The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1883-05-24
A MODERN SAMPSON.
The Strong BInn of Washington County,
N, Y.--NNhn6 He Could DO.

N, Y.-Whn6 He Could DO
In Troy paper recently appeared an |
article giving short history Of the life
and doings of Abner McIlrath, of Euclid,
Ohio, and in that article he was repre-
sented rs the strongest man in America
while living, with the exception of that
famous strong man of northern New
York, Joseph Call. The greatest feat
Of strength claimed for McIlrath was the
lifting of an iron shaft which weighed
1,700 pounds, and it is also stated that he
lifted it by 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
Abncr McIlrath was mig ghty man. But
l propose to give short sketch of tho
life of man who WIS but little known
outside Of the village of Granville Cor
hers in Washington County, where he
was born and spent the most of long
life. 1t is known Of him, and can be
proved, that he has performed feats of
strength unsurpassed by any man that
has lived in ancient or modern times,
excepting, of course, the Biblical Samp.
son.
His name is or was Stearn Carpenter;
Being naturally Of a very quiet, peace
able disposition and member Of the
society Of Friends, he never did anything
for display to attract attention, but tho
feats 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 Of any kind.
One of his greatest fcats was lifting
box filled with iron which weighed | 900
pounds, which is equal to lifting $500
pounds i'll harness. He lifted it with
case with his hands by grasping ropo
on chain which was bound around the
box to secure it. He did not know the
weight Of the box of iron at the time,
and was aftcrward heard to say that had
he known it weighed SO near ton he
would have put on tho other hundred
pounds and lifted the whole. At another
time he lifted a cannon that weighed
400 pounds and shouldcred it. At
C0mStocks Landing, on the Champlain
Canal, near Whitehall, one day while
waiting for Il load Of merchandise, he
lifted 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,
II Stcarn happened to he around, would
ask him to guess the weight Of hog
just killed. If it happened to be q big
one of 400 OF 500 pounds, he would stoop
down and twist his fiugers into the
'TIStlcs, and III that manner lift the
carcass clear from the ground and guess
on its weight. He performed one Of the
greatest feats OF strength on record after
he had reached the age of Sevcnty-tive
Years. He lifted two 24-foot iron rails
by Gra5piDg one i'll 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
haying-time he was going from the field
with his men to the house for dinner.
They were walking along the road to-
3cther, when one Of his men, for mis-
chief, came up behind him and by II
skillful trip threw Carpenter down. He
gathered himself up and said nothing
about 1t. He walked to the house, and
after dinner, on returning to the fell
with his men, they came along to the
place where the man gave him the fall.
He suddenly turned upon the man,
and grnspinG him by the shoulder and
the seat of the trousers, lifted him and
hurled him over q seven rail fence, by
the side of which they happened to be
walking. The man came down in the
meadow rod or more from tho fence,
considerably shaken up but not badly
hart. Mr. Carpenter was not gigantic
man in size. He WAS about six feet tall,
and appeared much less than that owing
to his massive build. There was no
allpcriluous flesh upon him, but the
muscles of his arms, shoulder and neck
seemed to be piled upon him, so great
was their size. This gave him stoop-
ing appearance. In crowd, a casual
observer would not be liable to pick him
out for me of the strongest men that
ever lived. His strength would equal if
not s,wpass that of the great Roman
gladiator Milo. Mr.. Carpenter is living
at tho present time ut Granville Corners,
Washington County, n. Y, his old
home, or was living there the last T
heard of him. He must be over eighty
years Of age.