User:Auric/Samuel Dombey
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Samuel Dombey | |
|---|---|
| Cause of death | Old age |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Indestructible Sam |
| Occupation | Gravedigger |
| Known for | surviving five attempts on his life |
Samuel Dombey was a black gravedigger in post-Civil War New Orleans (fl. c. 1865). He survived five attempts on his life by determined competitors.
Life
[edit]He undercut his competitors, to the point that they came together to get rid of him. They called upon a certain Dr Beauregard, reputed to have magical powers, and paid him to use his $50 (equivalent to $995 in 2023) ’supreme curse’ involving an owl's head.
The next morning, as Dombey began to dig a new grave, he heard a loud explosion. Someone, apparently injured, staggered from a nearby clump of bushes. There Dombey found a gun, which, overloaded with buckshot, had blown up. Later, a much bandaged Dr Beauregard threatened to hex anyone who questioned him about the incident.
The gravediggers decided to take matters into their own hands. They placed a keg of explosive powder under the cot in the tool shed where Dombey took his daily nap and lit it while he slept. The explosion blasted Dombey out the doorway. He landed 20 feet away, unhurt. The local police force nicknamed him Indestructible Sam.
Soon after, he was captured by masked men and taken in a boat to Lake Pontchartrain. He was tied hand and foot and dumped into the depths of the lake. These particular depths, however, turned out to be only 2 feet; Dombey wriggled free of his bonds and walked ashore.
Next, they set fire to his home, and shot him with buck shot as he escaped. Firemen saved the house and rushed Dombey to the hospital, where he lived up to his nickname. He continued to dig graves and died at the age of 98, having outlived (and buried) every one of his jealous competitors.[1]
Actuality
[edit]Though the story is widely acclaimed as true, independent facts about Dombey are scarce. The earliest book referencing the story is from 1981, a "Bathroom Almanac".[2]
In other media
[edit]In 2006, songwriter Buck 65 wrote a song about him, titled Indestructible Sam.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ Wallechinsky, David; Wallace, Amy; Basen, IRA; Jane Farrow (2006-10-31). The Book of Lists: The Original Compendium of Curious Information. Knopf Canada. pp. 46–47. ISBN 9780770430092. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
- ^ Gus McLeavy (September 1981). Bathroom Almanac. F. Fell Publishers. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-8119-0432-2.
- ^ Project Notes Archived 3 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine