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My Great-Great-Great Grandparents

These are my Great-great-great grandparents, Sam and Mary Ann. Sam of LookingForSam was named after this gentleman, who was his grandfather. They were farmers in Kentucky. My great-great-great grandfather lost his right hand in a threshing accident. Such accidents were common at the time.

According to an elderly relative, Sam was out working on the farm when he needed to clear the threshing machine. He reached into the machine before it came to a complete stop, and it tore most of his right arm off. He was carried back to the house and the doctor was sent for.

The doctor saw that he was going to have to amputate the remainder of the arm. He advised Sam to take several shots of whisky, as the pain of amputating was going to be unbearable. Sam, a lifelong teetotaler, replied, "I have never had a drink in my life, and I'm not going to start now."

People were much tougher then than now.