Paralyzed Bridegroom: January 15, 1888

Paralyzed Bridegroom: January 15, 1888

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Newspaper stories from the nineteenth century United States shed light on the attitudes and beliefs of the times. This short newspaper tale illustrates superstition surrounding death-bed promises. And ghosts. (Victorians loved ghost stories. One prime example: Dickens’s A Christmas Carol.)

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The Sunday Leader of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (per dispatch from Bethel, Ky [Kentucky]), on January 15, 1888:

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Kristin Holt | Paralized Bridegroom: January 15, 1888. Part 1 of newspaper article from The Sunday Leader of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania on January 15, 1888.

The Sunday Leader of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, January 15, 1888. Part 1.

Kristin Holt | Paralized Bridegroom: January 15, 1888. Part 2 of newspaper article from The Sunday Leader of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania on January 15, 1888.

The Sunday Leader of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, January 15, 1888. Part 2.

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A Cautionary Tale

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Viewing this cautionary tale through a twenty-first century makes the connection between paralysis and the ring laughable. Modern science suggests no stronger connection than stressing over a broken promise, which could’ve caused the man’s blood pressure to spike. We know excessively high blood pressure leads to strokes.

But viewed through the eyes of a person born in the mid-1800s, born and bred in northern Kentucky, this cautionary tale meant far more.

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Examples of Kentucky Superstitions:

The loss of a wedding ring is thought a prediction of a calamity.

To lose a wedding ring within the first month of marriage augurs great misfortune.

~ Kentucky Superstitions, published 1920

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Other Newspaper Articles:

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Kristin Holt | Victorian Courtship Advice (1883)

Kristin Holt | This Day in History (May 16). Related to Paralyzed Bridegroom: January 15, 1888.

Kristin Holt | Modern Lovers Have New Ways (1902)

Kristin Holt | Nineteenth Century Problems. Related to Paralyzed Bridegroom: January 15, 1888.

Kristin Holt | How to Attract Men: April 6, 1894. Related to Paralyzed Bridegroom: January 15, 1888.

Kristin Holt | Old West Shootout with a Rattlesnake. Related to Paralyzed Bridegroom: January 15, 1888.

Kristin Holt | Courting in Public Parks: May 28, 1893

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Other Related Articles:

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Kristin Holt | Victorian Witches

Speaking of Victorian-American superstitions…

Kristin Holt | Victorian Mourning Etiquette. Related to Paralyzed Bridegroom: January 15, 1888.

Kristin Holt | Victorian American Romance and Breach of Promise. Related to Paralyzed Bridegroom: January 15, 1888.

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Updated February 2021
Copyright © 2017 Kristin Holt LC