Man’s luck got tested, and tested ...

The 6-year-old boy probably had been told a number of times to stay well back as a massive oak tree was being cut down.

But, not wanting to miss anything, the child kept inching nearer as the work progressed. He likely was completely engrossed in the action as the final saw cuts were made and the giant tree began to topple.

The loud cracking of breaking wood could have muffled yells of warning, or frozen the youngster in fear. Whatever the reason, W. N. Parrott wasn’t able to get out of the way, and a limb 8-inches in diameter caught him and slammed him to the ground.

Horrified workmen struggled through the broken branches and foliage to get to the buried child. Expecting the worst, they had to have been amazed and immensely relieved to discover the child was uninjured.

That was Parrott’s first brush with death, but he was just getting warmed up. By the fall of 1908 he had lived a long and charmed life.

Making a list

That autumn the Civil War veteran had enjoyed reading a number of accounts in The Daily Progress having to do with narrow escapes experienced by other war veterans. On Oct. 29, 1908, he decided to make up a list of his own and send it to the newspaper’s editor for consideration.

The list started with nearly being crushed by the oak tree. That close shave probably taught him to be more cautious, because his next serious mishap didn’t happen until he was 17.

While enjoying a break at school he decided to test his strength with the help of an 18-pound cannonball. He started throwing the iron sphere as high into the air as he could.

During one particularly strong effort his feet slipped out from under him. By the time the ball reached its apex of flight about 20 feet up the sender was stunned and lying flat on his back.

Of course the cannonball had to obey the laws of gravity and came plummeting back to earth. The student’s luck held, and the ball slammed into the ground a few inches from his upturned face.

The next time Parrott encountered cannonballs, they were streaking through the air and exploding during the Civil War. As a member of the 7th Virginia Regiment, he got the opportunity to test his luck regularly.

Close calls in battle

During the Battle of Williamsburg on May 5, 1862, Parrott was holding his musket in his hands when a bullet or shell fragment tore it in two. He wasn’t as fortunate during the Battle of Second Manassas in late August 1862, and was wounded by a piece of grape shot.

The soldier’s luck slump continued during the Battle of Gettysburg in early July 1863. During that bloody engagement, he was hit by a piece of shrapnel.

As soon as the scarred vet healed up, he went back into the fray. He was fighting near Dinwiddie Courthouse on March 31, 1865, when a Minie ball tore through his right arm.

Parrott fortunately didn’t lose his arm and, except for a few scars, came through the war in pretty good shape. In 1883, his luck again served him well while he was working in Texas.

The Charlottesville man was helping to raise a windmill when a heavy piece of iron fell from high above him and nearly hit him in the head. A large timber slab followed, passing so near that it tore his coat sleeve off.

If Parrott’s account of near-misses had ended there he would have likely been judged one of the luckiest guys ever. But his next addition to the list made all his other near-death experiences seem almost inconsequential by comparison.

On July 12, 1888, Parrott was working as a postal clerk for the Southern Railway.

It was early morning and he was in the postal car of a passenger train as it started across a 487-foot-long wooden train trestle in Orange County.

The span crossed Laurel Run and was about 50 feet high. It was named the Fat Nancy in honor of a rotund woman who lived nearby and reported any problems on the structure.

The train was well on its way across when the bridge suddenly started to collapse. The last two cars were still on firm ground, and luckily the lead car’s coupling was ripped away as the forward locomotive and cars plunged into the deep ravine.

In one of the two cars that were spared the fall was famous Confederate Gen. James A. Longstreet. He and a number of other Confederate veterans on the train were returning from the 25th reunion of the Battle of Gettysburg.

The postal car was near the front of the train and fell to the hard ground below. This is how Parrott described it.

“The [postal] car was broken into kindling wood and I sustained injuries as follows: Left leg broken in three places, right hip badly injured, two ribs broken, both elbows badly injured, paralyzed in stomach and bowels for 10 days and Dr. W.C.N. Randolph said my back from head to hips was bruised so it was as black as a black hat.”

The Wreck at the Fat Nancy was one of the worst train disasters in Virginia history. Eight men and one woman were killed and at least 26 passengers were injured.

Despite the beating Parrott’s poor body continued to take, he only seemed to get stronger. In 1895 he was riding his horse along Main Street in Charlottesville, when a streetcar frightened the animal.

The horse reared and then fell backward onto Parrott. The horse was fine, but the veteran’s left leg broke again.

The following day, after getting the leg set and put into a cast, Parrott rode his horse the 18 miles back to his country home.

By the time Parrott had written about his horse falling on him, his list had taken up nearly an entire column length on the front page. He wrapped up things with the following words.

“In addition to the foregoing my collar bone and an arm have been broken. These injuries were received in minor scrapes. Respectfully, W.N. Parrott.”