Hannibal history: Accident on Fourth Street in 1849
Here's an oldie but goodie:
(Hannibal) Missouri Courier, Sept. 13, 1849
Yesterday afternoon, whilst several carpenters were engaged in raising the ceiling of a store on Market (now named Broadway, in Hannibal), near 4th street, one of the timbers gave way, knocking down a young man named Charles Green, and wounding him slightly on the back part of the head. – For a moment he seemed lifeless; but on bathing his head, and dressing the wound – which, to appearance, was very trifling – he recovered – but with a total loss of memory. From two o’clock in the afternoon, the time at which the accident occurred, to five, the hour at which we last heard of him, he remained about the store or his boarding house, perfectly well, apparently, and conversing very rational on every topic, but forgetful of every incident of his past life, not remembering even the place in which he was, or the names of his most intimate acquaintances.