Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1862-08-18
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Case of NIistaken Iden.,.--

Remarkable case OF Mistaken Identify
In the year 1850 was one dav watching
from the window of my hotel, in the city Of
Brooklyn, Opposite New York. the opera
ton of elevating elderly pole" in the square
beneath. crowd had assembled on the oc-
caslon, and remarked the dangerous posi-
ton of certain individuals in case anv acct
dent should occur The thought seemed to
be prophetic, for the next moment some
ropes parted, and section of the shaft fell
heavily to the ground One of the bystand-
ers, an elderly man of the humber class. re-
ceived blow upon the head, which produced
instant death. The body was removed to the
doorstep beneath my window, and the unfor-
tunate man was at once recognized by several
OF his nelghbors who Glanced to be present.
The coroner was in the immediate vicinity.
and was soon brought to the spot when, the
case being clearly one of accidental death.
the formalty of an inquest was shortly con-
cluded, and the body delivered to the friends
OF the deceased, who removed it to his late
residence. L attended the inquest, which was
held in an adjacent room, and heard distinct
ly the testimony which identified the corpse.
no less than five or six witnesses declaring
that they were immediate neighbors of the de-
ceased, whom they unhesitatingly recognized.
The affair produced no other impression
than those natural on witnessing such an oc-
currence, and would have passed eventually
into oblivion, had l not, the next morning,
heard the sequel, and subsequently satisfied
myself by personal investigation, of the accu-
racy of the details. They were briefly as
follows: The corpse was conveyed to the
house of the deceased, and met at the door
by the heart-broken widow, who embraced it
in an agony of distress, kissing the face that
was scarcely cold and indulging in all those
extrayagant demonstrations SO common in
women of her class. She was finally induced
to retire to her apartment-kitchen and draw
ing room combined-the body was deposited
in an adjoining chamber, and the bystanders
gradually dispersed. This was about four
o'clock in the afternoon. Two or three hours
later, while several persons were arranging
the corpse, the mourning wife was seated by
her hreslde, painfully contemplating the in
terrupted preparations she had been making
for the accustomed evening meal, when the
outer door opened, as it was wont to do at
that hour, familiar footsteps advanced, and 10
her husband stood before her, hale and hearty
as when he had left her in the morning to
proceed to his daily occupation. Her con
sternation and that of his friends may be bet
ter imagined than described; and her subse-
quent joy, when her senses were fairly re-
stored, was almost as frantic as had been her
lOIueI agony.
The explanation is very simple. The de-
ceased eventually proved to be an entire
stranger, from a town some forty miles dis
tant, who Glanced to be in the city on visit.
The personal resemblance between the two
men was very strong, and their garments also
similar. In the horror of the moment, the
recognition by the neighbors was not surpris-
ing, while the wife had been already appraised
by messenger of the fatal event, and was
prepared to receive her husbands corpse.
Half blind from weeping she did not stop
to scrntinize closely the familiar features, but,
the first burst of grief over turned away to
indulge her agony, leaving to others the task
OF disrobing the corpse. Perhaps a subsc-
4uent examination of the clothing might have
led to discovery of the. error, but the proba-
bility is that, if, by any accident, her husband
had that day met his death elsewhere, and so
never returned again to his home, she would
have followed the corpse of the stranger to its
grave, upon which she would thenceforth have
deposited the immortelies due only to the
memory of the real partner of her life.