The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1883-03-16
miscellaneous.
!! Modern Sampson.

A letter TO the Troy, n. Y, T9mes, saws:
In the Troy Times recently appeared an ar
ticlc giving II short history of the life and do
ings Of Ahner Mcllraih Of Euclid Ohio, and
in that article he was repres, nted as the
strongest man in America while living, with
the exception Of that famous strong man of
northern New York, Joseph Call The great.
est feat OF strength claimed for Mcllrath was
the lifting ofan iron shaft which weighed
700 pounds, and it is also stated that he
lifted it hy grasping it with his hands, which,
it is claimed, would be equal to lifting twice
That weight in harness 1t would be useless
to deny The fact that Abner McIrath was a
mighty man. But propose to give short
sketch Of the life ola man who was but little
known outside of the village of Granville
Corners in, Washington county, where lie
WAS born aud spent the most of long life,
1t is known of him. and can be proved, that
he has performed icats of strength unsurpass-
ed by any man that has lived in ancient or
modern times. excepting of course, the Bibli.
cal Sampson His name is or was Stcarn
Carpenter, his occupation was that of Il
farmer Being naturally of Il very Quiet,
peaceagle disposition and IL member Of the
society of Friends, he never did ANYTHING for
display TO attract attention, but the f ats of
strength that he performed were done more
to satisfy himself and to see how much he
could lift than for anything else. All of his
lifting was done by main strength, without
harness ofany kind. One of the greatest
tcals was lifting box filled with iron which
weighed 800 pounds, which is equal to lift
ing $500 pounds in harness. He lifted it
with ease with his hands by graspng Il rope
or chain Which was bound around the box
to secure it. lie did not know the weight OF
the box of iron nj the time, and was after.
wards heard TO say that had he known it
weighed SO near II ton he would have put ON
the other hundred pounds and lifted the
whole At another time he lifted cannon
that weighed 400 pounds and shouldyred il.
At Comstocks Landing, on the Champlain
Canal, near Whitehall, one day while wait.
ing for load of merchandise he lifted a
barrel of white lead with ease The writer
OF this article was an eye witness TO this feat,
besides number of others His neighbors
when killing hogs, if Stcarns happened to be
around would ask him to guess the weight
of Il hog just killed. Ifit happened to be a
big one weighing 400 or 800 pounds he would
stoop down and twist his fingers into the bris-
ties, and in this way would lift the carcass
clear from the ground and guess on its
weight. lie performed one of the greatest
feats of strength on record afterEe had reach
ed the age of sevcnty-livc years He lifted
two twenty. fourioet rails by grasping one in
each hand, and walked off with them. The
rails were resting on wooden horses, SO
he did not stoop down to lift them One
day in hayng time he was going from the
field with his men to the house to dinner
They were walking along the road together,
when one of his men, for mischief, came up
behind him and by skilful trip threw Car
penter down. He gathered himself up and
said nothing about it. He walked to the
house, and after dinner, when returning to
the field with his men, they came along to
the place where the man gave him the fall
He suddenly turned upon the man, and
grasping him by the shoulder and the seat of
his rowsers, lifted him and hurled him high
in the air above him and over n seven rail
fence, Y the side of which they happened to
he walking The man came down in a mea-
dow Il rod or more from the fence consdera-
bly, shaken up but not badly hurt Mr. Car
pentcr was not u gigantic man in size He
was about six feet tall and appeared much
less than that, owing to his massive build
There was no supertluous flesh upon him, but
the muscles of his arms, shoulders and neck
seemed to he piled upon him, so great was
their size This gave him a STOPPING appear
ance. In crowd n casual observer would not
be likely to pick him out for one of the
strongest men that ever lived. His strength
would equal if not surpass that of the great
Roman gladiator Milo Mr. Carpenter is liv-
ing at the present time Mt Granville Corners
Washington county, N. Y, his old home, OF
was living the last time | heard of him, He
must he over eighty wears of age