Mexico weekly ledger., 1877-01-11
A Vain Attempt to Perform a Miracle
, i'm Iowa.

A horrible story is related by the Ida
County Qa.) Pioneer of an affair which
occurred at the appropriately named
village of Hell's Bend, in that county.
About the middle of November one Mr..
Heycock was taken down with typhoid
fever, and DR.. Rice, of Smithland, was
summoned to render medical aid. The
patient was getting along as well as
could be expected under the circum-
stances-the patient being quite low
before medical aid was received. One
day a S~piritualist, residing in that vicin-
ity, by the name of Frank Biglow, call
ed at the house of Mr.. Heycock, won
the confidence of the family, and boldly
asserted that he could perfect a rapid
cure upon Mr.. Heycock through the
medium of ~Spiritualism, providing they
would let him have his own way. After
a short time of consideration, Mrs.
Heycock informed Biglow that they
were at his mercy. Biglow threw out
all the medicine prepared by DR.. Rice,
and sent the Doctor word not to make
another visit. From this time no med
icine was administered save Big
lows spiritual aid. He commenced
talking and grooming to the patient,
rubbing his brow, pulling his
beard, etc. Mr.. Heycock final
ly sank into a kind of stupor,
and seemingly suffered less pain,
which led the wife and Biglow to the
belief that he was recovering. Visitors
were finally forbid coming. In the
course of a day or two a few of the citi-
zens again went to the house and asked
admission, which was granted. There,
in bed, lay the dead body Of Mr.. Hey
cock, the ~eye-sockets already turning
black. One of the visitors exclaimed:
she is dead" Biglow said: "He is
not dead, but sleepeth,'' at the same
time endeavoring to blow out the light.
The neighbors then suggested that the
body be laid out for burial. Biglow OBJ
jected and said: 'If my brother be
dead, [ can raise him to life again." and
rising upon his feet, stretching out his
arms over the corpse, and lifting his
eyes towards Heaven, he shouted at the
top of his voice: "Come forth, my dear
brother! Grave! give back thy deadi"
He then kneeled over the dead body,
saying: "Open thy eyes, my dear broth
err" at the same time pushing the eye
lids open with his thumb, (tLinking no
one saw him), and, with a feeling of
satisfaction, he turned to the ~bystanders
and yelled, ''Praise the Lord" But, to
his surprise, the ''brother'' did rise
worth a cent. The citizens again
wanted possession of the body for
interment, but the spiritual doctor stub
bornly refused, saying, 81 can raise
thy brother at the end of the third day"
Heavy blankets were then piled upon
the corpse by Biglow, to retain the ami
NAL heat. The doors were locked and
no lights were used for three days, but
what else transpired is not known. At
the end of the third day Mrs. Heycock
sent word to a few of the neighbors to
come and bury the body. They came,
and among them were the most stout
and hardy men of the neighborhood,
but they became faint and sickened up
on entering the room on account of the
uncomfortable stencil resulting from the
decomposition of the body. They were
compelled to bring ice from the river,
which they placed around the corpse to
freeze it, before they could range it
in the coffin. Mr.. Heycock was about
45 years of age, and was recently from
Wisconsin. He was by faith an Ad-
v~entist, and was highly respected by:
all his acquaintances. The whole,
neighborhood is filed with great indig-
nation over the affair.
-Rproa (~Io11oOo KoptroEv hoe ,,oro