Strange Creatures of VA: The Richmond Vampire
Update on the Richmond Vampire
I would like to thank the group Night Shift from Richmond for sharing this information with the VGHRS!
Our group, called "night shift", in Richmond , Va had started an
investigation for our upcomming website on the legend of the "Richmond
Vampire". Resources inspected included a multitude of articles in the
Richmond Times Dispatch from the time of the incidents, and multiple
interviews with people who remember the time period.
below are the contents the page we are going to post in relation to it. We
are still going to examine the scenes thrououghly, but barring signifigant
testimony from the staff at Hollywood Cemetery, our focus at Hollywood
Cemetery will now be a general ghost search.
W. W. Poole
Name of legend: The Richmond Vampire
I have found several "urban legend" type stories about this accountant who
passed away in 1922.
What makes Mr. Pool (William Wortham Poole) more interesting than most others
is that his burial place is referenced directly in conjunction with an actual
historical event. In addition, there are reports of occult groups breaking
into Hollywood Cemetery on a regular basis (some say annually, on halloween,
others say it's a bit more random) to chant over his moseleum.
First the Event
In 1925, there was a massive cave in of a train tunnel. The Church Hill
Tunnel cave in caused massive damage to the ground surface throughout much of
the general area. The tunnel was repeatedly questioned by almost every
engineering firm who consulted C & O railways. The internal C & O Railways
technicians, however, approved the tunnel as safe for expansion just 6 months
before the incident. When the tunnel collapsed, there was a train in the
process of being relocated within the tunnel., about 160 yards inside the
opening.
The cave-in spread through much of the length of the tunnel, wreaking havoc
throughout most of the overlying streets and buildings. According to the duty
roster, 3 men, including the conductor of the train were claimed by the
earthen tomb, while one died shortly after. It bares mentioning that there
may well have been many laborers not listed on the roster who were not
traceable by C & O paperwork.
The C & O railway dug from the surface and made contact with the train 8 days
after the collapse. They were able to reach the conductor's cabin. The
conductor was found to have been pinned into place by the engine's reverse
lever when the tunnel's ceiling collapsed. At that point, the company elected
not to continue the rescue effort, siting the exceptional cost (approx.
$30,000, in 1925 dollars). This may have also been directly related to the
fact that the remaining 2 men who wee known to be missing were non-caucasian.
As legend tells us, shortly after the cave in, a creature emerged from the
tunnel, with blood and gore from a fresh blood feast came stumbling out of
the tunnel. Descriptions garnered from several people who were alive at the
time of the cave in (although not present at the actual scene) are remarkably
similar. The creature is said to have been partially decomposed with rolls of
skin hanging limply from his muscular frame. All recountings of the story
include that he had fresh blood on his mouth chin and neck, swollen and
disfigured appendeges, jagged teeth, and showed absolutely no indication of
pain or concern from the cave in.
Accounts say that the figure ran immediately in the direction of Hollywood
Cemetery. The men who followed him/it tracked him to the cemetery, and that
he was seen taking refuge in the underground mauseleum labeled simply WW
Poole.
After this is where the accounts begin to differ. Some say that the crypt was
opened and that the coffin was closing. Some claim that the crypt was locked
from the inside. Sill another variant has the vampire-creature screaming
curses from the inside.
The general agreement of the description of the creature is what peaked the
interest of Gregory Maitland, the founder of the Night Shift. Considering
that no news report has been found on the creature, it would have to have
been spread by word of mouth. Generally, "word-of-mouth" descriptions take on
a life of their own, becoming more or less fantastic with each step of it's
travel from person to person. The description alone is uniform, although
there are several references to the creature saying something regarding it's
wife. Also relevant is the description of loose flaps of skin hanging off of
the extremeties of the creature, which is consistent with decay of a body
treated with the time period's burial practices, after between 2 and 5 years,
especially considering that Poole was buried 3 years prior.
The story of occultists visiting the crypt every Halloween is not likely, at
least not in recent years. The cemetery in Richmond, Virginia is known to
have a better than common security staff. If they visited on any kind of time
table, they would most certainly be apprehended. The cemetery is the final
resting place for the bodies of several notable leaders including Jefferson
Davis, James Monroe, and many, many more. So many, in fact, that thee is a
section of the cemetery actually called "President's Circle".
Our experience with occult groups indicates that they rely heavily on ritual.
This casts doubt on the theory of randomized visits. Making it a more likely
target of young college students proving their noctournal machismo to their
friends. This validity of this portion of the story will have to be confirmed
with the Hollywood Cemetery staff. Another obvious problem with the local
legend in this regard is that if they are getting in and out of the cemetery
to visit the site without being caught, how is it that their actions have
been discovered to establish the story?
Upon researching the Church Hill tunnel incident from the historical
standpoint, we discovered that the "fireman" for the train caught in the
tunnel, Benjamin F. Mosby, was the only person mortally wounded who made it
out of the tunnel. He was taken to Grace Hospital in a taxi (the taxi had
just brought a reporter to the scene). He passed away as a result of his
injuries the next day.
In finding articles related to his condition and the circumstances
surrounding his injuries, the vampire story becomes more understandable, to
an extent.
The steam tank of the train, which Mosby was feeding coal into, ruptured
during the tragedy. He was able to crawl under the train and make his way
back to the opening.
It was common, due to the heat involved with shoveling fuel into the trains
steam engine, to work without a shirt.
Mr. Mosby came stumbling out of the tunnel, and calmly (he was undoubtedly in
shock at the time) asked that his wife be contacted, and told that he was
alive, and not to worry. Nothing could be further from the truth, he seemed
to have no reguard for his injuries for several moments before collapsing.
Mosby had been scalded beyond any hope of recovery from the waist up. Also
listed in his injuries were lacerations from crawling free under the train,
several broken teeth, and areas of his blistered skin had been pulled away in
"flaps measuring up to 4 inches in width".
Workers laid Mosby on the embankment to cover him with water in a futile
attempt to help him, where he was assured that his wife would be contacted
with his message. A taxi then transported him to Grace Hospital, where he
died within 24 hours, despite their best efforts to the contrary.
In addition, we were also suprized to find that, among the rail workers at
the time, the slang expression for being dying was "going to Hollywood", an
obvious reference to the famous cemetery in another section of town.
Not only do Mr. Mosby's injuries fit the description of a most (if not all)
of the generally agreed upon physical characteristics of the "vampire", but
the slang term for being killed, and his concern for his wife also fit
perfectly with many of the details.
Our researchers also point out the difficulty in believing that, there are
another few circumstancial problems with the story.
In the total chaos involved with the collapse of the tunnel, would anyone
have followed the mythical creature across several miles from the tunnel to
Hollywood Cemetery? Remember, there was wide-spread surface damage, and an
active attempt to get everyone out of the mouth of the tunnel.
Would the "creature" have been able to get past the group of survivors of the
incident without leaving a trail of death in his wake. Taking the evidence at
hand, even if Mr. Mosby wasn't the cause for the story, he would have been
horrific to behold, and the workers swarmed to him to lend assistance. This
same mob of concerned men would have been quite an obstical to overcome,
especially considering that they were rail workers, strong men used to hard
labor. Also, there had been 12 recent fatalities from lesser cave-ins. They
would have rendered assistance to anyone coming out of the tunnel, whether
they wanted it or not.
The taxi that transported Mr. Mosby to the hospital brought a reporter to the
scene. Anything as sensational as a monster would have been HUGE news, but
there is no reference to anything in the papers about the undead emerging.
The C & O rail company was in the midst of a public relations disaster. If
they could have sited any factor beyond themselves, they would have done so
immediately. Yet, they never minimized their role in the tragedy.
The oddest thing we were able to find in association with Mr. Poole is that
there is no year of birth listed at his place of rest. This, although unusual
by today's standards, it is important to know that it was not uncommon during
the 1800's.
After our preliminary investigation, we have found sufficient evidence that
the "Richmond Vampire" was NOT an undead creature, prolonging his existance
by feeding on human blood, but rather a severely injured family man, who,
after being injured practically beyond recognition, was primarily concerned
with his love for his wife. Rather than finding anything that could link Mr.
Poole to the only siting commonly associated with the Richmond Vampire, we
found a story of a man who died horribly, and yet was only concerned with
making sure that his family was free from worry.
I have serious doubts that there are many examples of someone in possession
of more humanity than Benjamin J. Mosby, may he rest in peace.
We will visit Mr. Poole to pay our respects, but barring the discovery of
additional information from the staff at Hollywood Cemetery, we will not join
those who suspect what appears to be an innocent man of anything as neferious
as vampirism.
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