would be, some final moments with his old friend; during which “he noticed that General Gist moved one eyelid. General Gist was revived and lived years longer, married the third time, and had another son.”
The May 16, 1891 edition of the Democratic Advocate recounted a similar scare in Sykesville. “The people of Sykesville … were thrown into a state of excitement on Sunday afternoon by the report that Mrs. Lavinia Brown… was not dead.”
There was a concern that her supposed death was really “suspended animation.” After several examinations Mrs. Brown’s husband, Benjamin F. Brown, and family remained unconvinced.
Several more examinations ensued by the undertaker, James R. Weer, Rev. J. D. Thomas, Prof. Trusten Polk, and Drs. D. B. Sprecher and H. C. Shipley before the burial finally took place
Such was the concern over premature burial; the now defunct Democratic Advocate carried a story on December 21, 1901 that a “practical demonstration was given recently in New York of a method of saving the lives of those prematurely buried. The system is the invention of Count Michael de Karnice Karnickio of Russia,” according to Mr. Graybeal.
Count Karnickio's “apparatus consists of a tube …, 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.”
No, I’m not making this up.
“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.”
For those folks who may be a bit jittery about being buried alive, yet would rather utilize today’s technological advances, you may consider being buried with your cell phone.
Just imagine, one day if you happen to awaken in a cramped space and the air is a bit musty, you may very well have been buried alive. However, if you have your cell phone with you – you have options.
Now all the details of the Untimely Burial Cell Phone Alert Safety System or UBCPASS (U-PASS) have not been worked out and that is where you come into the picture.
How would you suggest the system work? Should it be a Carroll County government sponsored service or a private initiative? E-mail your suggestions to kdayhoff AT carr.org and we’ll look forward to airing your suggestions in a future column.
Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA.
E-mail him at: kdayhoff AT carr.org
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My Sunday Carroll Eagle column for November 4th, 2007 column is on grits. I’ve already received some fun feedback. I’ll post it on Soundtrack, when I find a spare moment.
Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA.
www.kevindayhoff.net
His columns and articles appear in The Tentacle - www.thetentacle.com; Westminster Eagle Opinion; www.thewestminstereagle.com and Winchester Report.
