The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1885-03-11
SAVED FROM DISSECTION.
STRANGE EXPERIENCE OF A MAMIE
HX.SoLDIHR.
He Hear the Funeral Service l1eid
Over His Apparently Dead Body
-SounL hv q Vuar as...ea

One OF the many good Qeeos Oh 0Ats.
Sarah Sampson of Bath, to whom Com
gress is asked to give q pension, was the
nursing back to life of q soldier boy,
who now is a prominent business man IN
q Maine city, a man we'll known politically
and socially throughout the State, and q
f~avorite everywhere. This gentleman
has had an experience through which
few men have passed. He literally has
attended his own funeral. BE told me
the following remarkable story upon the
condition that I would withhold his
name:
"When the war broke out" said he,
IT was a puny boy of seventeen years,
one of tho sickly kind not worth their
feed. lived in Waterville, and enlisted
with the famous Waterville college COM
pany. I was 80 inferior a fellow phYsi-
cally that they set out not to take me,
but I was bound to 60. and eleven others
said they would go if I went and would
stay at home if I did not go. So l went
to the front with the third Maine regi-
ment OF infantry, and November, 1851,
found me in Camp Howard, Alexandra,
Va. The camp was named for General
o. O. Howard, who commanded the
regiment.
"You can Judge of what kind OF q
youngster I was from the fact that at the
first battle of Bull Run the first licuten-
ant of my company loaded my gun for
me.
.sWell, one day while we were in camp
at Alexandria we were ordered out to
Fairfax court house on a short expedi-
ton and I took cold. I aggravated it
by living on the damp ground after my
return, and the next thing l was stricken
with diphtheria. Some of my churns
had me removed to the hospital tent and
! told tho officers that I must have all
done for me that care and money could
do.
"They were very good. to me, but ]
grew worse. A great sac formed on my
throat. 1t grew so large that l could see
it as I lay in my cot, and 1t protruded
from under my chin. l became speech
less, and remained in a sort OF stupor.
could hear aud was dimly cognizant OF
what was going on around me. My face
at last. swelled so that I could not use
nv eyes, and was practically blind. The
surgeons, DR.. Mcclure, of Bangor, and
DR.. Hildreth, of Gardiner, told me ]
must die. I took q ring off my finger
and told my comrades to send it home
to my mother. I sent o dying message:
to her, and awaited death. I was recon-
ciled, and in my semi.unconscious state,
quite comfortable. I suffered no pain.
MY limbs grew cold and I sunk deeper
into the stupor. l heard them say I was
dying. had fingered along until it was,
new in January, 1852. DR.. Mcclure.
took hold of my wrist one day, threwit
down after trying to feel my pulse, aud
I heard him say: The boy is dead; his
pulse has stopped. Take him out
~ could not make q sign or q noise,
but I had sense enough remaining to.
think of my jack.knife. thought they
would wrap me up in my blanket and
bury me, and it popped into my hesd
that I might dig my way out with my
iack.knife, although how l was to do IT,
not being able to move q muscle, l can't
tell you.
my friends gathered around me and !
heard their expressions of grief. The
time was set for my funeral. The COM
pany was drawn up aud the chaplain, the
Rev. Mr.. Leonard, who preached in Ban
cor, before and after the war, prayed and
made brief remarks. The ceremony was
not enjoyed by me, but ny mind was so
much dulled that I did not fully realize
the danger of my situation.
''They took me into the dead-house
and laid me down. Soon the doctors
came around and took out their knives.
knew what that meant. They were
going to dissect me before I was buried;
in order to find out something aboutthat
enormous sac on my throat. had to,
silently face the prospect of being carved
alive.
"sDoctor, I guess you had better
operate said Surgeon Hildreth to Sur
geon Mcclure.
"Dr. Mcclure bent over me, lancet in
hand. I made q desperate effort to-
move, to speak, to let them know by
some sign that I was yet alive, but all
nv horror and despair could not even
make q nerve twitch. DR.. Mcclure
thrust his lancet into the soc at my
throat. A stream of foul matter rushed
! out. The skin on my face relaxed, and
as he bent over me he saw my eyes open
and saw me wink. The thought that l
was alive thrilled me to the marrow. u
saw his face grow pale and heard him
confer with the other doctor. They car
ried me back to the hospital tent. 1met
DR.. Mcclure many times afterwards, and
he told me that he never in his life re-
ceived such q start as he did when my
eyes opened that time.
Mrs. Sampson was the wife OF the
lieutentant.colo of our regiment. She
toon a kind interest in me, and her
nursing saved my life. She watched
over me and fused with me like q
mother. l was only one of her charges.
The other invallds, as we'll asI received
her attention, and I tell you she
seemed like an angel to all OF US.
~ was a long time rallying. Weeks
passed before l could speak. They took
me out on the field to see a brigade drill
one day. The movements excited me so
that 1 felt something give way. in my
throat, and I yelled. 1t startled those
about me. 1t seemed like q voice from
the tombs, they said. I could make only
one sound, and l kept that agoing till it
made the others in the hospital almost
crazy-I was so tickled to think I could
speak, you see. I had to begin anew
and learn to talk over again. was
weak for a year, but made a complete re-
covery. 1t did me good. have been
more robust and healthy every way. l.
have not had any kind of a humor
since. I have outlived nearly all the
boys who were my chums and took such
good care of me. Major Small, of Oak
land. and Mrs. Sampson arc about the
only survivors of the participants in the
scenes 1 have tried to describe to you.
DR.. Mcclure, DR.. Hildreth and the Rev.
Mr.. Leonard are dead. Every time MIR.
Leonard saw me between the close OF the
war and his death the tears came to his
eyes and he spoke of having preached my
funeral sermon. Mrs. Sampson wrote
me a letter just after I was married, and
told me to tell my wife that she wouldn't
have had me but for her, 1 guess that's
o.n-Luiston LAe.) Times.
Douglass Lincoln Story.