Suspended animation in fiction which is indistinguishable from death. In American fiction, the first story to deal with suspended animation is the tale of Rip Van Winkle, a short story by American author Washington Irving published in 1819 as well as the name of the story's fictional protagonist. In the story, a British subject in the American colonies wanders into the Catskill Mountains in the years before the American Revolutionary War, and finds a group of fairies, whose moonshine he drinks. He then falls asleep for 20 years, and returns to his village in what is now the United States, finding his home town
Marshall Van Winkle Marshall Van Winkle Marshall Van Winkle (September 28, 1869 – May 10, 1957) was a U.S. Representative from New Jersey, grandnephew of Peter G. Van Winkle. Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Van Winkle attended the public schools. He studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1890 and commenced practice in Hoboken, New Jersey. He was appointed counsel to the county tax board in 1895, holding this position until his resignation to accept an appointment as the assistant prosecutor of the pleas of Hudson County, New Jersey. He was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1900 to the