Father Miraculously Recovered After Being Run Over by Wagon

“In the spring of 1826, father and I started back to Ohio to get the rest of the family. We had both been sick with the chills and fever, and were very weak. We hired a man to go with us and drive the team, but he proved to be a very lazy, shiftless fellow. One day, while traveling through a piece of woods, a swarm of yellow-jackets attacked the horses, and they started to run at full speed. Father, in his fright, jumped out of the wagon, but his foot caught in the harness, and he was thrown headlong to the ground. The wagon ran over both his legs. I ran to the hind end of the wagon and saw him laying on the ground in the road. I supposed he was dead. One of the stakes in the hind holster flew out and locked the wheel, which checked the speed of the horses, and I succeeded in stopping them. I ran back to where father was, but he was gone. I looked into the thicket and saw him emerging, in a state of derangement, not knowing what had happened. I helped him into the wagon, and we drove on. The next morning, father having recovered from his derangement, discarded the stupid teamster, and we continued our journey.”

— Lewis Barney, Autobiography