Perished twice in a week

I was pleased to make the acquaintance of Matthew Barker, editor of an Irish historical newsletter, last week when doing my regular stint at the Maine Historical Society. If we are lucky, we will see a lot more of him on our site as time goes on -- I hope to convince him to add his two cents to the mix here. Meanwhile, he passes to us an interesting article he found in an old issue of Portland's bygone newspaper, the Eastern Argus, about a peculiar case of the resurrection of a young Irish girl of Bangor, Maine.

The Irish Girl Who Went to Heaven

We get some singular facts from the Whig, of the case of the Irish girl, at Bangor, who our readers will recollect, being attacked a few weeks since with the cholera and apparently dead -- while her father went for a coffin, revived and told a wonderful experience of heaven -- whither she averred she had been, and of having seen her mother and friends in that happy place, and predicting the death of more friends. Here is the sequel to that touching picture:--

Although at the time of the seeming death of this child it was not supposed that her aunt Lynch was dangerously il, she not having cholera but attacked with dysentery. But she died the next day as stated.

On Sunday afternoon, Mr. Daniel Warren, a very worthy religious man, who has been much among the cholera patients, and feeling perhaps a little moved by curiosity, called to see the little girl, and addressing her cheerfully and told her that she appeared better and would soon be well, and get out in a day or two.

"But I'm going to mother again at four o'cl'k," she quietly and softly said.
"When, to-morrow?"
"No, to-day."

Mr. Warren endeavored to turn her attention to hopeful prospects of recovery; but the little sufferer was fast sinking away -- the death rattle was heard, and she soon ceased to breathe, her pulse stopped, and the fixedness of death was impressed upon her beautiful countenance. She was dead!

Mr. Warren looked at the town clock, in the distance, from the window, for there was no clock in the house, and it was four o'clock.

While pondering upon, to him the singular coincidents in this case, and about half an hour had passed when new signs of life appeared and again the spirit of the sweet girl returned. She asked for water and said she was tired and sunk away into a quiet sleep.

Since then she has been gradually recovering, but her elder sister who watched her so tenderly and who would so willingly have accompanied her to live with her blessed mother in heaven, was the next day taken with the cholera and the following day died and was buried.

...

Such are the simple facts in the case which we leave for the present without comment or attempted explanation.

Source: Eastern Argus, Portland, Maine, October 15, 1849