THANKFUL TAYLOR

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Thankful Taylor
 There used to be a Sunday magazine section of the Tennessean newspaper which I liked because it had interesting stories about local history. I think they did away with it in the 1970's. It was through this magazine that I first read about the story of Thankful Taylor, a young girl who lived in Christiana during the 1800's that had a 23 inch long snake pulled from her stomach by a Murfreesboro Doctor in 1874. She apparently accidentally swallowed a baby snake while drinking from a creek in Christiana while working on her farm. For five years she suffered from convulsions and stomach problems before seeking medical help. A sympathetic neighbor made her drink liquor which exacerbated the problem. People could see the snake moving in her stomach. Her pastor looked in her mouth and saw the head of the snake. He was the first to identify the problem If you Google Thankful Taylor the Daily News Journal did a thorough story on the incident in 2010 under the heading" Bosom Serpent, a Rutherford Snake".

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