Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1872-01-08
Z DEVOTED. b. .sIsIERs. !
A. Br6ther In Close Confinement
for Fifty -four Years--A Kentucky

A HrOther I'm Ct0se COnnuement
for Fifty -four Years--A Kentucky
TTuIh Etranger than Fiction.
Correspondence Cincinnati Times and Chron-
icle, 10th ult. fl8uNIA
A very remarkable piece Of sisterly
Devotion has Atranspired i'm Concord,
Lewis county, Kentucky, which we pro-
pose to relate, and ask II the facts and
example have their parallel in the past
or present generation.
FJudge James Dozier migrated to Ken
tucky at an early day, when this section
was a wilderness. he reared family
Of daughters, ard bis youngest child was
boy. AS usual the pet was gifted
with promising traits that made the
brother near and dear to this home cir
Icle. 81 RgKnGGOSF YF9 ~ 10 u !,
In 1878 Ringgold Dozier, when but, hf-
teen years old, attended religious reyl-
val. The religious excitement SO af
fected his mind as TO unfit him for la-
Dor or manual pursuits, and the care of
this youth devolved upon nhis'eldest sis
ters, who have assumed the direction Of
his affairs, and have kept an untiring
and unceasi1g watch over this unfortu-
nate brother for sixty-nine years.
For fifty-four years Ringgold Dozier S
life and abode have been voluntary close
confinement within the precincts of the
house and home of his aged sisters,
secluding himselfin small room on the
ground floor, with a walk of twenty-five
feet for daily exercise, the whole plahked
up. Within this solitary space of his
choice he lives to all appearances, hap
py and coritented, unseen except by his
two surviving sisters, who now admins
ter to his daily wants with a true sisterly
love and devotion. One is always pres
ert at his call, and both are eager to
favor his simplest wants. Time and age
seem TO knit closer the fond attachment
of these worthy sisters to the carelof
this demented brother andthey will not
intrust the valued charge beyond their
own personal administrations Even the
charitable offers of State benefcence are
Indignantly rejected,b NyM Ah4
These sisters are not dependent, nor
do they solicit aid. 1T seems to be a
pride and indeed, "a pleasure to stddy
the interests and comfort of the lone
brother, and more, to encourage him IN
his religious and DEVOTIONAL exercises,
and join together in chanting his Meth
odist songs and lessons that he learned
up to the day reason departed, and reli-
gious enthusiasm took possession of his
tender mind. He knows and talks unl
sderstandingly OF all events up to 1875
and will recognize hisold associates yet
living, at the first glance. Two of his
sisters that lived and died devoting their
whole lives to the benefit and interest of
their invalid brother he now calls as If
rsiiising, and is promptly answered by the
surviving deyotees TO his wants.
SO quiet and secluded do this peaceful
family live that neighbors know nothing
of this hermit existence Twos genera
tons have passed ssinca this man has
lived in exile from the world. Here, in
the midst of dense moving population,
steamboats,, railroads and telegraphs
have been invented and established in
sight of this mans abode, yet he knows
it not. Hisidea of transfer is associated
with the primitive custom, of 1873
riding on horseback. His thoughts are
centered in his Bible, which is read and
re-read untilits pages are worn so as to
be unintelligible to all eyes but his own,
that are black and piercing when he
raises them from his Bible to give a
stranger an unweleome stare. His locks
are white with age, and his flowing gray
beard reminds one of the old patriarehs.
BE doubtless owes his good health to his
sisters care aud anxious watchfulness,
which has extended through an uninter-
rup. ed period of more than half Q CEN
tury, verifying the truth that facts are,
strang er than fiction" rozia