Anomalies Article: Spontaneous Human Combustion

Spontaneous Human Combustion:
Brief Reports in Chronological Order

Dates Unknown or Unsure - Dates 1600-1949 - Dates 1950-Present

French Fiery Death

The Legend:
In 1673, a Parisian alcoholic was reduced to a pile of ash and a few finger bones, but the straw bed on which he died was intact.

Sources:
The World's Greatest Mysteries, Joyce Robins, 1989 Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd.

Grace Pett's Combustion

The Legend:
In April, 1744, 60-year-old Grace Pett, wife of a fishmonger of the parish of St. Clement, Ipswich, burst into flames in front of her daughter who later described it 'like a log of wood consumed by fire.'

Variations & Theories
In Secrets of the Supernatural, Joe Nickell gives two alternative last names for Grace 'Pett' as possibly being either 'Kett' or 'Pitt.' He gives two sources for his version of the account -- Annual Register #6, Pg. 95 (1763), and Theodric and John Becks' Elements of Medical Jurisprudence (1835) -- and, of course, I will attempt to track down my own copies of them.
As Nickell presents the account as he found it, Grace Pett didn't combust in front of her daughter; rather, her daughter found Mrs. Pett's already burning body and extinguished the fire with water. Her remains were badly burned, her torso being "in some measure incinerated, and resembled a heap of coals covered with white ashes," her extemities "had also participated in the burning," and a fatty stain on the floor was reported. Her remains were found "with her head near the grate" which had no fire in it at the time the remains were found; also, on the floor close to her remains was a candle which "had burnt entirely out in the socket of the candle-stick." Add to this that Mrs. Pett had reportedly drunk "a large quantity of spirituous liquor," and was in the habit of leaving her bedroom dressed in a cotton gown to smoke her pipe... all of which Nickell sees as clear evidence that Mrs. Pett set herself aflame while too intoxicated to deal with it.

Sources:
The World's Greatest Mysteries, Joyce Robins, 1989 Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd.
Secrets of the Supernatural, Joe Nickell (with John F. Fischer), 1988 Prometheus Books.

Madame De Boiseon's Fiery Death

The Legend:
In 1749, 80-year-old French woman Madame De Boiseon was found by her waiting-maid just where she had left her shortly before, seated in a chair -- but now burning. The maid gave an alarm and one of those responding attempted to beat out the flames with his hands, only to have the flames cling to him also. When water was brought in to extinguish the flames, the fire only burned hotter. The flames only extinguished themselves when De Boiseon's body, excepting one leg and her hands, was completely consumed.

Theories
Joe Nickell, who gives this account in his book Secrets of the Supernatural, gives as his source Theodric and John Beck's Elements of Medical Jurisprudence (1835), a copy of which I will endeavour to track down. From this source, Nickell points out that both the rumor that De Boiseon "drank nothing but spirits for several years," and that her chair had been placed "before the fire." To Nickell, this is clear evidence that the odds are De Boison was ignited accidently by the the fire, and was too intoxicated or disabled to save herself.

Sources:
Secrets of the Supernatural, Joe Nickell (with John F. Fischer), 1988 Prometheus Books.

Massachusetts Fiery Death

The Legend:
In March, 1802, the remains of an elderly Massachusetts woman were found in the midst of a fire that had to be extinguished.

Theories
Joe Nickell, in his book Secrets of the Supernatural, gives an account of this event taken from Theodric and John Beck's Elements of Medical Jurisprudence (1835), a book which I will try to find a copy of. From this account, Nickell states that the woman's remains were found near the hearth, and that, in fact, "a sort of greasy soot and ashes" were found on the hearth and the contiguous flooring; also, there was an "unusual" odor in the room. Nickell sees the evidence as clearly indicating that the woman's (which were completely consumed) were accindently lit afire by the hearth, and once she'd fallen lit the wooden floor on fire which acted as fuel for her cremation.

Sources:
Secrets of the Supernatural, Joe Nickell (with John F. Fischer), 1988 Prometheus Books.

Countess of Goerlitz's Fiery Death

The Legend:
In June, 1847, the Countess of Goerlitz was discovered burnt to death.

Theories
Joe Nickell, in his book Secrets of the Supernatural, gives an account of this event he compiles from George Henry Lewes' article "Spontaneous Combustion" (from Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine #89 [April, 1861]) and Thomas Stevenson's The Principles and Practice of Medical Jurisprudence (1883), both of which I will attempt to find copies. As Nickell gives the account, some furniture and a portion of the floor around the Countess' body was blazing, and had to be extinguised, although the Countess herself was no longer aflame. Her body was badly burned, but by no means cremated; though her head was "a nearly shapeless black mass," a slipper was undamaged. Some "dark greasy matter" was observed. On investigation of the matter, a servant named Stauff, after being caught with the Countess' jewels, confessed to strangling the Countess and setting her body on fire to conceal the crime.

Sources:
Secrets of the Supernatural, Joe Nickell (with John F. Fischer), 1988 Prometheus Books.

John Anderson's Fiery Death

The Legend:
In July 1852, 50-year-old John Anderson, who carted wood from the forest of Darnaway, was seen by a herd-boy to get down from his cart, stumble, and fall by the roadside. By the time the boy reached Anderson to help, he was already dead; and his body was aflame. It took several pails of water to extinguish the fire.

Theories
Joe Nickell, in his book Secrets of the Supernatural, gives an account of this event he got from George Henry Lewes' article "Spontaneous Combustion" from Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine #89 (April, 1861); I will, of course, attempt to track down a copy. From this article, Nickell quotes that Anderson was "a notorious dram-drinker," and points out that Lewes observes that the body was only "charred -- that is, burned, as it always is superficially when the clothes take fire." Add to this that Anderson's lighted pipe was found under his body, and it's a straight forward argument that he lit himself aflame when he passed out on his pipe.

Sources:
Secrets of the Supernatural, Joe Nickell (with John F. Fischer), 1988 Prometheus Books.

Mrs. Pulley's Fiery Death

The Legend:
In 1860, a Mrs. Pulley was found burnt to death; from her shoulders downward, the oak floor had been burned through and, though parts of her clothing and body had been destroyed by fire, her legs were undamaged.

Theories
Joe Nickell, in his book Secrets of the Supernatural, gives an account of this event he got from Thomas Stevenson's The Principles and Practices of Medical Jurisprudence (1883); I will track down a copy of this book. Nickell says that Mrs. Pulley's head was lying on the hearth, and that while there was no fire in the grate, there was a brass candlestick lying between her left arm and torso, "the top of the candlestick being inclined toward it [the torso]." Nickell also says that, upon further investigation, Mrs. Pulley's death was determined to be "a deliberate murder by strangulation," with it supposed that the murderer had set the body afire to conceal the crime.

Sources:
Secrets of the Supernatural, Joe Nickell (with John F. Fischer), 1988 Prometheus Books.

Unnamed Woman's Fiery Death

The Legend:
In 1864, an unnamed woman was found burnt to death in her room, which was filled with a thick, black smoke. Her clothes were on fire, and a chair had been burnt; and some of her flesh had been burned to the bones.

Theories
Joe Nickell, in his book Secrets of the Supernatural, gives an account of this event he found in Thomas Stevenson's The Principles and Practices of Medical Jurisprudence (1883); I will track down a copy of this text. Nickell says that according to Stevenson, the woman "was given to habits of intoxication;" Stevenson concluded that her death was "nothing more than a casualty by fire."

Sources:
Secrets of the Supernatural, Joe Nickell (with John F. Fischer), 1988 Prometheus Books.

Aberdeen Soldier's Fiery Death

The Legend:

In 1888, an old soldier was found burnt to death in a hayloft in Aberdeen.

Sources:
The World's Greatest Mysteries, Joyce Robins, 1989 Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd.

Gladys Cochrane's Fiery Death

The Legend:
In 1904, Mrs. Gladys Cochrane of Falkirk, Scotland, was found burned beyond recognition, sitting in a chair surrounded by pillows and cushions.

Sources:
The World's Greatest Mysteries, Joyce Robins, 1989 Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd.

Wilhelmina Dewar's Fiery Death

The Legend:
In 1908, Wilhelmina Dewar was found by her sister, Margaret, burned to death on an unburned bed in their home in Whitley Bay, near Blyth, England.

Theories
Joe Nickell, in his book Secrets of the Supernatural, gives an account of this event he found in Vincent H. Gaddis' Mysterious Fires and Lights (1967); a copy of which I will find. Nickell adds a few details to the account above: both women were retired schoolteachers, that Margaret claimed to have discovered her sister upon arriving home (having immediately rushed to a neighbor for help), and the bed that Wilhelmina was found upon was indeed free of any fire damage, as was the rest of the house. Nickell then quotes Gaddis as saying that, upon repeated questioning at the inquest, Margaret confessed "she had found her sister burned, but still alive, in a lower part of the house, and had helped her walk to the bed where she had died." There are still questions as to exactly how Wilhelmina caught fire, and if Margaret was involved or responsible.

Sources:
Secrets of the Supernatural, Joe Nickell (with John F. Fischer), 1988 Prometheus Books.

Lillian Green's Fiery Death

The Legend:
In December 1916, Miss Lillian C. Green, housekeeper for the proprietor of a hotel seven miles from Dover, New Jersey, was found badly burned on the hotel's lower floor and later died at a Dover hospital.

Theories
Joe Nickell, in his book Secrets of the Supernatural, gives an account of this event compiled from three sources, Charles Fort's Wild Talents (1932), Vincent H. Gaddis' Mysterious Fires and Lights (1967), and articles from the New York Herald of December 27-28, 1916; I have a copy of Wild Talents, and will dig through it soon -- of the others, I will, of course, attempt to locate copies. Nickell points out that their is a conflict in his sources: Gaddis, in his book, cites accounts from the New York Herald as stateing "The floor under her body was slightly scorched, but with the exception of her clothing, nothing else in the room showed the slightest trace of burns or possible origin of fire." But, according to Nickell, the New York Herald reports differ from this, stateing that there "were no ashes from the clothing;" this curiosity lead investigators to suspect that Green had been burned elsewhere, a suspicion that was quickly followed by the discovery of "unmistakable evidence in traces of fire" found in a room on the second floor indicating that her clothing had caught fire there. A county detective put forward the theory that Green had accidently set her cloths afire herself, since the proprietor "told him that she frequently smoked cigarettes in her room."

Sources:
Secrets of the Supernatural, Joe Nickell (with John F. Fischer), 1988 Prometheus Books.

Nora Lake's Fiery Death

The Legend:
On January 22, 1930, 42-year-old Nora Lake was found burned to death in her home in Kerhonkson, New York; although her body was severely burned, the clothes she was wearing were undamaged.

Theories
Joe Nickell, in his book Secrets of the Supernatural, gives an account of this event compiled from two sources, Charles Fort's Wild Talents (1932), and an article from the New York World of January 24, 1930; I have a copy of Wild Talents, and will dig through it soon -- I will, of course, attempt to locate a copy of the article. Charles Fort's book is the origin of the claim that Lake's clothes were undamaged; but when Nickell requested a copy of the newspaper article that Fort cites (New York Sun, Jan. 24, 1930), the New York Historical Society was unable to find a copy. According to the New York World article, published two days after the event, firemen had been called to put out a fire in the kitchen and dining room of Lake's house. Lake's body was found upstairs, burned but fully clothed in unburned clothes, lying "carefully arranged on the bed;" her purse was "found open and rifled," and cash she was known to have was missing.

Sources:
Secrets of the Supernatural, Joe Nickell (with John F. Fischer), 1988 Prometheus Books.

Phyllis Newcombe's Combustion

The Legend:
On August 27, 1938, 22 year old Phyllis Newcombe was dancing vigorously in Chelmsford, Essex, when her body glowed with a blue light which turned into flames; she died within minutes.

Theories
It's impossible to deny the similarity of this case to that of Maybelle Andrew's Combustion and the London Combustion; I have to wonder if this is an urban legend, a popular tale that retains the same overall structure while its details change with each retelling. Only more research can tell.

Sources:
The Encyclopedia of Unsolved Mysteries, Colin and Damon Wilson, 1988 Contemporary Books, Inc.

Maybelle Andrews' Combustion

The Legend:
In October 1938, Maybelle Andrews was dancing in a Soho nightclub with her boyfriend, Billy Clifford, when flames erupted from her back, chest and shoulders. Clifford was badly burned trying to put the flames out; he said there were no flames in the room, that they had come from Newcombe herself. Newcombe died on the way to the hospital.

Theories
It's impossible to deny the similarity of this case to that of Phyllis Newcombe's Combustion and the London Combustion; I have to wonder if this is an urban legend, a popular tale that retains the same overall structure while its details change with each retelling. Only more research can tell.

Sources:
The Encyclopedia of Unsolved Mysteries, Colin and Damon Wilson, 1988 Contemporary Books, Inc.

Ellen Coutres' Fiery Death

The Legend:
In December 1949, 53-year-old Mrs. Ellen K. Coutres of Manchester, New Hampshire, was found burned to death as if she had been "a human torch". Other than Mrs. Coutres, nothing in the room was burned, and the wooden house was undamaged.

Theories
Joe Nickell, in his book Secrets of the Supernatural, gives an account of this event he found in Vincent H. Gaddis' Mysterious Fires and Lights (1967); a copy of which I will find. Nickell points out that while the account states that Coutres was "dead from burns" as if she had been "a human torch," it does not indicate any extensive body damage (no portion of her body was reduced to ashes). Coutres apparently collapsed in the center of the room, away from other objects, and Nickell theorizes that "depending on the amount of clothing on the body, it is plausible that the fire was just sufficient to cause the minimal destruction without setting the floor on fire (since flames burn upward)." The fire in Coutres' stove had been out for some time, but it could have exinguised itself after she had caught fire, or she could have set herself on fire trying to light it.

Sources:
Secrets of the Supernatural, Joe Nickell (with John F. Fischer), 1988 Prometheus Books.

Dates Unknown or Unsure - Dates 1600-1949 - Dates 1950-Present