“From the Archives” — “A Singular Incident”

Proof that truth IS stranger than fiction! From The Alexandria Gazette, July 23, 1866: “A Singular Incident.” A young woman married at Saint Mary’s Church noon Wednesday, found her husband dead at 3 p.m. the same day! Her companion, when they came to church to report the death, then attended the funeral on Saturday — and returned home to witness her husband’s last breath!

Two deaths? Two widows? Suspicious? The article reads like a story in the old tabloids, but the Gazette was not known to print untrue accounts. The names of the deceased and their widows were not included in the newspaper article, but Saint Mary was a small parish at that time, so certainly everyone knew who they were.