Democratic Sentinel, Volume 3, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 May 1879 — Death from a Spider’s Bite. [ARTICLE]

Death from a Spider’s Bite.

Maria Gillett, aged 80 years, died at the Shakers, Saturday evening, after a very short illness, produced, it is thought, by the bite of a spider nearly two weeks since. She was the grandniece of Gen. Ethan Allen, her grandfather being a brother of the hero of Ticonderoga, and served as a Captain under him. It is singular to relate, but she retained the “Allen” mark, having been born with six fingers, the surplus member being removed in her infancy; and her children, of which she reared two, also bore the unmistakable family feature when infants. She has been a stanch and faithful member of the Shaker community for fifty years.— Albany Times.