Every city and town has ghost stories and urban legends.  Follow the trail and learn about 5 of Williamsport’s.

Stop 5:          The Escape Hatch Graves of Thomas Pursel at Wildwood Cemetery

                          Wildwood Cemetery

                          91 Wildwood Boulevard

Wildwood Cemetery is the resting place of over 72,000 graves, but Thomas Pursel is the only one with an escape hatch.  Thomas constructed an escape hatch family grave in the 20th century to protect his family from being buried alive. Thomas was the son of John and Susannah Pursel. Together they had three other children who all passed away at a very young age. He grew up to become a firefighter, and eventually married Lida Pursel.

Thomas and Lida had a son named Albert, who passed away at 4 years old. Eventually, Lida passed away on November 18th, 1923. A few years later in 1939, Thomas died. He was buried in the escape hatch of his own design and creation. There was no evidence showing that he or any of the other occupants in the tomb had freed themselves.

Although Thomas did not leave a rationale for designing and creating this escape hatch graves, there are clues to consider. In the 18th and 19th centuries illnesses such as pneumonia, the flu, cholera, and bacterial infections spread easily and without effective treatment. Many stories circulated that sometimes doctors were not able to figure out if someone was truly dead, so they would bury the bodies to stop the spread of illness. This meant unintentionally burying individuals who appeared death-like. Pursel may have become influenced by the idea that this could happen to him or his other family members. Taphephobia – the fear of being buried alive – is an actual condition that may have afflicted Thomas.

He did not trust other safety coffin designs, so he built his escape hatch. This hatch contained felt inlays, food, breathing tubes, a wheel lock, and tools to help the occupants escape. To Thomas, the fiction and reality of death may have been too much. His family members passed away and to ensure safety, he took matters into his own hands.