 Fayette County IAGenWeb |
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JOHN THORPE
Very
Large Rock
John Thorpe was born August 26, 1874 and
died November 29, 1903. He attended the "Frog Hollow School"
which was located just across the road from the Thorpe home.
John was six feel tall and weighed more
than two hundred pounds. One day, in the presence of a neighbor,
Lyman Tompkins, he lifted a large rock. no other man could lift
it, but several men all working together lifted it.
John told his shepherd dog to go and
bring the cows home. The dog would start and stop and start and
stop until John twisted his ear. The dog immediately bit John's
hand and he had to choke the dog with his knee to make him let
go. The dog ran away and didn't get the cows.
The next day after having bitten
John the dog followed Lydia, who had gone on horseback to Lima,
back to the Thorpe home. He wanted John to pet him, but John
told him to go away because he wouldn't work for him, he
wouldn't pet him. The dog followed John's mother to the house,
but wouldn't eat the food she gave him. He then ran away and was
never found. |
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On Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 1903,
John married Belle Martin. Their plan was to live on the farm in
Frog Hollow.
On November 27, 1903, the
next day after his marriage, John became ill with
Hydrophobia. his dog had rabies and they didn't realize it.
John was very ill with the terrible
disease, hydrophobia. The sight of water would cause him to go
into a convulsion and a black fluid would come from his mouth.
They tore up and used thirteen bed sheets to catch the fluid.
John was attended by three doctors, Dr.
Bartlett from West Union, who was a close friend of John; Dr.
McLean from Fayette and Dr. Whitmore. His wife's sister, Maude
Bernice Martin, was his nurse.
On Saturday, November 28, 1903, John told
them he knew he would die and would not see the sun set on
Sunday evening. He told them all, but was really talking to
Frank Oelberg, a neighbor, to put the large rock on the foot of
his grave.
Because John was so large and strong,
they were not able to manage him during the last few hours. The
three doctors decided to give him chloroform. He died quietly,
but was conscious when they started to give him chloroform on
Sunday afternoon.
Frank Oelberg, Lyman Tomkins and others very carefully placed the large stone, which he had lifted to prove his strength, at the foot of his grave in the Lima Cemetery. The rock measures seventy eight inches in circumference. |
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