Honor Hopkins

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: 99S1-PN7
• Initiatory (LDS): 18 Jun 1918, SGEOR

Honor married Stukely Tillinghast on 22 Nov 1762 in West Greenwich, Kent, Rhode Island, United States. Stukely was born on 24 Nov 1741 in Exeter, Washington, Rhode Island, United States; died in 1826 in Exeter, Washington, Rhode Island, United States; was buried in Exeter, Washington, Rhode Island, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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• FamilySearch ID: 2MBB-BMK
• Initiatory (LDS): 18 May 1943, LOGAN

Anna married Joseph Rathbun in 1818 in Exeter, Washington, Rhode Island, United States. Joseph (son of Joseph Rathbun and Abigail Wilbore) was born on 16 Jul 1735 in Exeter, Washington, Rhode Island, United States; died on 4 Jun 1822 in Exeter, Washington, Rhode Island, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: LL4B-PHG
• Initiatory (LDS): 29 Jun 1943, LOGAN

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: KHJL-P38
• Initiatory (LDS): 21 Jun 1943, LOGAN

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: LL4B-PHR
• Initiatory (LDS): 12 May 1943, LOGAN

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: LF98-X3W
• Initiatory (LDS): 12 May 1943, LOGAN

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: 9VPW-8VB
• Initiatory (LDS): 21 Jun 1943, LOGAN

Other Events and Attributes:

• Initiatory (LDS): Not Needed
• FamilySearch ID: GS32-L2N

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: MHYZ-3VK
• Initiatory (LDS): 11 May 1943, LOGAN

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: LL4B-PH1
• Initiatory (LDS): 18 Jun 1943, LOGAN

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: LCT3-73G
• Initiatory (LDS): 6 May 1943, LOGAN

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: M1ZW-VT6
• Initiatory (LDS): 6 May 1943, LOGAN

Notes:

Rhode Island Vampire (Sarah Tillinghast)

The Vampire Case of Sarah Tillinghast
An old and easily overlooked cemetery lies tucked away in a neighborho o d in Exeter, Rhode Island. It’s small, measuring 50 square feet, and co nt ains just 25 burials. Beneath one of the unmarked stones lies the bod y o f Sarah Tillinghast – a young woman who, in death, was believed to b e a v ampire.
As the story goes, in 1776, there was a prosperous Exeter farmer by th e n ame of Stukeley. One night, this father of fourteen has a disturbin g drea m in which half of the trees in his orchard die. The prophetic nat ure o f the dream starts to become clear when his eldest daughter, Sarah , quick ly becomes ill and passes away from consumption (now known as tub erculosi s). After the burial, the health of another daughter begins to d eteriorat e in the same way. However, things take a strange turn when thi s girl cla ims that the departed Sarah is visiting her every night. Durin g these enc ounters, Sarah causes her extreme pain by sitting on some par t of her bod y. After his second daughter dies, four more of Stukeley’s c hildren the n pass away. Desperation sets in when Stukeley’s wife and ano ther son bot h start experiencing Sarah’s visitations. At this point, peo ple become su spicious of the dead. Neighbors assist in exhuming the si x deceased famil y members in order to examine the bodies for telltale si gns. The remain s all appear to be in normal states of decay except for S arah’s. Althoug h she was the first to die, her body is preserved unlik e the others. Th e neighbors observe that the eyes are open, the hair an d fingernails appe ar to have grown, and fresh blood is found within th e heart. This prove s to them that Sarah was the cause of the other death s. To end this threa t, they then cut out the heart and burn it on a rock . Afterwards, the cor pses are all reinterred. Although Stukeley’s wife r ecovers, his son is to o ill and thus becomes the seventh and final victi m. My summary here come s from an article published in 1888. You can rea d the entire thing, whic h includes some additional details regarding th e family members, via th e Sources link at the end of this post. Interest ingly, if we only had thi s story, we wouldn’t know where Sarah was burie d or even what her last na me was. We can thank folklorist Dr. Michael E . Bell for finding the Tilli nghast surname along with the location of th e family graveyard. He also i dentified the names of the children as wel l as their mother, Honor Tillin ghast. Beyond that, Dr. Bell uncovered so me inconsistencies between the a rticle and the historical record. For ex ample, Sarah died in 1799 (not 17 76), she was not the eldest daughter, a nd it appears that four of the chi ldren died that year (as opposed to se ven). Given the sensational natur e of the event and the time that had el apsed, I suppose it’s not too surp rising that the story had transforme d a bit by 1888. I found the cemeter y extremely easy to miss. When goin g north on Forest Hills Drive, it’s o n the right side of the street, bef ore reaching Ridge Drive. It’s situate d up a small incline, behind som e trees. There’s a stone wall around it a nd a sign saying, “Rhode Islan d Historical Cemetery Exeter 14.” There’ s a gap in the curbing of the ro ad by the cemetery, so that ended up bein g a helpful cue. Upon enterin g the cemetery, I found that many of the gra vestones have no visible ins criptions. Sarah’s marker is likely one of th ese, so we can’t pinpoint h er exact grave. However, the headstone for Sar ah’s mother, Honor, was ea sily identifiable. It’s right at the front of t he cemetery, by the wall . I also noticed the stone for Sarah’s brother, S tutely Tillinghast. Upo n entering the cemetery, I found that many of th e gravestones have no vi sible inscriptions. Sarah’s marker is likely on e of these, so we can’t p inpoint her exact grave. However, the headston e for Sarah’s mother, Hono r, was easily identifiable. It’s right at the f ront of the cemetery, b y the wall. I also noticed the stone for Sarah’s b rother, Stutely Tillin ghast.
Dillon
Reply
We recently visited Sarah Tillinghast, and I believe one of the headston e s to be hers! It has the initials ‘S.T.’ on it (on the side leaning tow ar ds the ground, towards the road) so it is very easy to miss if you are n’ t looking thoroughly. Many of the other inscriptions were facing in th e o ther direction which is why we first assumed the headstone to be blan k. I t’s a bit awkward to bend yourself in order to see the ‘S.T.’. I don ’t kn ow about the rest of the family or if there are any other S.T’s asi de fro m Sarah and Stutely, but I hope that helps! - https://locationsofl ore.com /2018/07/26/the-vampire-case-of-sarah-tillinghast/

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: M1ZW-VT9
• Initiatory (LDS): 3 May 1943, LOGAN

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: 99YT-44Z
• Initiatory (LDS): 5 May 1943, LOGAN

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: 9CDJ-SG3
• Initiatory (LDS): 18 Jun 1943, LOGAN

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: 99YT-4C3
• Initiatory (LDS): 15 Jun 1943, LOGAN