Valley Girl Views: The Escape Hatch Tomb At Wildwood Cemetery

At Wildwood Cemetery in Williamsport, on the east side near the entrance, you can see a unique mausoleum that has been featured in Life Magazine, as well as in an episode of Ripley's Believe It Or Not.

The "escape hatch" mausoleum was designed with air circulation, and the ability to be opened from the inside.

"The tomb is located at the side of the road, about half way to the summit of the hill in East Wildwood. It is seen by all persons driving through the cemetery, but many do not know what it is and think that is is designed for some other purpose. The front is of mountain stone and cast iron." - Williamsport Sun, 1920.

To see the mausoleum, take Cemetery Road in Williamsport until you come to the cemetery office and chapel (stone building, on the west side). Take the entrance on the EAST side, across from the building, and as you wind your way up the hill, you really can't miss this.

Thomas Tinsman Pursell was born December 18th 1854, the son of John Melick and Susannah [Fritz] Pursell, of Williamsport. In 1876, Thomas married Eliza Lida Newhall. The 1910 census lists the Pursells at 510 Mulberry Street, and lists Thomas's occupation as an engineer for the City Fire Co.

In 1932, The Williamsport Grit ran a photo of Pursell with the caption "now utility man at Engine Co. No 4 East third street, oldest member of the fire department who 50 years ago was an engineer at Engine Company No. 1"

Pursell died June 13th, 1937 at the age of 82. He was entombed on June 15th of that year, and photos of the burial were published in Life Magazine that fall.

Thomas was buried with an ax, a hammer, two boards, and a piece of bread. Newspapers all around the country ran an article about his unique burial.

"An unsealed tomb in Wildwood Cemetery, Williamsport, is the silent witness to an amazing story of a man who lived in fear of being buried alive. Inside the weird stone mausoleum, covered by only a blanket, is the body of Thomas Pursel, Williamsport fireman, who spent 18 months building his tomb so that he could escape it if he should awake after burial.

Beside the body is a hammer and two boards, which Pursel will use to gain freedom if he revives in the next two months. Air circulates through the vault by a series of ventilators. If he does not arise within the next 60 days however, the tomb will be sealed permanently."

Pursel's body, wrapped in a blanket, feet facing the door.

"The receptacles are of such a shape that a casket cannot be placed in them. Heretofore when bodies have been placed in the tomb, they have been taken to the cemetery in caskets and transferred to metal trays designed and provided when the tom was built."

The grave was left unsealed for 60 days. After that time, it was permanently sealed.

The Pursel vault is ventilated by the chimney shown on the roof

The chimney

The photos above are of the burial of Thomas, but it's important to note that Thomas was the last to be buried here, not the first, and although Thomas is credited with helping to built the structure, the patent for the design belongs to his father, John Pursel.

"He [John] always had a dread of being buried alive. To prevent such a calamity he planned, and had built in Grandview [Today Wildwood] Cemetery a sepulcher in which there would be no danger of inmates smother if a spark of life still remained."

The door for Lidia lists here father as A.W. Newhall of Horseheads N.Y.

When Susannah Pursel died in September of 1920, the Sun reported that her body was to be placed in patented tomb. "Mrs. Pursell's late husband conceived, designed, and with the aid of his sons built the tomb, which he had patented. It is so designed that the bodies are placed in sperate receptacles, which are sealed from the interior. This is intended to prevent anyone from being buried alive."

The article further mentions that John and his son Daniel already occupied two of the receptacles, and notes that the tomb had been constructed about 20 years earlier.

Thomas & Lidia Pursell had one son, Albert, who died in 1881, at the age of 5.

It seems unlikely, given the small space, that two bodies occupy one slot, even though several of them list two names. The newspaper article in 1920, at the time of Susannah's death, mentions only two bodies having been entombed within at that time, and states that the mausoleum was constructed abt 1900 - leading me to conclude that the other names listed are merely memorials, they were likely buried elsewhere.

Susannah, wife of John, and daughter Sallie.

Daniel and Willie Pursel were brothers to Thomas, all sons of John and Susannah.

Fireman's Tomb: The late Thomas Pursell.

Article from "Life" Magazine July 5, 1937, p. 76.

Letter accompanying photographs, written by Helen M. Unger, reads: "Sirs: When Thomas Pursell, 83-year-old retired fireman, was buried in a Williamsport cemetery on June 15, a door of one of the strangest burial places in the world was bolted shut. Fear of being buried alive prompted Pursell to conceive plans for and erect this mausoleum with ventilating system and patented wheel lock, which can be opened only from the inside. The fireman spent a year and a half perfecting the vault. He made by hand the brass bolts which fasten the door in place, and entrusted James Miller, a friend, to apply them and clip off the tops with a hack saw so that no entry could be made. Placement of a hammer and two boards by his side, to aid in an exit should resurrection occur, was a part of the burial which attracted the curious to the cemetery grounds."

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