7 
Old Sam was born on April 4, 1849, at the Abraham C. Fisk Breeding Stables in Coldwater Michigan. Before the Civil War, his job was to pull a streetcar back and forth, carrying passengers from the train station to the hotel that was owned by Cyrus Orlando Loomis, whose father managed the hotel.
Cyrus was selected to be the commander of the volunteer artillery of Michigan, later known as Loomis Battery. As the war continued on, so did the accumulations of bodies of both soldiers and their horses. More of both were in demand, and the Loomis Battery was asked for donations of horses. Old Sam was now twelve years old, and while most of the war horses were three to five years of age, he was one of two hundred donated horses. After rigorous training at Fort Wayne in Detroit, the horses were sent off to battle, and Sam marched into the brutal Battle of Rich Mountain, in the area we now call West Virginia. Old Sam continued his grueling battle duties for four long years afterward. He stood strong and proud through the hardship and fatigue of the war and became a favorite among the men that he fought along with, who treated him with love and respect as if he was human. In the end, Sam would be the only survivor of all the two hundred horses donated.
His homecoming was met with a bittersweet celebration. Although he returned, 199 other horses didn’t, along with 40 of his human comrades. Sam had been wounded several times and half starved, but he was a fighter and the townsfolk knew it, and through their sadness they still whistled and cheered for him, giving him a hero’s welcome.
Upon exiting the train, Old Sam trotted down the street as if it was a parade made just for him. He instantly recognized his surroundings and leisurely walked to the hotel, his home, and right to his stall. The witnesses were in awe, but they were also struck by the tenacity of the horse. The owner of the hotel decided right then that Old Sam would not have to work another day of his life, and he would see green pastures and only be a carriage horse if he wanted.
The war was now part of Old Sam’s soul, and he was often led around town for parades and war reunions. A bronze plaque telling Old Sam’s story was mounted in the town square, and he had his own plaque alongside his human comrades, honoring him as a war veteran. So when he passed away on November 8, 1876, at twenty-seven years old, news carried far, and a petition that he be buried in Oak Grove Cemetery next to the other veterans was called out. It was illegal to bury an animal in a human cemetery in Michigan, though. So when the sexton of the cemetery decided to take an emergency trip out of town, he loudly let everyone know his departure and return dates and times. A plot to bury Old Sam in an unmarked grave was immediately crafted.
So in the dead of night, the town buried Old Sam in the illegal grave for his forever rest, covering it with fallen leaves, but giving him military honors as well. Today in Oak Grove Cemetery, Old Sam has a monument marker with an American Flag denoting his rich hero history. Although his body lay in the old cemetery up on the hill, his soul and spirit are said to still visit the town of Coldwater, Michigan.
More than mere legend, you will find most all of the Coldwater residents have a story or two about hearing Old Sam trot down the street. Jill, a lifelong resident of Coldwater, had heard the stories of Old Sam as a child, thinking nothing of it but old history. I was doing a ghost hunt in the town when Jill asked if she could share her story.
“I had just graduated high school and taken the job of a babysitter. It was late at night and I had heard the train whistle blow. That in itself wasn’t unusual, but just a minute or two afterward I heard the trot of a horse clip-clop down the street. I was sure someone was playing a trick on me, you know, trying to scare me or something. The kids and I went out on the front porch, and so did everyone else on the block. We couldn’t see anything, but we heard Old Sam walk by our homes, giving a neigh every so often, until the hoof sounds quieted as he got farther and farther down the street and disappeared as it got closer to the cemetery. Then nothing,” Jill shared. She took a deep breath and began again, “My last experience with Old Sam was just a few years back. I was divorcing and going through a rough time. Oddly enough, cemeteries bring me peace, so I went for a walk in Oak Grove.”
Jill’s voice caught and tears began to roll down her cheek. “Honestly, I was going to … end my life there,” she confessed.
I handed her a tissue and a bottle of water and told her to take her time. It was apparent that her soul and spirit were still healing from past scars. Jill quickly gained composure, sat straighter and began again, “I had a bottle of pills and was going to lay my head down on my mom’s stone and join her. I know, stupid, but at the time it sounded like the best plan. But just as I sat down on the hard ground, I heard a noise of the clattering of hooves on concrete, and looked up to see … not exactly a clear figure, but the figure of a horse and a rider. I know it sounds absurd.” Jill laughed at the memory.
I smiled at her with the reassurance that I found it anything but absurd.
“I hadn’t taken any pills, and I’d only been drinking straight water that day, so I was clearheaded except for my emotional despair. The rider jumped off the horse, stood next to me, and spoke!”
“He spoke?” I exclaimed.
Although many have experiences with the Other Side, not many have an encounter that involves actually speaking, as it takes a lot of energy for a spirit to emulate words. Instead, many describe their encounters as a feeling or hearing a voice inside their head or smelling something, but rarely the spoken word.
Jill nodded. “Yes, he spoke. He said he was sorry I had lost faith in myself, but he saw a light that wasn’t to be extinguished. He then patted his horse on the head, got back on, and called out for Old Sam to continue on. He called him by name. I watched as the man jumped on the horse and then I lost them to shadows behind the trees. The man and his horse saved my life.”
Jill’s recollection of a visit from Old Sam is one of many experiences those in and around Coldwater have had. Maybe not as life changing as her own, but significant nonetheless. Jill believed it was the spirit of Cyrus who rode Sam around the town. Or maybe it was Sam riding Cyrus around town, reminding others that we all have a war to fight. Some even feel like they are on the front lines, but that the war can be won with determination and bravery. A horse doesn’t look backward. It if did, it might stumble and fall. Jill decided to use her ghostly visit from Old Sam to help others with the lessons she learned.
“It’s not a story I always share,” she confessed. “I hope he’s not disappointed in that.”
I’m betting he’s not worried about the accolades, but the sentiment. Jill’s life mission since then has been in the mental illness field, specific to suicide prevention. She bought a farm not far from Old Sam’s home and use horses as a form of therapy. I’m sure that Old Sam and Cyrus are very proud.
Meow
“Meow’s health began to deteriorate when she turned twelve, but she continued to keep her ritual of wanting her treats in the morning, and if you weren’t there before 7 a.m., she’d jump on the bed to make sure you woke up with a huge meow. Just one.” Natalie smiled. “She was never a very vocal cat.
“It was a holiday, and I didn’t need to get the kids up for school, so I decided to turn off the alarm clock and sleep in, but, sure enough, Meow was on top of me, waking me up at 7:30. Not at all happy, I pulled the covers over my head, hoping she’d just lay down and fall asleep, but she kept meowing, one after the other after the other until I got up. As soon as I got up, though, I saw Meow’s body, cold and rigid, on the floor by the bedroom door. She must’ve passed during the night.”
Meow continues to visit Natalie and the kids every so often with her one meow, always in the early morning.
Saved by the Bell
The kennel planned to euthanize the seven-week-old golden retriever puppies, as they were all ill, but an organization came in the nick of time and rescued them. Without a mom to nurse them, the head of the rescue tirelessly cared for the sick pups, lovingly feeding them with an eye dropper until they got bigger and stronger. Each one of them survived, and at ten weeks they were ready to be adopted.
Janis and her family had first dibs to look at the pups, and therefore was given first pick. They all sat down on the ground and watched each of the rambunctious puppies run around, trying to decipher which puppy would become their puppy. There was one that stood out. Instead of running around in circles with her siblings, she sat quietly and watched the commotion from the sidelines. Janis’s husband teasingly swooped up the pup and placed her in his shirt pocket, where she contently sat. It was love at first sight. They named her Hannah. With her already rough start in life, she was frightened, and for several days she refused to leave the couch, having to be handfed and cuddled with all night long. After four days, she finally climbed off the couch and found her way into the home and hearts of her forever family.
Hannah found her confidence and readily took on the responsibility of being a foster mom to whatever puppies needed her. When the family brought home Halle, a West Highland terrier, she was ecstatic. Unfortunately, Janis wasn’t because Halle decided that potty training wasn’t for her.
“I finally told Hannah that if she wanted Halle to stay she had to potty train her. As if she understood me, and obviously she did, Hannah began to take Halle outside and show her what to do, despite all of us trying and failing. Halle never messed in my house after that,” Janis shared.
Hannah and Halle became instant friends and they did everything together from then on.
Janis’s husband’s job was transferring them from Michigan to Florida, and they needed to get things settled before bringing the dogs with them, so Halle and Hannah went to stay with Janis’s parents. They had stayed before and enjoyed their time with their grandparents, so Janis was wasn’t concerned until the dogs were being dropped off. Hannah communicated a look of sadness and a final good-bye with her eyes. She was aging, and Janis hoped that she was overanalyzing it, but she held Hannah tighter, kissed her, and told her she loved her a dozen times before leaving. Hannah licked Janis’s face and pushed into her shoulders as if to offer her own hug and cuddle.
They left the next morning for Florida, but three days later they got a call notifying them that Hannah was not doing well. She was having a hard time walking, was not eating, and could not stand for any length of time. All they wanted to do was run for the airport, but there were other responsibilities and commitments that needed to be completed and that just wasn’t feasible. Janis’s brother took Hannah to the veterinarian and it was decided that Hannah was in pain and would not live much longer, and so over the phone they had to make a very hard decision to let her go.
Janis and her husband hadn’t even unpacked from their trip when they went to the veterinarian to pick up Hannah’s ashes. They were in a beautiful box the same color as her hair. They also had a clay paw print made and her collar that had her license and name tag that would clang together when Hannah would shake her head.
Halle, the Westie, was obviously depressed and sad by the loss of her best friend, but when they made their move to Naples, Florida, she found some new spunk. One of the first things that Janis unpacked was Hannah’s cremated remains, the cast of her paw print, and her collar, and she placed them on a bookcase in the library of their home.
One night at about 10 p.m., they were spending some quiet time reading. Halle was sleeping next to the chair Janis was sitting in. Janis and her husband were just about to go to bed when there was a distinct sound of Hannah shaking her collar. They’d heard that sound for fourteen years and were taken aback. Halle ran to the bookshelf, looked up at the collar, and began to bark excitedly, as if welcoming home her old friend.
“We had been talking about her so often since she passed, and both my husband and I have felt so guilty for not being with her when she died. I got goose bumps that night, but I also felt so happy because I really felt comforted to know that she was with us.” Janis smiled at the memory.
It happened again, though. Janis couldn’t sleep, so she got out of bed at 5 a.m. and went into the library to read. Halle was in the bedroom with her husband when Janis heard the collar jingle. Thinking Halle was up and wanted to go out, she got up only to see the bedroom door was closed. When she opened the door, Halle was snoring away.
Janis knew that it was Hannah and blew her a kiss.
Animals on the Other Side are able to interact with animals still here, just as human souls can interact with human and animals here. Animals on the physical plane are able to see and interact with those who have passed often clearer than humans.