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Stephen J.Lauer was born in Baltimore on
27 January 1868, son of Simon and Christiana Wurz
Lauer. In 1890
he married Mary Susanna MacCubbin.
This interesting family legend was told by his son Stephen:
His father lost a leg in an accident in Pennsylvania
while
working in a factory. Stephen's leg had been
caught in
machinery. Since he was the only one who
knew how to operate this piece
of equipment, he had to instruct his coworkers
while his leg was being
chewed in the teeth of metal!
Once freed, he was placed in a horse-drawn wagon
to be taken to
York the closest hospital. On the way, Stephen
saw a
farmhouse where he instructed the driver to
stop. He knew he would bleed to death
before arriving in York. Taking charge once
again, he
requested gunpowder from the farmer, put it
on his wound cauterizing
his injured leg. Even though he lost the leg,
he saved his life! When Mary
Susanna came to visit, he told her to pack their
things and get the children
ready -- they were going home to Baltimore.
added to database 25 November 2001