Listed in Cemetery Transcriptions of Macedonia Church of Christ, Volume 3, page 151 and continued on page 281.
From the news article in the Mayfield Monitor, written by Wendell Givens, "Wonder of the 19th Century" December 1975.
The first quint to die was buried in the Macedonia Church of Christ Cemetery for about 2 weeks, then exhumed and preserved with the others.
There is a plot of ground still reserved for them. (It has a small wire fence around it & is currently in the process of being rejuvenated, over the years it has become an unmowed area, probably due to it has to be climbed into to maintain).
~~~~~~~~~~~
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Paul are "preserved" in a Medical Museum in Washington, D.C. for medical display and safe-keeping.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Mayfield's own Bobby Lee Mason wrote a book titled Feather Crowns about these babies.
~~~~~~~~~~~
This next article appeared in "Among Other Things" by Jess G. Anderson-January 29, 1964:
FIVE YOUNG DEMOCRATS
A slender man, about 45 years old, knocked at the door of the home of Dr. S.J. Matthews here in the late afternoon of April 29, 1896. When Dr. Matthews answered the knock, the man said "Doctor, I think my wife is going to have a baby, can you come with me." The doctor and the man, Oscar D. Lyon, 46, drove in Dr. Matthews buggy to the modest Lyon home on the southwest outskirts of Mayfield, and the man was right, his wife was going to have a baby. In fact, she had five of them, all boys. They were the first male quintuplets born in the United States.
The first one lived to be four days old, and the last of the five died at the age of 11 days. Medical men say they were healthy at birth and would probably have lived in this era of medical science. They said that the lack of screens in the house and the thousands of people who viewed them, probably hastened their deaths. They were named Matthew, Luke, Paul, Mark, and John.
The Lyon home was situated along side the Illinois Central Railroad Tracks. All passenger trains stopped beside the home and all passengers disembarked to see the quints. Special trains came to Mayfield from as far away as Chicago, Ill.
The babies were weighed soon after birth and three tipped the scales at 4 1/2 pounds, one at 4 and one at 5.
There were seven other children besides the wonderful five. All but one of them was alive in 1896. The oldest (a son) was 20 and the youngest was 2.
~~~~~~~~~
My mother remembers this as a child and remembered they had wooden tombstones with their names painted on them. My husband has volunteered to clean up this area. Although the babies may never return here, the history books are correct that they still have a "reserved" burial ground at Macedonia Church of Christ. This is the cemetery my mother's family is buried, and we will be joining also.
Listed in Cemetery Transcriptions of Macedonia Church of Christ, Volume 3, page 151 and continued on page 281.
From the news article in the Mayfield Monitor, written by Wendell Givens, "Wonder of the 19th Century" December 1975.
The first quint to die was buried in the Macedonia Church of Christ Cemetery for about 2 weeks, then exhumed and preserved with the others.
There is a plot of ground still reserved for them. (It has a small wire fence around it & is currently in the process of being rejuvenated, over the years it has become an unmowed area, probably due to it has to be climbed into to maintain).
~~~~~~~~~~~
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Paul are "preserved" in a Medical Museum in Washington, D.C. for medical display and safe-keeping.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Mayfield's own Bobby Lee Mason wrote a book titled Feather Crowns about these babies.
~~~~~~~~~~~
This next article appeared in "Among Other Things" by Jess G. Anderson-January 29, 1964:
FIVE YOUNG DEMOCRATS
A slender man, about 45 years old, knocked at the door of the home of Dr. S.J. Matthews here in the late afternoon of April 29, 1896. When Dr. Matthews answered the knock, the man said "Doctor, I think my wife is going to have a baby, can you come with me." The doctor and the man, Oscar D. Lyon, 46, drove in Dr. Matthews buggy to the modest Lyon home on the southwest outskirts of Mayfield, and the man was right, his wife was going to have a baby. In fact, she had five of them, all boys. They were the first male quintuplets born in the United States.
The first one lived to be four days old, and the last of the five died at the age of 11 days. Medical men say they were healthy at birth and would probably have lived in this era of medical science. They said that the lack of screens in the house and the thousands of people who viewed them, probably hastened their deaths. They were named Matthew, Luke, Paul, Mark, and John.
The Lyon home was situated along side the Illinois Central Railroad Tracks. All passenger trains stopped beside the home and all passengers disembarked to see the quints. Special trains came to Mayfield from as far away as Chicago, Ill.
The babies were weighed soon after birth and three tipped the scales at 4 1/2 pounds, one at 4 and one at 5.
There were seven other children besides the wonderful five. All but one of them was alive in 1896. The oldest (a son) was 20 and the youngest was 2.
~~~~~~~~~
My mother remembers this as a child and remembered they had wooden tombstones with their names painted on them. My husband has volunteered to clean up this area. Although the babies may never return here, the history books are correct that they still have a "reserved" burial ground at Macedonia Church of Christ. This is the cemetery my mother's family is buried, and we will be joining also.
