Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1891-08-14
TWO FEET IN THE GRAVE
REMARKABLE STORY OF THE LIFE
OF PARKEs, OF ST. LOUIS.

AAAoS Aoo -oSs FAX LAG WI OAo
Other, Then an Arm-As Often as He
Married q Wife She Was Killed-Now
All His Relatives Are Dead.
Just as day was dawning William F.
Parkes, who is nearly seventy years old, or
that portion of him which s':1 lives, was
found by Henry Murphy, a ave digger,
lying unconscious upon ParKes' own grave
in a remote part of Calvary cemetery.
With the help of a physician he was re-
vived after an hours hard work.
The story of Mr.. Parkes' life and his
queer mania is indeed a remarkable and in
teresting one. Half Of him is dead and
buried, but in the rosewood coffin which he
purchased himself there is still room
enough for the rest of him when life passes
away.
Mr.. Parkes was born in a suburb of De-
troit a little less than seventy years ago.
His father was we'll to do.
When but twenty years old he married
Bessie Woodruff, whom he had known
since infancy. This was but the COM
mencement of his matrimonial career.
Mr.. Parkes lost his first wife a year after
he married her, and shortly after her death
he met with his first accident. While rid
ing a half broken colt one day the horse
suddenly SHE'D and threw him to the
ground, breaking his left leg. The surgeon
who was called to attend him set the leg
wrong, and it was necessary to break it
again. Thu operation was not a success,
and blood poisoning set in.
After a lengthy consultation the phYsi-
clans decided to cut the leg entirely off.
The doctors wanted to take the pieces of
the leg to dissect, but young Parkes insist
ed that they should be buried. After much
arguing his wish was gratified, his leg be-
ing buried in a neighboring cemetery.
When Parkes finally recovered he mar
ried his dead wife's sister. who had nursed
him during his long illness. Mr.. Parkes
decided to &c to Saratoga Springs for his
health and take his young bride with him.
lie was never to reach the place.
When half way to his destination the
sleeping car that carried him and his wife
jumped the track, and a disastrous wreck
occurred. MI. Parkes' remaining leg was
crushed and mangled, and he was taken
from the wreck unconscious. Clasped
tightly in his arms was his young bride,
but she was dead.
Young Parkes' father was hastily noti-
fed, and he insisted that his son should be
brought home.
For many long hours the best surgeons
that could be procured labored to save his
remaining leg. At the end they were COM
PEELED to amputate the leg close to the
body. The grave was opened and the leg
buried with the other, leaving Mr.. Parkes
a man without legs.
He was now almost entirely helpless, and
for a year he remained in his fathers
house, almost without Il hope and longing
for death. Summer came and a unique
wheel chair was made for Mr.. Parkes, and
he propelled himself for short distances
about the neighborhood.
Among the boarders at an adjoining
farm was Miss Bessie White. She was a
consumptive n had but one arm, that
member having been crushed by a fall.
Her father was wealthy ard she had con-
siderable money in her OWE right. Young
Parkes met her. They bosh were unfortu~
nate and their feelings We're akin. Three
village parson.
two years-the brightest of his life-he
lived with his wife in Detroit. Then her
fatal disease asserted itself, and after a lin
gering illness of three months she died.
She left him $4,000 and a little baby girl.
Parkes went back to his fathers house
sad and entirely detected. He hired a
nurse for his baby and determined to de-
vote the remainder of his life to her well
fare.
The nurse, a widow named Mrs. Maria
Lawler, was still young and handsome.
Parkes fell in love with her and soon asked
her to become his wife. She refused, but
for six months h fought his suit with such
persistence that he conquered, and they
were married by a Catholic priest, Mrs.
Lawler having been brought up in that de-
nomination.
Mr.. Parkes bought a neat little cottage
near his fathers farm, and in it he in
stalled his wife and child. A few months
afterward his father became very i'll, and
young Parkes remained constantly beside
his bed.
One night when he wa watching his dy-
ing father, a servant whom he had hired
came home to his cottage intoxicated, up
set a kerosene lamp in his room and set the
house afire. Mrs. Parkes and the baby
were sleeping soundly, and before assist
ance arrived they were both smothered to
death. just as the sad news was brought
to Mr.. Parkes, who sat at his fathers bed
side, his aged parent raised himself, uttered
q few incoherent words, and fell back
dead.
Parkes' father and his wife and child
were buried on the same day. It was a sad
day for Parkes.
After the graves had been covered and
the last sad words spoken Parkes was
placed in a carriage to be taken to a now
utterly cherries home. As the carriage
was crossing some railroad tracks an en-
CINE came sc~reeching along, the horses be-
came mad with fright, and despite the ef-
forts of the driver they dashed down the
road at headlong speed. Parkes was with
in utterly helpless. Suddenly the carriage
collided with a tree, smashing the vehicle,
instantly killing the driver and throwing
Parkes out, breaking his left arm in two
places and crushing it. il.
He was carried home unconscious, and
when he wa himself again the doctors had
amputated the arm close to the shoulder.
It was buried with the other portions of
Mr.. Parkes.
For many years he remained in his
mothers house, passing the time the best
he could. His mother died, and shortly
afterward he sold the farm and came to
st. Louis. He bought the little cottage he
now owns and determined to pass the re-