The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1869-06-23
REMARKABLE CASE OF RESTOR-
:s5 ED ANIMATION.
A Woman Supposed to be Dead
Creates a Midnight Panic.

From the New York Star, June 2.
One of the most remarkable in
stances of restored animation which
has ever taken place in this city occur
red on Sunday night last, in Varick
street, near McDougal, the particulars
of which are as follows @
An aged lady, named Rebeeca
Townsend, who has been ailing for
several weeks past, expired, as was
supposed, on Sunday morning last.
That she was really dead no one who
saw her for a moment hesitated to be-
klieve. The set eyebal's, the rigid
limbs, and the apparent cessation OF
resparasion, all pointed TO the sup
sposed fact that death had come to the
relief of the invalid. af q
Accordingly, on Sunday, the sor-
rowing household, acting on this be-
lief, commenced making preparations
for the burial of, the body. "A burial
permit was obtained, a coffin ordered,
and the remains washed and attired
in the habiliments of the grave. De
lay arising relative to the preparation
! of the coffin, the remains were tenn
kporarily laid out upon the bed in
| which the old lady was supposed to
have died, and the services of a watch
er Ca young female residing in a neigh
boring hosse) were secured to attend
the body during Sunday night.
About II o'clock, on Sunday even
ling, the members of the household re-
ktired, leaving the watcher alone to her
! disagreeable task AS the young lady
Estates, she became drowsy about 2
o'clock in the morning, and enscon-
sing herself in an arm chair, 81 short
distance from the corpse, soon fell in
to q doze, She had not slept above an
hour, when she was awakened by a
low moaning sound which apparently
issued from the couch upon whichlay
the supposed corpse. Startled by the
strange noise, the watcher Immediate
ly sprang from her chair and approach
ed the bed for the purpose ofascertain-
ing the cause of the mysterious sounds.
AT this moment the noise suddenly
ceased. There lay the corpse just as
the watcher had left it one hour before,
the eyes still set as in death, thelimbs.
still rigid, and not a sound of life visi-
BILE. sa e+ 81. .rfs'-
Believing the sounds which she
fancied 'conjured up by a mind excit-
ed by the uncomfortable position in
which she v as placed, the watcher re-
turned to her seat and resumed he:
nap. She had not remained in. this
condition more than half an hour,
when she was again aroused by sounds
similar to those which had previously
alarmed her. Again she sprang from
her cha;:" end approached the bedside,
when oh (! horlcr Of horrorSl her eyes
met the wandering g"aze of the sup
posed corpse. Could it be possible
that she was dreaming? She passed
her hands to her eyes, to convince her
self that she did not sleep. Slowly
the eyes # the corpse commenced
in their sockets, the muscles OF
the face relaxed, the jaws contracted,
and as the flmy eYeballs rested upon
the co~untenance of the appalled, watch
er, they appeared to entreat the wo-
man to come to her relief,
Horror riveted the watcher to the
spot. She attempted to scream for as
sistance, but her tongue refused her
u~tterance. AS she continued to gaze
upon the living corpse, the arms be-
gan TO move, and the right hand was
lifted to the mouth, as if the
corpse implored drink. The corpse
next commenced assuming an upright
position, and finally, after an effort of
minutes, sat bolt upright in
bed.
This lastmovement proved too much
for the fright stricken watcher, and
from the bedside she fell
to the floor.
The noise oc~casioned by the fall
the inmates of the honse, who
fastened to the room. There sat
the woman still upright in bed, at the
foot of which lay the c~onvulsed form
the terror stricken watcher.
Discovering the state of affairs, the
household Immediately dispatched a
for the nearest physician, who
after arrived upon the scene,
and by due application of re~storatives
succeeded in reviving the supposed
sufficiently to enable her to per-
spire freely. The watcher, by the adj
of the proper r~estoratives,
was, after much difficulty, also restor-
ed to consciousness, but her nerves
received a shock which will
probably tell upon her constitution
until her dying day. She avows she
will never again erv as a watcher of
corpse, and no wonder at it.