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Poisoned By Lead, Veteran Runs Naked in Boarding House, 1896
Posted By Norman Gasbarro on February 6, 2019
Ephraim F. Knipe was born in Pine Grove, Schuylkill County, about 1839. He was a painter at the time of the Civil War, and according to military records, he served in three different regiments, one of which was an 1863 emergency militia. He was married to the former Elizabeth Zimmerman. In 1890, at the time of the veterans’ census, he was living in St. Louis, Missouri. He also spent some time at a soldiers’ home in Illinois. In May 1899, Ephraim Knipe applied for a Civil War pension from Missouri, and after his death in 1905, his widow applied from the same place.
In 1896, as a result of over-exposure to lead paint, Ephraim “went mad” and was taken to the City Dispensary in St. Louis.
The incident was reported in the St. Louis Dispatch, 31 August 1896:
BARKED LIKE A DOG
Peculiar Affliction That Has Befallen Ephraim Knipe From Poisoning
Ephraim Knipe, a carriage painter, whose home is at 3604 Clifton Place [St. Louis], but who has been rooming at Broadway and Clark Avenue for a week or two, grew hysterical late Sunday night, and aroused other occupants in the house by a barking like a dog. He was in great agony, and when several of the roomers reached him he was gnawing the bed clothes with his teeth and tearing them into shreds.
An ambulance was called to take him to the City Dispensary, and when Driver Jacob Fessenmier went into the room, Knipe was running naked from corner to corner, barking and frothing from the mouth, as if he had hydrophobia.
Fessenmier tried to persuade him to put on his clothes, but he ran under the bed, barking and snarling, and when Fessenmier pulled him out, he turned on him with all the fury of a maniac.
Assistance reached Fessenmier, and the madman was overpowered, dressed, locked in the ambulance and driven to the Dispensary.
Dr. Thomp examined Knip closely, and found that in addition to a raging fever, he was suffering from chronic lead poisoning, contracted with paint materials, and which often affects its victims with violent hysteria.
Knipe’s condition is critical, and he was sent to the City Hospital. He is 50 years old and married.
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The Pension Index Card for Ephraim F. Knipe shows that he served in the 46th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company A, and the 39th Pennsylvania Infantry (Emergency of 1863), Company H. His widow, Eliza P. Knipe is also named.
The Pennsylvania Archives has a record card with information from a muster roll, indicating that Ephraim Knipe also served in the 10th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company D. However, this information is not found in other military records and it must be noted that he did not include it in his pension application.
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News clipping from Newspapers.com.
Poor man. Probably worked very hard all his life, faught in the War and raised his family.