- — Plutor
Mervin Frankenberger
From The Great Outdoor Fight
Also known as "Samson the Second" and "the Hebrew Typhoon," Mervin Frankenberger is remembered as the first Jewish champion of the Fight (though not the first Jew to participate; that honor goes to Hymen Elberstein in 1868). Legend says that he was nearly ejected for the Fight when he showed up at the Acres with immensely long hair, tied in a braid, and a foot-long beard. In truth, however, Frankenberger's correspondence with the Ruling Body shows that he had cleared his appearence with them up to five months beforehand, due to religious reasons: Frankenberger had taken the Nazirite oath, as described in Numbers 6, which, among other things, forbade the taker of the oath to cut his hair (as was the case with the Biblical figure of Samson).
While degraded beforehand due to his ethnicity, Frankenberger quickly proved himself a more-than-able competitor in the Fight. Historians have hypothesized that his performance might represent a kind of controlled Dutch fugue. Frankenberger defeated his last competitors, the conjoined Yancy twins, a few hours after sunset on Day 3.
[edit] Quotes
"They call me a userer [sic]; they say I am weak and a theif [sic] and a rich banker's son. Come what may, they will learn respect at my hands." - from Frankenberger's diary; entry dated February 2, 1876.
