The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1894-02-13
RoMANcE IN REAL LIFE.
Shot By u Suitor When q Girl and
Carried the Bullet i'm Her Head
Until She Died.

Carried the Bullet i'm Her Head
Until She Died.
BRUNSWICK, Ga, February ga
telegram has been received here an
nouncing n death at Orange, n. j.,
of Mrs. Thomas Smales, of this city.
This announcement, which will cause
great and genuine regret in this COM
munity, recalls a life story which reads
stranger than fiction.
Mrs. Smales was shot In the head
in early life and carried the bullet in
her skull to her deathbed. Her life
was %eventful, and marked by a deter
mination and unfaltering endeavor
that made her in many respects an ex-
ceptional character.
She was Miss Frances Dayton, of
Virginia. and she boosted she was one
OF the "F. +. VS." Her parents were
wealthy. When only five years old
her mother died and u few years later
her father married again. The step
mother did not take kindly to the
child, and after q short time Frances
was sent North to be educated at
The Gunnery," then, as now, a cele-
brated school in Washington, Conn.
Here she grew to be a %radiantly beauti-
full girl.
Admirers were not wanting, and
among them was Thomas Smales.
Vows were exchanged, and the young
folks vowed to be faithful until death.
One'Of Frances ardent admirers was a
young Southern lad. She repulsed
him over and over again, but he wasn't
discouraged.
He invited her out for O walk one
afternoon, and when they reached q
secluded spot he one more asked her
to become his wife. She again re-
jected his suit.
If you will not accept me you shall
die" he cried. mo other man shall
call you BRIDE"
He drew a revolver. The young
girl screamed and started to flee, but
he fired. She fell to the ground. The
young mans desperation turned to
fright, and he brought aid. The bullet
had struck Frances just, behind and
above the left ear. All attempts tC
locate and extract it were futile. For
weeks she Law between life and death,
and at last slowly came back to safety
once more. Her left side, however,
remained partly paralyzed. Full oil
pluck, she resolved to finish her course
at the school, n did so, graduating
with high honors.
Then she went to a O visit to Mrs
Amelia c. Bird, of Orange, N. j., q
lifelong friend. While there she de.
termined to study medicine in order tc
treat herself. The bullet in her head
still gave her great trouble. Hel
physicians discouraged her, but she in
sisted. Then the thought occurred tt
her that perhaps the electrical spark.
hat telegraph operators constantly
receive might be utilized as curative
agents. She said to her doctor: 81
| work for q year in q telegraph Office
,uill ~, fhn- l $500
medicine successfully 2" The reply
was YES" Accordingly she entered
the Western Union Office in Orange
and worked at the key for u year
She then matriculated at the Woman.
Medical College Of the New York In
Urinary, and took the full course
graduating with honors in 1876. Dur
ing her examinations she broke dowI
y physically and some of them she passed
h lough while lying in her bed.
Again this plucky woman deter
mined to go still onward. She wen
to Berlin, Germany, where she passed
u graduation examination, and ther
went to London, England, to practice
All this time her early love hat
been true to her. His family moved
to Australia, but he kept up a constant
correspondence with her. At las
with a small capital he returned t.
the United States and established
himself in the photograph business il
Brunswick, Georgia. Here he pros
pered so that in Il few years he was il
a position to claim his bride. A loving
mess ge crossed the sea, the young
doctor sailed for this country, and they
were married in 1882.
Taking up life in Brunswick, Mrs
Smales threw herself heart and sou
into charitable work. 1t was through
her efforts that the first hospital was
built here and the first training school
for nurses established in all the South
About II year ago her health failed and
she went North to board with her ole
friend, Mrs. Bird. She failed steadil,
and last week was taken with con
vulsions. The old bullet in her heat
still troubled her, and it is supposed
that this aggravated her .paralytit
symptoms and caused heart failure
She died suddenly last Saturday after
noon. Her husband reached her bed.
side some time before the end.
All her lifelong she had n horror O
being buried alive, and when she died
her husband refused to believe tina
she was dead, and insisted that she
in a trance.
$50 .S&--
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