Do you Believe This Phobia was built Mistakely

5 min readNov 14, 2020

Statue of Octavia Hatcher Image from WikiCommons

Octavia and James Hatcher loved one another deeply. The couple married young. Those who knew the couple said the duo tying the knot was inevitable. So was them having their first child.

Shortly after their 1890 wedding, Octavia and James celebrated her pregnancy. Neighbors and friends noted how the young man doted on his expectant wife. And how she did everything in her power to make sure her husband had a smile on his face.

The Hatchers were the toast of Pikeville, Kentucky. Older ladies helped Octavia keep the house straightened and with dinner. They gave more assistance the closer to the due date the young woman got.

James and the men of Pikeville celebrated his impending fatherhood. It was the culmination of a lifelong dream for him. From the time he could speak, the father-to-be spoke about wanting children and how he would lavishly love on them and his wife.

When Octavia gave birth to baby Jacob, the new parents were proud and happy. Their small family became the envy of the town. Loved ones stopped by to wish them well and look after mom and the baby while James was at work.

Happiness, though, was fleeting. The newlyweds found themselves facing every parent’s nightmare.

A Sudden Illness

Baby Jacob died on May 2, 1891. When the doctor arrived on the scene, he could not understand what happened with the baby. During this era, infant deaths were at an all-time high; the doctor believed it was another statistic.

Octavia fell into a depression. Days went by, and she wouldn’t leave the safety of her bed. Neighbors stopped by to talk with her and encourage her to resume normal life, to no avail. Even her beloved husband couldn’t rally her spirits to eat more than a bite or two of dinner.

James dealt with his grief differently. He threw himself into work. The longer he was away from the house, the more he could push his feelings to the side. Loved ones worried that his absence was putting a strain on his marriage and making his wife feel as though she were alone in grieving for their son.

Weeks after the loss of their son, Octavia grew ill. Many chalked it up to bad nutrition and a lack of activity. They tried to feed her soup. But the young woman barely had the energy to accept more than a few spoonfuls before she fell asleep.

Within a matter of days, Octavia stopped waking up altogether. A concerned James called the local doctor. Upon his arrival, the doctor declared her to be dead. The causes of death were not known.

Since the summer had been sweltering, James wasted no time in burying his wife. He mourned the love of his life.

A Surprise

While the town grieved for the young woman’s loss, James had a hard time losing his dream. It was hard for him to believe that his son and wife died within weeks of one another. Nothing made sense.

To his surprise, other people in Pikeville became sick and fell into comas. James worried that he prematurely buried his wife. He got a crew together and dug up her grave. The widower prayed that his wife was still alive and just in a deep sleep.

Once they brought the coffin up and lifted the lid, James was distraught. Octavia lay still in her resting spot, motionless. One of the men who helped with the dig pointed to the sides and top of the casket.

Octavia woke up and tried to scratch her way out of the box.

James cried as he realized the mistake he made. He buried his wife alive. The sadness gave way to anger as he yelled at the doctor for declaring her dead instead of doing a full checkup on her.

The widower never remarried. He did construct a marble statue in honor. As he accumulated wealth, he built a hotel and had it positioned so that his wife’s statue would look down on it.

In his later years, he built a smaller hotel named after his beloved son. The lobby became a museum for the two members of his family that passed on before he did.

A Phobia Materializes

Because of what happened with his wife, James grew afraid of being buried alive. He had a custom-built coffin to make sure it never happened. And when choosing his gravesite, end to end with Octavia, he had a string attached to a bell in case he was buried alive.

He warned closer friends and family that there was a possibility that he would end up like his wife. Most people blew off his fears, rationalizing that they were coming from a distraught and grieving man.

Even knowing what they were saying, it comforted James to know that people were informed about what happened.

When he passed away, family members made sure to double-check his pulse before burying him. His final words were to Octavia, “I’m sorry.”

Do you Believe This Phobia was built Mistakely

A Sudden Illness

A Surprise

A Phobia Materializes

Written by Diazemicheal