Samuel+Jocelyn

Samuel Jocelyn

Samuel Jocelyn lived in Wilmington, North Carolina in 1810. Samuel had lived there all his life and had a best friend named Alexander. Him and Alexander were best friends and they spent much time together as adults. One day they made each other a promise saying that whichever one of the two died first, would need to somehow contact the one that was still living. One night Samuel decided to go out and ride his horse. Though he did not return from his ride. Search parties were arranged and found Samuel soon after. When they found Samuel he was unconscious laying halfway in the water. He was dead, and it was thought that he was killed from the freezing cold water. They then brought Samuel's body back to the Church. The day after the accident Samuel was buried in St. James Church in Wilmington. That following night after his burial he came back and visited his friend. For one hour he haunted his friend, telling him to bring his body up. Samuel haunted his friend on the same hour of every night until on the third night his friend agreed to bring up his body from the coffin.

So Alexander went to the graveyard with a friend that also knew Samuel. They then dug out the coffin and brought it up. When they opened the coffin they saw that Samuel was in a different position than when he was buried. He was now face down in the coffin. When they rolled Samuel over they saw that his fingers were shredded down to the bone. They then looked at the inside of the coffin lid. There had been scratch marks inside. Their friend Samuel Jocelyn had been buried alive and was trying to escape from the coffin before dying.

People now ask how could this have happened, though the explanation is not too complicated. Since Samuel was found in cold water, his heart rate and breathing had slowed to the point that they could not tell he was alive. At this time stethoscopes had not yet been invented, so they could not check to see if he still had a heart beat or was breathing.