The Caney Fork Wonder

The Caney Fork Wonder

Dana Koogler 

Sunday September 15, 2019

  Back when I found the Heritage of Daniel Haston online book I read some fascinating historical stories in it.  One of them was The Caney Fork Wonder.  I was not sure at first if it was a true account because it was so fantastical, but I now believe it must be true.  It is the account of a man who was living like a wild creature in the White County area of the Cumberland Plateau in and around the Caney Fork River.    He was observed for a long time by a local Dr. O.G. Broyles, who eventually set out to capture him.   He finally did manage to capture him and bring him around other people.  He was born with scaly skin like a fish and had odd looking eyes that were said to be unusually large.  He was said to have an odd facial appearance. He was also said to have a thick head of hair and a long reddish beard. He was also very tall six feet five inches. He had some sort of language,but for the most part it was unintelligible gibberish. He did not speak around others much if at all.  He was supposed to have been surnamed Croslin and the parents were from North Carolina.  They were tracked down somehow and their account of him was that he was born this way. He was always of a roving disposition like a wild creature.  He finally left home and took off into the wilds at the age of five!
He never returned.    He was also said to have webbed feet.      His scaly skin was said to shed twice a year.  He could not be out of the water more than ten minutes at a time without great pain.   
Dr. Broyles captured him with the help of others about this time of year.  September 15th,  1878.  

   I believe this man was born with a condition called harlequin ichthyosis.  It is a condition where a baby is born with enlarged eyes, distorted facial features, scaly skin in varying degrees and syndactyly of the feet.     I have seen one very mild case of harlequinism in a newborn, but that was a super mild case. So mild that the doctors did not catch it initially.  I was doing his newborn assessment and bath when he began to exhibit signs of inability to maintain his body temperature. He began to exhibit circulatory changes. Half his body was white and the other half red.   He had to go back to the NICU and be cared for.  I had him in the regular newborn nursery.   Back during the time this man was born it is unlikely doctors even knew about such things.   Most harlequins do not survive.  This man not only survived, but thrived!  Below is a photo off the internet that illustrates what a severe case of harlequin ichthyosis looks like.  Chances are that a baby born in this state would not survive.

  Below is a clip from the Louisville paper. He was eventually taken by the doctor to be part of an exhibit in Louisville, Kentucky in a side show.  I have found additional newspaper clippings online that indicate this was a real event.   I do believe it was real, but I do not believe he was anything other than a man with an odd, unfortunate medical condition.   He was also said to be able to remain submerged for relatively long periods of time under water.  I believe it is very possible, but I also believe the amount of time... one half hour.. to be exaggerated.   The Bajau people or Sea Nomads of Indonesia have been studied and found to be able to remain under water for up to 13 minutes at a time.  They have genetically adapted over a thousand year period to have a 50% larger spleen which acts as a reservoir to release additional, oxygen rich blood while they remain submerged.  If you click the link above you can read about the study done on them.  They have genetic differences that have evolved and caused the changes in the spleen enlarging it.  Hormonal changes and changes to the hemoglobin in their blood.. the oxygen carrying red blood cells.. have given them the physical advantages that allow them to remain in the water for eight hours or more per day.   They are like the Sherpas in the Himalayans who have evolved to live at high altitudes.   The physical conditioning of these sea nomads also permits them to remain under water and not have lung damage.  I imagine the Caney Fork Wonder was something like these people.  He must have had physical changes, genetic changes that coupled with physical conditioning allowed him to live as he did.   The parents were said to be normal as anyone else.    That being said they would have to have been carriers of a gene or perhaps mother was exposed to something that led to his mutations.


   He was "owned" by at least three men simultaneously.  They took him round and exhibited him to make money.  I find it very distasteful, but those were the times they lived in.    Things like this were done and while they tore this man away from the life he lived they did take good care of him or attempted to.     I cannot judge them for what they did.  I imagine Dr. Broyles wanted to learn about him and possibly help him.   It certainly is fascinating.    If you click the link above that says Caney Fork Wonder it takes you to the original account I found.


       I am passing this fascinating bit of history along to share in appreciation of the marvelous accounts I have found in the history mentioned.  The artwork is also very cool.

Below is a very cool drawing by L.A. Giampetro of this wonder man!  Done in the style of the old Barnum Baily Circus Freak Show promotional posters.  It can be purchased here at this link.