***Family history tells this story. I have been able to confirm several versions of the story with different family members from various branches of the tree. Here is the general consensus…

John Thomas LaMunyon brought a wagonload of grain into the millers for grinding. While waiting for payment he played with a dog in the yard. The workers asked him to take the dog home, as it was a stray. It seemed friendly enough, so he agreed. The dog apparently was rabid. A few days after he had brought the dog home the animal bit John, his son and wife Eliza on the heel of her foot. (This is part of the story there is some disagreement, no one can name the son) Eliza applied a poultice called a “Mad Stone” to all their wounds. John and the child died, Eliza did not.

Note** A “Mad Stone”, was a remedy used for many sorts of wounds or infections, but particularly for rabies. It is a hairball removed from the stomach of a large animal, (horse, cow, deer etc.) which was soaked in milk and then applied as a poultice. The only way I can figure it might have worked is by some sort of chemical reaction of the stomach acid from the animal and possibly the milk.  Whether the poultice worked for Eliza and saved her life or if the wound actually did not penetrate deep enough into her heel to infect he with rabies I don’t know, and most likely never will, though I do find it an interesting account of the medicinal practices of the era.