It's amazing what you can find on the internet. It took a little digging, but look what I found:
(you'll need to read my last post to fully appreciate this)
That article was printed in August of 1938, which is actually 10-20 years more recent than I was expecting.
I also found a gem of an article from 1933 which related that a 15 year old local student was "suffering from extensive buckshot wounds" inflicted when our curmudgeonly neighbor "fired a shotgun at a group of boys in his melon patch." Mr. Frankenfield didn't skimp on retaliation for raiding his garden. "Twenty leaden pellets were removed from the boy's face and more than 20 more are still buried in his head, neck and arm, too deep, according to physicians, for removal....Physicians said he would recover unless complications arise."
Finding these articles made my day for several reasons. Beyond the fact that the first article basically confirms the oral history as passed on by our octogenarian farmer, I'm also quite tickled to confirm the identity of our bachelor neighbor. I smiled as soon as I read the name 'James Frankenfield'. I was hoping it was him. Although the Frankenfield name hasn't come up here at the blog in the past, Jim Frankenfield will play a starring role in my next house history post....
