Chatham County NcArchives News.....The Tell-tale Heart : Extraordinary Case August 8, 1860
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Carolyn Shank Carolynshank@msn.com July 7, 2007, 11:45 am

The Standard Of Raleigh; Aug. 8, 1860 August 8, 1860
The Standard of Raleigh; Aug. 8, 1860
AN EXTRAORDINARY CASE
     -- On Friday, June 16th, we made a post mortem examination upon the body 
of MR. JOHN KELLY, who resided, at the time of his death, in the town of Black 
Brook.
     In June, in 1842, he was accidentally shot at Chatham Four Corners, a 
place on the Western Road, about twenty-five miles East of Albany. The bullet, 
passing through three boards before striking hhim, entered his right shoulder, 
passed towards the heart, and lodged under the collar bone near where it 
united to the breast bone. This is substantiated by the amount of disease 
found at this place, and the further fact that the surgeon passed his probe in 
about four or five inches before reaching the ball. We found one of the veins 
closed and the artery ossified at this place.
     We then examined the heart, and found it to resemble a stomach as much as 
a heart. the right side, especially, was very much charged and seemed to be 
undergoing fatty degeneration. While examining the heart, we found a large 
lump in the lower part of it. We introduced our finger into the right cavity 
of the heart, and found the lump to be in the substance of that organ; we then 
cut from the outside down onto the lump, and found it to be a leaden bullet.
     Now, the question arises, how long has the ball been in the man's heart? 
Fourteen years ago he was very dangerously ill and was attended by DR. TERRY, 
who did not expect his recovery. His difficulty at that time was inflammation 
of the lungs, and a most extraordinary disturbance of the heart's action. 
Since that illness, his heart difficulty has continued to increase gradually --
at times its beatings could be observed ten to fifteen feet distant. Our 
theory is, that this ball remained in the vein where it was lodged until 
fourteen years ago, when it passed into a larger vein, and thence into the 
heart, and there, irritating that delicate organ by its unnatural presence, 
caused the difficulty then, for the first time observed.
     Ten days before his death he took a severe cold resulting in an 
inflammation of the lungs, and an aggravation of all the symptoms of disease 
of the heart, which continued unabated until the messenger of death relieved 
him of his earthly suffering.
                                   ORVILLE TERRY, M.D.
                                   G.B. BALCH, M.D.
Saranac, June 26th, 1860


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