Charles F. Mills was born in 1803 in St. Augustine, Florida. Inspired by the wealthy and successful merchants around him, he moved to Charleston, South Carolina at 16 years old to begin a career in commerce. He found great success in commerce, and he married Elizabeth Cope in 1834.

In 1835, Mills and his new bride moved to Savannah, Georgia. He was able to carry much of his business to Savannah, and he quickly became a very wealthy man. He continued on as a merchant for several years before becoming a banker. He found that he was quite good at banking, and in 1850 he became president of the Marine bank, where he worked until the Civil War broke out in 1861.

Even as a powerful man in his society, he was an anxious man who struggled deeply with claustrophobia and taphophobia, the fear of being buried alive. When he was writing his will, he implemented several rules for his postmortem care to ensure he would not be prematurely buried.

His first rule was that he must be left on his family’s visitation table for six full months after his death. Furthermore, he did not want to be covered in dirt after his burial. He requested that a concrete casting be made in his grave that he could lay in instead, wrapped in his burial shroud. He also requested to have not one, but two bells tied to him at burial. One attached to his wrist and one tied to his ankle. This would allow him to have a back-up bell in case the one on his wrist could not successfully notify the cemetery keepers.

Finally, he asked that his memorial stone be made hollow, with slats cut into the band of decoration at the top. This way, if all his other preventative methods failed, he would be able to move around and breathe in his grave until he was rescued. Charles F. Mills spent over $15,000 to ensure his safety after death. He was dead the first time they put him in the ground.

Ironically, Charles’ wrist bell is the only grave bell still standing in the city of Savannah. His grave can be viewed alongside his wife in their burial plot at Bonaventure Cemetery.