The First North American to be Killed by a Puma?
Little is known about the life of Philip Tanner, but he is infamous for his death.
Much of his story is anecdotal, so the following account should be taken with a grain of salt, but most of the story comes from his will and tombstone.
Tanner died in 1751, so isn’t really a Founder, but I like to think this story adds some perspective to the world the Founders lived in during the years leading up to the Revolutionary War.
Philip Tanner
Philip Tanner was a resident of the small town of Lewisville, Pennsylvania.
He was a mill owner in his late 50’s with six children, working in an area known as Betsy’s Patch.
While Philip was inspecting some lumber (for either a sawmill or fulling mill, sources disagree) he was confronted by an unexpected visitor...a puma.
Attack
Sometimes referred to as a mountain lion or cougar, the puma attacked Tanner.
He was ripped to shreds and dead by the time anyone could respond to his cries.
This is often cited as the first time a person was killed by a big cat in North America, though considering Europeans had been living on the continent for almost 150 years, it is hard to believe. Additionally, over the course of thousands of years, Native Americans certainly died under these circumstances on many occasions.
Tombstone
Tanner’s death was big news for the time.
At the very least, no one had been killed by a puma in recent memory.
Perhaps for his memory, or perhaps cruelly, the person who crafted Philip’s gravestone chiseled a picture of the animal on his rock.
The stone lies in a small, unassuming graveyard not far from the spot where Tanner was killed.
His epitaph reads simply:
“Here lye ye body of Philip Tanner who departed this life May 6, 1751 - age 58 years.”
Do you want to learn about other Founder killed by an animal?
Great!
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This article is pretty different from the usual content on this site.
I figure this would be a good time to try out the tag cloud I’ve wanted to use. Go ahead, click on something. I dare you.
