There were few fears more terrifying in the old days than being buried alive. Before modern monitoring equipment, before reliable life-support machines, and before doctors could always tell the difference between death and a deathlike state, the thought of waking inside a sealed coffin haunted the public imagination.
For Mrs. Julia Ann Stanfield of Cunningham, North Carolina, that nightmare may have become real.
In 1903, Mrs. Stanfield traveled to Durham to undergo surgery for a tumor. According to the newspaper account, two doctors administered chloroform before the operation. But before the knife was ever used, she stopped breathing.
The doctors believed she had died of heart failure, signed the death certificate, and her body was prepared for burial.
Her nephew, Henry Heywood, purchased a coffin and case, placed her body inside, and accompanied it by train back toward Cunningham.
Then, during a transfer at Denniston Junction, Heywood heard something from the coffin.
Groans.
The station agent traced the terrible sounds to the sealed box. When help arrived and the coffin was opened, Mrs. Stanfield was found alive, clutching at her throat. She struggled only briefly before dying again, this time beyond all doubt.
The newspaper’s description is horrifying. Her body showed signs of a desperate fight for air inside the coffin. She had turned onto her side, and her face and throat were scratched where she had clawed at herself in panic.
Afterward, once it was certain that life had truly left her, Mrs. Stanfield’s body was sent on to Cunningham and buried.
Woman Came to Life In a Closed Coffin
CUNNINGHAM, North Carolina. — Mrs. Julia Ann Stanfield went to Durham, N.C., about two weeks ago to be operated upon for a tumor. Two doctors gave her chloroform preparatory to removing the tumor, but before they were ready to use the knife the woman collapsed and apparently died.
The doctors issued a certificate that her death resulted from heart failure.
Mrs. Stanfield’s nephew, Henry Heywood, obtained a coffin with a case. The body was prepared for burial, placed in the coffin and case, and put on a railroad train for this place, accompanied by Heywood.
It was necessary to change cars at Denniston Junction, and the body was carried into the station, there to await transfer.
Heywood was sitting in the station when he thought he heard groans. He spoke to the station agent, who quickly traced the groans to the coffin.
Help was summoned, and the case and coffin were opened, and Mrs. Stanfield was found alive, grasping at her throat with one hand. She moved and tossed her hands after the coffin was opened, but in a few moments she ceased to struggle and died.
It was plain that the woman had made a desperate struggle for air in the coffin. She had turned on her side, and her face and throat were torn and scratched where she had clutched them with her hands.
After it was found that life was really extinct, Mrs. Stanfield’s body was sent on to Cunningham and buried.
Source: The Washington Times. Washington, D.C. September 2, 1903.
