The Tupelo journal., 1907-04-26
RETURNS TO HOME TOWN AFTER
MYSTERIOUS ABSENCE OF
2S YEARS.
KNOWS NOTHING OF PERIOD
Finds Village of His Boyhood by the
Merest Accident Only to Learn OF
Many Changes and Wife
Again Married.

Charlottesville, Ind.-Although 1t
has been almost a year since the APP
pearance of DR.. Byron Mahorney, the
modern Rip Van Wrinkle who dropped
into the little town of Ladoga, ten
miles south of here, as n arisen
from the dead, nothing has been
brought to light to clear the strange
mystery. The mind of this man,
mourned as dead for % years, is prac-
tically the same as the day when he
returned to the village of his boy
hood.
The "sleep" of this real-life Rip en-
braces the period between 1878 and
March 10, 1906. Although 81 years of
age, this man has actually lived" so
far as he is concerned, 40 more than
a young man. In other words, this re-
markable human being has enjoyed
life, to the best of his knowledge, but
30 years in his entire life. 1t was not
until 1906 that he began to live again.
So far as his mind is concerned, his
first death occurred in the fatal year
of 1878.
With the sweet memories of his
young married life still fresh in his
mind, he awoke from his long trance,
March 10, 1906, and asked to see his
baby boy, who had grown into a
hood. He was bewildered when told
that his child was nc longer a baby,
but was a full grown man, 81 years
old, and married. More pathetic yet
was the situation when he asked to
see his parents. long since dead. I'm
like the tabled Rip Van Wrinkle, how
ever, Dr.. Byron Mahorney did not put
in an appearance tattered, unkempt
and in rags, but instead, he was well
dressed, clearly shaver and bore all
the marks of a polished, prosperous
business man. He also had a large
amount of money in his possession.
And for all of this he could not tell
where he had last been, where he had
obtained the money, clothes and rail
way ticket. Everything for % years
was as yesterday to him.
In 1878 DR.. Mahorney was practieing
medicine in the little town of Cerro
Gordo, III. He was married and had
a little on, three years old. Believ-
ing that there were better prospects in
the west, he decided to visit his
brother Perry, at Union Center, Kan,
with the idea of locating in that vi
cinity if the outlook was good. After
kissing his wife and baby farewell he
boarded a train which was to carry
him to 20 years of Inconsistencies.
The train was wrecked and among
his injuries was a deep cut on the
head.
After getting his wounds dressed he
went out to Kansas, where he met his
brother. In spite of his injuries he
appeared to be all right, but was
warned that he should be careful of
the wound on the side of his head. He
then went to another point and wrote
a letter to another brother, DR.. j. c.
Mahorney, back in Ladoga, that he
had found a suitable place to settle.
That was the last that any of his rela-
tives heard of him for % years. 1t
was as if he had been swallowed up
by lu6 GdIIl, dS uO ClSW COulu UO
found as to his whereabouts.
John Mahorney, father of the doc
tor, spent a small fortune in the search
of his son, but to no avail. The ia
Their died in 1894, and the mother in
February, 1905. Both hoped and
prayed until the last for their lost
sons return. About a year before the
death of the mother, she said she had
heard her son crying to get into the