“While
exercising a horse at the farm of his parents near Rymal yesterday, Thomas
Lindsay was kicked in the head and was so severely cut about one of his eyes
that the organ had to be removed when the physician arrived.”
Hamilton Spectator. December 14, 1914
The hamlet of Rymal was within the
boundaries of Wentworth County, above the escarpment, some distance southeast
south of the 1914 Hamilton city limits.
The Lindsay family farm was not even
that close to Rymal, being deep in the rural areas of Glanford Township.
To add to the fact that the
heavily-injured Thomas Lindsay was not even missed, looked for and found until
the sun was beginning to set on a cold December afternoon, the nearest doctor
was some miles away. It was several hours before the intensely suffering Tom
Lindsay received any medication to ease the pain and ultimately be taken to the
city hospital on Barton Street.
Lindsay was 52 years of age, and once
lived in Hamilton. However, about 1901, he had moved to his parents’ farm near
Rymal. At the time of the accident, his mother was about 80 years of age. Her
husband had been employed in the rolling mills in Hamilton, then was employed
for some time with the city of Hamilton.
Mr. and Mrs. Lindsay
had decided to escape city life by purchasing the Thomas Kennedy estate which
was located opposite the Trinity church in the Rymal area. At the time of the
accident, Mr. Lindsay was well past the age where he could work the farm, so
the efforts of his son Tom were sorely needed. Even more, the elder Mr. Lindsay
had been suffering from eye trouble and had become nearly blind.
The incident and the damage to her son
had a devastating for the matriarch of the family.
At first, she
objected vociferously to the removal of her son to the city hospital, but then
:
“The shock of the accident to her son
proved so serious to his mother that she died just as he was being taken from
the house to the hospital”1
1 “Accident
to Her Son Resulted in Her Death : Shock Proved Fatal to Victim’s Mother :
Thomas Lindsay Severely Injured by Horse : Doctors Forced to Remove One of His
Eyes.”
Hamilton Spectator. December 14, 1914
As the Spectator went to press for the
morning edition, it was learned Thomas Lindsay was still in hospital and not
out of danger, although it was expected that he would survive.
As for Mrs. Lindsay, the Spectator had
learned that the lady had been very well-known locally:
“Mrs. Lindsay was a prominent member
of the Congregational church while a resident of Hamilton, and was an ardent
student of Burns’ works. She won considerable local prominence as a poetess, a
number of her poems having been published in the local papers from time to
time. She wrote a welcome to Lady Aberdeen and also a farewell which was
favorably commented on by her critics. Her nom de plume was Lizzie Leath
Lindsay. Her son has also written several poems.”1
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