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the appointed place, & after bathing in the River
for an hour or two, came out, & while dressing
some one of the company, remarked to Pentecost
that there was mud on his back. Throwing off
his shirt, which he had partly on, he jumped into
the river, & swam nearly half across, no person no
ticing him, until they heard him, calling for assist
ance - that he had the cramp, & was drowning - he was
said to have been an expert swimmer. Horror
& confusion, seemed to have been seized upon all present
except my brother Jonathan, who was also a
good swimmer, but of delicate constitution.
He instantly sprang into the River, with his
clothes on - swam to his drowning brother, and
got him on his back, & without the slightest
assistance from any one else brought within 10 or
15 feet, of the bank, when finding his strength
exhausted, having sunk twice before, he requested
his brother to get off of him, as they would both
be drowned!! Strange to tell, but no less strange
than true, the "drowning man" instantly threw
himself off, & disengaged himself from his
brother, and sunk to rise no more. Jona
than was with difficulty saved, by the horror
stricken young men & youths who lined the
bank. I have been this particular in detail
ing this tragical affair, as in all probability
it is almost without parrallel a drown-
ing man, letting go, anything he had hold of.
Our neighborhood had been healthy - the county
was generally so. It was the first death, that
I remember to have occurred. My brothers body
was recovered, the same evening, & the funeral
took place, the next day. He was buried in the
Garden, at the place where the family was
raised & on which my brother Samuel loved
up to the time of his death. I have a very vi-
vid & distinct recollection of the funeral, which
was numerously attended - the people of the
neighborhood for miles around, turned out