It was an ordinary day. Good day for learning body snatching! Got your attention yet? In nearby Mountville, Pennsylvania lives a woman by the name of Erin Shelor who was an associate history professor for 17 years at nearby Millersville University where she was recently appointed head of the history department.
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1771 London image of grave diggers being disturbed by a donkey
as they dig up a grave in a cemetery. |
History was never one of my favorite courses in high school or college, but then again, I never knew they studied body snatching in history classes. At least my high school never taught about it! Might have passed American History had they studied body snatching when I was a student at Millersville University. I was lucky that my advisor at Millersville liked me and managed to get me into a bowling class instead of having to take history over again. Well...Erin Shelor included body snatching in her history courses. She once said, "It was just too much fun not to pursue!" She became fascinated with accounts of grave robbers, who are also known as body snatchers or tomb raiders, who were supplying medical institutions with bodies to analyze in Great Britain during the early 19th century. Erin's fascination began when she was researching the professionalization of medicine for her Master's thesis. She uncovered that before Parliament's passing of the anatomy Act of 1832, which reversed laws forbidding the dissection of human bodies, British doctors and anatomy instructors found themselves participating in one of the lower life examples of the economic law of supply and demand: the black market for bodies. She eventually talked about this topic in her underclass lectures as well as a topic for current lectures to medical groups. Made for a great topic recently during the Halloween season. Who wouldn't enjoy a good talk about body snatching and grave robbing and all the gory stuff that it entails. If only she had taught there when I was a student! So, how did students learning how to become doctors learn about anatomy if it was illegal to dissect a human body. For years it must have been tough since many religions objected to the practice as well as the fact that it was illegal. Then along came the French Revolution and a period of time in France when many bodies went unclaimed in public hospitals. Great source for studying anatomy in humans! But, what about places like England or even Baltimore or Philadelphia or Lancaster? There were plenty of medical students, but not enough of bodies! Then in 1828 laws were interpreted a little bit differently to allow for more body disections. They started to use those put to death for murder. And the law changed somewhat for grave robbers. If someone was caught with a body, it became a misdemeanor as long as the body didn't have clothing on it. So when a grave robber dug up a body he, or she, had to take off the clothing and throw it back in the grave site. If they were caught, it was only a misdemeanor and not a felony. So, the new laws resulted in some people committing murders to get bodies to sell. Two such duos, Burke and Hare in 1828 and Bishop and Williams in 1831 committed murders so they could get money for the dead bodies. It was usually homeless people who would be offered a drink laced with laudanum and when the victims would pass out, the murderers would smother them and no marks would be found on the bodies. As far as grave robbers...they would have to get bodies shortly after they were buried so they didn't begin to decompose and make them useless. Seems that people attached to local churches would let the grave robbers know when there was going to be a burial and they would wait until everyone left the cemetery and then remove the body, minus the clothes. It was also said that prostitutes would pose as mourners and show up at hospitals trying to claim bodies. So exactly how do you rob a grave if you would want to try it? You dig at the head of the grave and pile the dirt on the foot of the grave. Make sure it is a fresh grave! When you hit the coffin, use a crowbar as a hook to pull the body out. Take the clothes off the dead person and throw them back in the coffin. Put the coffin back in the gravesite and then cover it with the dirt. Smooth the dirt! Presto! You are a grave robber. After reading about body snatching and grave robbing, I will never enter another cemetery without wondering how many of the graves really have a person in the box under the tombstone! And, as far as Erin Shelor goes...well she says..."We teach life skills here at Millersville!" Now...I read of this stuff in a newspaper article and didn't make it up! So, it must be true! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - And I still don't know where they get all the bodies needed to teach new doctors how to work on human bodies!
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