I remember working as kid, baling hay for this man, who was known as "Penny", because his likeness to Lincoln on a penny. I don't remember what brought the topic up, but I do remember around that day, that his friend and neighbor had a son that was around 45 and dying of cancer. So that may have been what he was thinking of. He told me this story around 1965 and this incident would have happened around 1910. Penny, was one of the younger boys of his family and one of his older brothers,usually did the hog killing at butchering time. Penny was maybe around 10yrs. old and just begged to shoot the hog this time. Of course it was with the old muzzleloader that was known as the hog rifle on this farm as well as many other farms. His older brother told him how to hold the sights between the hogs eyes and fire. Poor Penny was all excited and in the pen where they killed the hog, the hog wasn't ready to stand still to be shot. Finally, Penny thought he had the shot and took it. Then it goes beyond sad. The bullet struck the hog's skull at an angle and the ball ricochet and killed the old brother that was giving him the hog killing lesson. I remember him telling that story as if it was yesterday. Sure there are many things that 20/20 hind sight would have changed to have had a different outcome, but it was too late for Penny and the grief he carried all his life.
I have heard many farmers say in this area, how farming was always dangerous work in the old days around the equip. of the day, but how it got slowly safer when the killing of the big animals like hogs and beef were taken to town to be butchered and when they finally were able to get the breeding bulls off of the farm.
