“The ball had entered the young man’s left side, struck a rib, glanced and came out near where it had entered, cutting off one of his fingers.”

When people became engaged to marry in the 1870s, there was usually gunplay involved and at least one party wound up less a finger or toe, as evidenced by this article in the March 2, 1877 Brooklyn Daily Eagle:

“Alanson Penny, of Good Ground, had paid his addresses to Miss Nellie Jackson, of the same place, for upward of two years. Miss Jackson was rarely seen in the company of any other young man, and the community regarded them as two very constant lovers. The society in which they moved looked anxiously forward to their union. Some busybody started the story that the wedding was fixed, and it grew as it traveled. The truth was, however, that they had not been betrothed, and the stories seemed to worry Alanson, while Miss Nellie only curled her rosy lip at their reiteration.

Alanson, a week ago proposed to Miss Nellie, who held it under advisement until the next evening. He called for the answer with throbbing heart, not doubting that it would be in the affirmative. He was doomed to disappointment. Miss Nellie refused to wed, and as an earnest of her refusal, returned his love tokens and billet dous in a neat little package. He returned to his father’s house, and a few minutes after retiring to his room, the report of a pistol was heard.

He had shot himself, but not fatally. Dr. Benjamin was summoned from Riverhead. He found that the ball had entered the young man’s left side, struck a rib, glanced and came out near where it had entered, cutting off one of his fingers. Miss Jackson was at the house soon after learning of the shooting, and insisted that she should be permitted to nurse him. After her tears were dried, she said she only said no to try his love. She is still nursing him, and when he recovers they will be married.”