The Petrified Man Hoax of Bristol Indiana - 1894
It is said that in most family trees, one will find a scoundrel or horse thief
somewhere in the past. I have found one, but fortunately on the collateral
side of the tree (which means that is someone not my direct ancestor.)
Henry L. Sanger was the adopted son of my great Uncle Marcus Sanger of
Bristol who had no other children. Henry, often called Hank, had operated a
billiard hall at Bristol for several years in the late 1890s, was known as
rather an adventurous sort of fellow, a professional sprinter and had been
known to have a mysterious box in the rear of his place. Although
frequently asked what it contained, no two were ever given the same
answer. Sanger’s son Harry, worked for him as a bookkeeper, but was never
considered as involved with the box. When the “great find” of a petrified
giant body was reported found in the berry patch on the farm of John
Kelsey, between Bristol and Middlebury in 1894, many were suspicious of
the story, and called it a fake.
Taken to a vacant room in the Ullery block in Middlebury, the stone
figure of a man lay upon a bier covered with black velvet and was, it
is said, a magnificent subject for study or even a work of art. It was
examined by a number of physicians, but only one would stake his
professional opinion that it was bogus. Apparently, it could be viewed
for the sum of about $1, and many felt that it was worth it to see this
curiosity.
Once people realized that Sanger was in charge of the stone and
exhibit, many recalled the mysterious box at his billiard hall. They
also remembered that box had been missing for about two months
from the billiard hall. A genuine stone, it was believed by some that it
had been manufactured perhaps in Chicago and buried on the farm to
be discovered as a money-making scheme. This theory was firmed up
by a Mr. Jake Leatherman residing about 1-1/2 miles southeast of
Bristol who revealed that he had been approached a few months
before by certain parties who wished him to enter into an agreement
for the purpose of burying the stone. He emphatically refused to have
anything to do with the scheme and the mysterious box had continued
to remain in the billard hall. Unfortunately, no further news stories
reveal how long the stone was on display, or when it was taken away.
But late in 1895, Sanger reported he was shot at 3 times by a man
unknown. It was said at the time that a good many people in Bristol
had a feeling against Sanger, and he thought it had been done to scare
him away. In June of 1897, it was reported that he had moved in 1896
to Waterloo in Dekalb Co., where his wife died 10 months later. A
relative of hers claimed he had poisoned her. Although a grand jury
was convened, the charges against him were never filed.
That was the last time that Sanger made the local news, except in
1916, when the finding of a real petrified man in a coal mine in West
Virginia prompted a story that this new discovery was a striking
reminder of Sanger’s so-called find.
His son Harry, however was well-liked in the area, and in 1919 was
reported to be visiting in Aunt in Constantine, Michigan. He was also
a runner, and well-remembered in the Bristol Banner when he died.