Gravely Mistaken: Tales of Medicine, Mishaps and Body Snatching in Augusta, Georgia

by Janis Ann Parks, Haley Reid (Cover Design), Daniel R. Pearson (Designer)

Grave robbing is a suspected source of supply for the bodies used as specimens in the anatomy classes at the Medical College of Georgia in 1854. Two students, John and Sterling, take a break from their studies one night and have a drink at the tavern. While there, they spy Grandison Harris, the slave purchased to work as a porter for the school. They decide to see what he has in the back of his wagon. A shovel and a body in a bag on the floor of his wagon convince them that Harris is a resurrectionist. The students resolve to play a trick on the porter. Removing the body from its bag and hiding it, John crawls into the sack, intending to scare Harris. But, as the porter climbs in the wagon, the prank goes awry when the horse bolts and runs away. John remains trapped in the bag and when he tries to wriggle free, Harris sees the movement and mistakes the body for an evil spirit. The porter hits the squirming sack with a shovel, takes it back to the cemetery and puts it in the grave. John is either dead or buried alive. Surrounding the mystery are stories exemplifying the best heroic medical treatment of the day including; bleeding, purging and application of plasters for the treatment of Yellow Fever and other maladies along with development of ether anesthesia, surgical procedures, use of laudanum and the practice of autopsy to further medical knowledge.

238 pages, Paperback

First published April 4, 2010

About the author

When I worked as an RN at the Medical College of Georgia, I heard about a slave named Grandison Harris. He was purchased in 1852 and his main duty was to procure fresh cadavers from a local cemetery to allow medical students to study anatomy. I thought that might make a good story, especially when I heard how the students played a prank on him one night.
I tucked it all away until I retired and then when I started doing research, I also found articles about how medicine was practiced in the 1800's.
It's amazing we survived!

Reviews

[Beth Tuley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty interesting, especially since I live 10 minutes from the Medical College of Georgia, the subject of this book, and jog regularly on the Augusta Canal.

3 stars though because it was clearly written by a man, no offense, but the 2-3 intimate scenes were dreadful 😂. Edit. Nope. A woman. But definitely not a romance writer.

Amusing, but also contains quite a few typos.

[Stephanie Hennessy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! It was fascinating to learn about the history of the Medical College of Georgia, the Augusta Canal Project, and getting to know her characters. I thought this book was great, and particularly loved the character development and inter-weaving timelines.

[margaret polcyn]

Very insightful

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good idea, but this book was all over the place.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick enjoyable,light read. An amusing, partly factual tale centered around 3 different characters. Quite different actually. I was pleasantly surprised throughout how skillfully the author ties it all together. Interesting facts reveal themselves in the medical practices of the day and in the building of the Augusta Georgia Canal. If you are interested in medicine you'll find this a delight.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, I thought this book would have been more interesting. It was okay, but I was hoping for more creepy history than just history.