In the nineteenth century, one of the most prevalent fears among all people, whether rich, poor, noble, common or everything in between, was taphephobia – the fear of being buried alive (it comes from the Greek word taphos – meaning “grave” and phobos – meaning “fear”, then you just put them together). These days, while this fear probably does very much still exist (after all, it's still a pretty scary prospect to suddenly wake up inside a coffin, with six feet of dirt above you), it is nowhere near as prevalent as, say the fear of spiders (arachnophobia) or the fear of death in general (necrophobia).
A New York Times article from January 19, 1999, in fact, demonstrates the fact that premature burial was indeed an issue even then, as it describes a new bill introduced in New York which would prevent premature burial:
“No body shall be received unless a statement on the part of an attending physician or coroner, whether he has found the following signs of death or not, is with it:
First – Permanent cessation of respiration and circulation.
Second – Purple discoloration of the dependent parts of the body.
Third – Appearance of blistering around a part of the skin touched with a redhot iron.
Fourth – The characteristic stiffness known as rigor mortis.
Fifth – Signs of decomposition”
Such a bill was surely at least some comfort to those people of New York state who suffer from this not-so-irrational fear.
The Cause of Taphephobia
A couple hundred years ago, things were quite a bit different, as far as the study of death was concerned. Medicine was not exactly the same as it is today. Things were very uncertain, even death.
This is not so hard to believe, as even today it can be remarkably difficult to tell if a person is actually dead, and not just temporarily unconscious. When is it okay to stop giving CPR? How long does a person's heart have to stop beating before there is no longer any chance whatsoever of them waking back up? Throughout history, the tests for ensuring someone’s death have varied quite dramatically – from waiting periods before burial up to even a couple weeks to much more dramatic methods to ensure death prior to burial.
Today, medical professionals can generally be quite certain of death for the most part. Medical science has done a great deal to determine exactly when fullness of death occurs – they can measure even the tiniest tremors of a heartbeat or the tiniest slivers of brain activity. They can be relatively certain that we will be good and dead before we are buried.
Taphephobia Throughout History
During the nineteenth century (and every century prior to this, since the very advent of man upon the Earth), this was certainly not the case. This fact is made clear when one realizes that prominent Europeans during this time were in large numbers joining an organization known as “The Society for the Prevention of Premature Burial.” Members of this society were considerably stricken with acute cases of taphephobia – so much so that they often included death assurances in their wills.
Such death clauses were quite varied and, at times, fairly ingenious and creative. Some of them required that they be beheaded before they were buried, some that their hearts be pierced with a stake (some that they be pierced several times), some that they be dismembered, or that their blood be entirely drained from their body (which means they would probably appreciate modern-day embalming techniques). There were cases of pry bars and hammers being placed inside caskets, just in case the deceased happened to wake up, or a pipe leading from the casket up to the Earth, through which the deceased could call for help if they happened to wake up.
George Washington's final words were these (for he had always been known for his fear of premature burial: “Have me decently buried, but do not let my body be put into a vault in less than two days after I am dead... Tis well.”
Washington was probably right in saying this, for it was not entirely unheard of for premature burial to take place in those days.
References.
“To Stop Premature Burial.” New York Times, January 19, 1899.
Panati, Charles. “Panati’s Extraordinary Endings of Practically Everything and Everybody.” Harper Collins. 1989.
