WHERE DEMPSEY GOT IT

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 145, 20 June 1931, Page 33 (Supplement)

WHERE DEMPSEY GOT IT

Nate Dempsey, grandfather of Jack Dempsey, the former heavy-weight boxing champion, was so renowned in the mountains of North Carolina for his strength and fighting ability that today his fame in some mountain localities far surpasses that of his grandson.

On record in the office of the clerk of the court in Yancey County is an order handed down by a judge in sessions that for ever restrained the elder Dempsey from hitting any man with his fists!

Further, the order declares “the fists of one Nate Dempsey” to be deadly and lethal weapons. Jack Dempsey, the Manassa Mauler, had a wide reputation as a rough-and-tumble fighter before that ability was translated into ring terms. It is ability of the highest quality, none will deny, but at the sam£ time it is also much of a heritage. Many tales are told of the unbeatable fighting qualities of Nate Dempsey, the grandfather, and of the serious consequences of being hit by him. Once, on hearing a woman scream that, a bear was killing her calves, Dempsey, having no time to gather weapons, dived on to the back of the bear and choked him to death with his hands. To tackle such an animal with one’s bare hands requires valour of the highest order; to kill one with one’s hands alone is a feat necessitating almost superhuman strength.”