Vermont’s Vampire Vine: The Spaulding Family Legend

In the quiet hills of Dummerston, Vermont, a remarkable and chilling chapter of New England folklore unfolded in the late 18th century. Vampire tales often conjure up images of Transylvanian castles and caped noblemen. Yet Vermont's own vampire legends, such as the Woodstock tales of Frederick Ransom and the “Corwin vampire“, reveal a more desperate reality. They were born from tragedy, fear, and the mysterious spread of a deadly disease.

Lieutenant Leonard Spaulding: A Hero's Tragic Tale

Lieutenant Leonard Spaulding was no ordinary Vermonter. He was a celebrated war hero. He fought valiantly in both the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. Spaulding later became Dummerston's first representative to the Vermont Legislature. He served multiple terms throughout the 1780s. Despite his prominence and respected position in society, even he could not escape the shadow that fell upon his family.

Between 1782 and 1798, an unimaginable tragedy struck the Spaulding household. It began with the death of his daughter Mary at age 20 in May 1782. This would spiral into a devastating sequence. It claimed the lives of nine family members over just 16 years. Sarah followed at age 19 in October of the same year. Then Esther died at 16 the following July. Lieutenant Spaulding himself succumbed in 1788 at age 59. Several more of his children followed. John, Reuben, and Josiah all died before they reached 40 years of age.

Tuberculosis formerly known as “consumption”

The tragic disease responsible was what contemporaries called “consumption.” Today we know it as tuberculosis. Victims would grow progressively weaker and gradually waste away. They would soon develop a chronic cough often containing blood. They experienced fever and night sweats. They wasted away as if something was literally consuming them from within.

The Vampire Vine: Dummerston's Unique Legend

The Spaulding vampire story is particularly distinctive in New England folklore. It involves the belief in what locals came to call the “Vampire Vine.” In other vampire panics, the deceased themselves were believed to be returning to drain the life from relatives. In Dummerston, something more insidious was suspected.

According to legend, residents noticed a strange, gnarled root or vine. It seemed to grow underground from one Spaulding grave to the next in their family plot at the Dummerston Center Cemetery. Each time this creeping vine reached a new coffin, another Spaulding would mysteriously fall ill and die. This supernatural connection between the graves created a physical manifestation of the curse afflicting the family.

Local folklore recorded in Joseph Citro's “The Vermont Monster Guide” adds a particularly macabre detail. When the vine was finally severed during an exhumation, witnesses claimed it “twitched, screamed and bled.” This revealed its unnatural and perhaps sentient nature. Even today, some Dummerston residents reportedly harbor fears. They worry that remnants of the vine might have survived.

Desperate Remedies: Breaking the Vampire's Curse

Josiah Spaulding died in December 1798 at the age of 27. By this time, the family was desperate for any solution. They sought to break the curse that seemed determined to eliminate their entire bloodline. Following folk beliefs and local superstitions, they took drastic action.

The body of the most recently deceased Spaulding was exhumed. In a grim ceremony, the vital organs – heart, lungs, and liver – were removed and ritually burned. This practice seems shocking to modern sensibilities. Yet it was born of desperation rather than mere superstition. This was a time before germ theory and antibiotics. Such rituals represented the last hope for families. They were watching loved ones succumb one by one to a mysterious wasting illness.

The Spauldings also reportedly destroyed the notorious vine that connected the graves. They attempted to sever the supernatural channel through which the curse traveled. The pattern of deaths in the family appeared to slow after Josiah's death and the subsequent exhumation ceremony. This could have been by coincidence or due to the effectiveness of the ritual.

The Historical Context: New England's Vampire Panic

The Spaulding family's ordeal was part of a broader phenomenon. Historians now call it the “New England Vampire Panic.” It stretched from the 1780s through the late 1800s. Communities across Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont grappled with tuberculosis outbreaks. These decimated families and villages.

Medical science was unable to explain or treat the disease effectively. Folk beliefs offered explanations and potential remedies. People believed the dead could prey upon the living. They thought the deceased consumed the life force of the living from beyond the grave. This provided a framework for understanding why tuberculosis often spread through family members. If science couldn't stop the disease, perhaps supernatural interventions could.

Other notable Vermont cases included Frederick Ransom of South Woodstock. He died of tuberculosis in February 1817 at age 20. His father had his heart exhumed and burned on a blacksmith's forge. This was done in desperation to prevent further deaths. Frederick was from a well-educated family. He was a Dartmouth College student. It was unusual for someone from his background to fall victim to the vampire panic.

Henry David Thoreau wrote about these practices in his journal on September 26, 1859. He would himself die of tuberculosis in 1862. He noted: “The savage in man is never quite eradicated. I have just read of a family in Vermont—who, several of its members having died of consumption, just burned the lungs & heart & liver of the last deceased, in order to prevent any more from having it.”

The Graves Today: A Haunting Vermont Memorial

Visitors to Dummerston Center Cemetery can still find the row of six dark, moss-covered headstones. They mark where the Spaulding children rest. These weathered monuments stand as silent witnesses. They tell of both a family's tragedy and a community's desperate attempts. The community tried to understand and combat an invisible killer.

Reuben Spaulding's grave was notably set apart from those of his other family members. This was perhaps a final attempt to break the chain of death. Margaret Spaulding lived to the remarkable age of 94. She died in 1827. She outlived her husband and most of her children. She bore witness to an almost unimaginable family tragedy.

The Scientific Reality of Tuberculosis and Vampires

The Spauldings and their neighbors couldn't know the true cause of tuberculosis. It is caused by bacteria – Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It primarily attacks the lungs. The disease spreads easily among family members living in close quarters. This was especially true in the cramped farmhouses of rural New England. During winter months, ventilation was poor.

Tuberculosis was devastating in pre-antibiotic America. It was responsible for nearly one in four deaths in the Northeast during certain periods. The bacterial cause of the disease wasn't identified until 1882. This was when German physician Robert Koch made his groundbreaking discovery. The discovery came too late for the Spauldings and countless other families.

After Koch's discovery and as germ theory became more widely accepted, vampire panics began to subside across New England. Knowledge replaced superstition. Yet these folk beliefs had already left an indelible mark on regional folklore.

Legacy and Supernatural Folklore in Vermont Culture

The Spaulding family vampire legend represents a unique chapter in Vermont's cultural history. It blends historical fact, medical mystery, and supernatural folklore. These legends did not resemble the romanticized vampires of modern popular culture. They sprang from genuine human tragedy and desperate searches for explanations. People faced devastating loss and sought to make sense of it.

Vermont author Joseph Citro has extensively documented the state's folklore. He included the Vampire Vine of Dummerston in his “Vermont Monster Guide.” This ensures this distinctive legend continues to intrigue new generations. The story has also been featured in podcasts like New England Legends. They dedicated Episode 310 to “The Curse of the Dummerston Cemetery Vine.”

The Spaulding family's ordeal reminds us of an important truth. Beneath supernatural legends often lie very human stories. They tell of suffering, loss, and the eternal quest to understand the invisible forces that shape our lives. These forces may be bacterial or mythological. Either way, they speak to our human need to explain the unexplainable.

Resources for Further Exploration:

1. New England Legends Podcast Episode 310 – “The Curse of the Dummerston Cemetery Vine“
2. Atlas Obscura – Dummerston Vine
3. The Great New England Vampire Panic – Smithsonian Magazine
4. VTDigger Article
5. New England Historical Society – “The Great New England Vampire Panic“
6. Science History Institute – Vampire Panic Podcast
7. New England's Vampire History – Yankee Magazine
8. Woodstock History Center – “Woodstock's Vampire“

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