When The Bodies Were Discovered At The Dewart Bridge

The wooden "wagon bridge" between Dewart & Allenwood.  Destroyed in the 1894 Flood.

While attempting to discern when the Dewart Bridge was first constructed, I came across a couple of articles a about boys discovering a body at the bridge.  I put them to the side, to come back to later.

Two boys boys discovered the body and attempted to drag it to shore, but with little success.  A man name  Updegraff  happened to be coming down the river, and he "took possession" of the body.

Wait.  Or was it four boys, hunting driftwood  who found the body on an island, by the bridge?

Oh.  1894 and 1940.  There were two bodies.  

In January of 1894,  Isaac Houseknecht Vanished

The Houseknecht Case is a bizarre one.   Was he robbed and murdered?  Was he kept alive for weeks in a barn somewhere?  Or did he get drunk and fall in the river?  Gun shots, a pool of blood, a fortune teller, a confession, and a message in a bottle.. and yet, it appears no one really knows what happened to Issacher Houseknecht.

Isaacher Houseknecht was born 10 Nov 1841 the son of Jacob & Susanna Houseknecht of Lycoming County Pa. He married Josephine Young, and they had a houseful of children.  Josephine had died in 1893, leaving several young children still at home.

On January 27 1894, 52 year old  Houseknecht had driven to Muncy with his neighbor William Buch, and it was believed that after they separated, Houseknecht was waylaid and robbed.  Shots had been heard in the area, a pool of blood was discovered behind a barn, and Houseknechts overcoat hung on a post nearby.  Witnesses reported seeing Houseknecht with two men, but those men do not appear to have ever been identified, at least not publicly.

Wilkes Barre Times February 16 - "Muncy and vicinity is still much excited over the disappearance of Farmer Houseknecht.  Searching parties are out constantly in hopes of finding the body.

As of February 28th, "search is still being made for the body of Issacher Houseknecht of Muncy, but with no trace so far."

February 1894

Nearly two months ago, Issacher HOUSEKNECHT, of Muncy, disappeared and up to date not the slightest clue has been obtained as to his whereabouts. Did he fall in the river and drown, was he murdered and his body secreted, or has he gone away? No one knows.

Mar 22, 1894 The Sullivan Review

In March, 5 weeks after Issachers disappearance, one of his sons consulted a psychic.  The old fortune teller told the son his father was still alive, and was ling in a log barn along the river.  The son and three of his friends searched "the country over" for the barn.  They now believe her story and will continue the hunt."

Then in  late March, there were rumours that Jacob Rooker had confessed to killing Houseknecht.  Rooker had recently been arrested for riding trains illegally, and while in custody, attempted suicide.  When the constable spoke with him about his "self harm" Rooker said he was implicated in the Houseknecht affair.

He claimed he  and two other men were with Houseknecht, behind the barn in the alley.  The men attempted to rob Houseknecht, and when Houseknecht fought back, one of the men shot and killed him.  They then put the body in a buggy and took it to the river, "with a frog switch tied to it" presumably among the wreckage of some freight cars that had went down in the river in the last big flood.

Note - it was common, all throughout our area,  when a flood was coming, to load heavy freight cars onto bridges in the hopes the weight would keep the bridges from washing away.  This plan appears to have succeeded so rarely that it's truly amazing how many times the practice was repeated.  And it makes me wonder how many train cars are still sunk down in the riverbeds today.

Rooker said he was "in the game" but had nothing to do with the shooting.

After being brought back to Muncy, Rooker denied his confession, and even though the entire town had been claiming Houseknecht had been robbed and murdered, no one believed Rookers story.

"People in Muncy generally discredit the story and place no credence in what Rooker says."

But apparently authorities believed it was possible, as  just days later, divers spent the day at the river below the railroad bridge. It was exhausting work, and they were at it for many hours, but nothing was found.

Jacob Rooker died of small pox  not long after his confession.  The Miltonian reported that "he was a queer character, and was supposed to know something of the disappearance of Jacob (Isaac) Houseknecht"

And then on May 20 1894, nearly 4 months after Houseknecht disappeared, two boys along the shore near the Dewart bridge spotted a body.  They attempted to bring it to shore, but lumberman A. J. Updegraff came along in his boat, and made the recovery.

When Houseknechts body was pulled from the river, he had $42 on his person, and a receipt bearing his name.     The innermost bills of the paper money were still dry.  The silver money was untarnished.  This lead many to believe he had not been in the water the entire time he had been missing. 

But he did not appear to have been robbed.

It's interesting to note the date - Houseknecht was discovered just two days before the flood on May 22 1894.  That flood would break the lumber boom in Williamsport, and wash two million board feet of lumber down the river. The lumber business in Williamsport never full recovered from this flood, it was the beginning of the end.

A coroners inquiry on May 31st 1894 determined no marks of violence, and authorities were satisfied that the man had not been murdered.

But Mr Gilmore, the district attorney was not in agreement.  Later that same day, he said that
although there were no marks of violence at the inquest, he believed the body was too decomposed to be certain, and that he authorities had many facts in their possession that lead them to believe Houseknecht had been murdered.

Another man, who was not identified by name, but only as "a prominent citizen who had held one of the county's most important offices" was quoted as saying:
"I reside but a short distance from where Houseknecht lives, and I am fully acquainted with all of the details of the case, as told by people of the vicinity, and I am convinced that Houseknecht was murdered.  I also believe that the body has not been in the river from the time of the disappearance, as it was not in a condition that would lead a person to that conclusion.  In this belief I am supported by the undertaker at Muncy who had charge of the body.  In addition to this, receipts and memoranda written with lead pencil that were in Houseknechts walled were not defaced, and no water was found in Houseknechts lungs"

A Williamsport Physician also stated that he did not believe the body could have been in the water from the time Houseknecht went missing, based on its condition.

It was later revealed that  Houseknechts lungs  were collapsed, and it was ruled that he must have been dead before he went into the water.

The Sullivan Republican reported "It should also be remember that several shots were heard on the night of January 27, and that Houseknechts overcoat was found hanging on a fence post near the river."

And then in June, Edward Arbogast, while rowing on the river, came across a bottle with a note in it.  "this the last words I have to Say.  If some Friend will go to Muncy and tell L.W. Watts that he has killed me with his Licor to berry me, he will know me.  H.M."

The note was believed to have been thrown in by a joker, but what the purpose was, no one knows.

So what really happened to Issaccher Houseknecht?  It appears that is still a mystery today.  

Two days after Houseknechts body was recovered, the May 1894 flood destroyed the old wooden bridge here.  In 1895, an iron bridge was built in it's place.  It stood until 1990.

1940, Fred Palinko, A Traveling Salesman, Vanished.

On March 17 1940, Fred Palinko of Freeland (between Wilkes Barre & Hazelton) was staying in a hotel in Williamsport.  That evening, he  vanished, leaving his car and luggage behind.  For three months, no one had any idea what had happened to the man.

When the body was found  by the four boys collecting driftwood in June of 1940, it was in such an advanced state of decomposition that it was difficult to identify it.  The man wore a green checkered overcoat, dark green suit, new shoes size eight, a one piece union suit, and a set of false teeth in the upper jaw. (the lower set of false teeth were later recovered from the river, some distance from where the body had been found.)

S.N. Schell of South WIlliamsport, a co worker, thought it could be the missing man.  Edwin Moore of Watsontown, formerly of Hazelton and well acquainted with Palinko also tentatively identified the body as that of Palinko. A blank check book of the Freeland National Bank was found on the body, and Palinkos brother confirmed that he had been given the book.   Palinko was known to have false teeth, and the dentist who did his dental work in 1935 had records, but by the time he was consulted it was already certain that this was the man who had been missing for 3 months.

No inquest was held, and the coroner ruled that it was an accidental drowning. Later however, someone added "suicidal" in blue ink on the death certificate.  164f  appears to refer to asbucens, the nerve that controls eye movement.  

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Find More Stories & History Of Dewart Here:

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2020/06/dewart-pennsylvania.html

And more local history from the Susquehanna Valley here:

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/p/history.html