Lightning Tears the Lightner Home in Seven Paths — and Cures Mary's Deadly Sickness (1843)

“In the summer of 1843, we were living in Pontoosuc. I was taken very ill with inflammation of the bowels. I was so swollen and inflamed that I could not bear to have anyone touch me, and for two weeks I had to be turned in bed by the sheets. On the 6th of June, about four o'clock in the afternoon, a terrible storm came up. My husband, Adam Lightner, was in the house. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck our two-story home. It seemed to tear the house to pieces. It ran from the roof to the ground in seven different places. It ripped out a window and the rain poured in in torrents. I called for Mr. Lightner, who had gone into the next room; not getting any answer, I arose and went through the hall, to find him on the floor as rigid as a corpse. I took a small bucket and would dip up the water and pour it over him as fast as I could, but it did not do him any good. Soon the doctor and two or three of the neighbors came in. They had seen the lightning strike the house and as they could see no one moving, they concluded that we were all killed, but when they saw me they were frightened. The doctor got a quilt and wrapped it around me and carried me to a neighbor's. It was nine o'clock that night before my husband regained the use of his limbs. As for me, I who had been turned over in bed for two weeks by the sheets (for I was so swollen and inflamed in my bowels, I could not bear to have them handle me) was entirely cured, and dressed myself and went about my duties.”

— Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner, Autobiography