Dem
47
GOP
53
Today, we go far back in time courtesy of A.W. in Lincoln, MA:
This one goes back a way since I obviously never met the man, but my great-great-grandfather was a farmer in Sheboygan, WI, who enlisted as a private in Company H of the 1st Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry on September 16, 1861. He was shot in the leg in the Battle of Perryville (Kentucky) in October 1862—the Minié ball shattered his knee and he lay where he fell for 8 days, according to a memoir by his son, and was then placed in what passed for a hospital, where he continually cleaned and dressed the wound himself since the medial care was basically nonexistent. He refused the surgeons' urgings to amputate, which they would have done had gangrene set in, as they expected it would (but fortunately, it didn't).
After his discharge, he used crutches for 2 years. but eventually was able to hobble without them. But the experience embittered him against the medical profession, so he began studying medical books on his own and learned about homeopathic medicine, which seemed a good alternative to the crude and often harmful drugs that were administered by traditional doctors at that time. Several years later, his house in Sheboygan burned down, so he loaded his wife, parents and two young kids into a wagon and headed for McPherson County, KS, to be a pioneer on the prairie.
Once there, he ordered some homeopathic medicines that the clerk understandably addressed to "Dr. W____." As soon as the package arrived on the buckboard in the 30-person village 8 miles from his new farm, everyone saw the mailing label and rejoiced that they would now have a local doctor, and so he became one without intending to. Despite no formal medical training, he did the best he could taking care of other pioneers, many of whom recovered from their ailments or injuries—mostly because they probably would have anyway, but also because his highly diluted homeopathic concoctions couldn't do much further harm.
He was later elected as an all-purpose judge even though he knew nothing about law. He didn't want the job, but his opponent in the election wrote in the paper that he would be the best "jug," so the bar was pretty low. Oh, and he also created a home insurance company for his community after a neighbor's barn burned down and he had to take up a collection to help the guy out. A self-made man for sure!
This is a picture of his leg after it "healed":
Thanks, A.W. (Z)