History Knox
Mark Sebastian Jordan authors a History Knox column each Saturday that reflects on the history of this community.
LOCK, Ohio — Peruse enough old newspapers and you’re bound to come across some odd items.
But this one really takes the snake — I mean cake — No, I actually do mean snake … It was found in an issue of the Democratic Banner from 1905.
Hattie Shaman was having a fairly normal day on May 25 in Lock, Ohio, just over the Licking County line from Knox. Her husband had already gone to work and Hattie herself was going to do a little garden work while her daughters played.
She put 3-year-old Grace and 15-month- old Eva down on the floor in the house while she stepped out into the yard to work in the garden.
She had only been at it a little while when Grace suddenly came rushing out of the house to her.
“Come and see what Eva has!” the toddler said.
The girl seemed very worried, so Hattie rushed inside. What she saw caused her to flat-out faint. Baby Eva was sitting on the floor, busily occupied with a black garter snake.
Not only was the snake in her grasp, she was actively attempting to eat the snake, tail first.
She had at least part of the reptile already down her throat.
When the mother came to just seconds later, she started screaming at the top of her lungs, which may not have helped calm the situation, but it did succeed in bringing her neighbor, Mr. Stoten, running from his field.
Assessing the situation, he took quick action: He grabbed the snake and yanked. Turns out the baby had swallowed about four inches of the snake before losing momentum.
A physician was called to treat the child, who suffered from abrasions in her throat, but she eventually stabilized and suffered no permanent damage from the encounter.
Sister Grace said that they had never went outside, that she and her sister found the snake, which was about 18 inches long, wiggling across the floor in the house.
Eva then grabbed it and decided it was lunch.
While the girl survived this encounter, it turns out she was unlucky in the long run.
Eva Marie Shaman struggled in her teens with typhoid fever, and after a six-week battle with the infectious disease, she passed away at the age of 16 in 1920, and was buried in the Centerburg Cemetery.
The original snake incident was published in the Mount Vernon newspaper because Hattie’s maiden name was Ewalt, and her brother Columbus lived in Mount Vernon.
Their parents — Eva’s grandparents — were William and Rispah Ewalt, who lived for many years in Liberty Township, near Bangs.