Witches, Skeletons, Ghosts & Grave Robbers
Local Legends, Lore, & History
Local Legends, Lore, & History
Eight years before the Salem Witch Trials, two women in Pennsylvania were tried for witchcraft..
Children, on a 1952 school trip, being shown the skull of the Hessian solider found in a walled off room of Lochabar in Antes Fort, Lycoming County
A Skeleton Discovered In Milton in 1900
On April 25, 1900, the remains of a "very young child" were found in an "unused closet" (another account says "outhouse") at the Freight Station at Milton. Officer Rhodes was sent to investigate.(If the remains were ever identified, I can find no report of it.)
Read more about the Milton Train Station here:
According to the photographer, no one was in the room when this photo was taken in the old Lycoming [today Genetti] hotel. When he developed the film, this girl appeared in the photo.
Employees say they have heard giggling, especially in the laundry room, and that its this child haunting the hotel. Other stories frequently mention the "ghost on the 8th floor" (but this photo is in the lobby, not on the 8th floor, so perhaps that is another ghost)
One possible explanation for the photo:
"Because such an exposure would take a long time, the photographer would set his camera on a tripod, open the lens, and then perhaps go for a stroll. If someone happened to walk into the scene briefly and pause during this time, he or she might be recorded as an ethereal image, a “ghost.”
Read more about the Lycoming Hotel (today the Genetti) here:
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The Hooded Graves At Old Mt Zion Cemetery near Bloomsburg
A geocache first took us to these hooded graves in Columbia County, which are sometimes referred to as "Vampire Cages" If researchers are correct, these are the only examples of mortsafes, built to keep grave robbers out, in the United States.
It's accepted that there were grave robbers here in the Susquehanna Valley, as we did have doctors. It was not uncommon for doctors to obtain a cadaver to practice a surgery on, before performing it on his living patient. It appears that Dr McKelvy, a surgeon in Bloomsburg, for one, worked with illegally obtained cadavers.
When the Lutheran and Reformed Cemetery in Bloomsburg was moved to Espy in 1925, more than 100 bodies were missing.
Read more about the caged graves in Catawissa here -
For another very unique grave in Central PA, read more about the "Escape Hatch Graves" in Wildwood Cemetery - https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-escape-hatch-tomb-at-wildwood.html
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The Schaben Creek Werewolf - By Henry Shoemaker
A tale of a werewolf in love with a very young shepherdess.
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According to legend, If, on the night of the Harvest Moon, you stand on the grave of Katy Vandine, and knock on the tree beside it, her ghost, dressed in shimmering white, will walk down the hill towards you.
You may also hear her crying from inside the church, or even hear her call your name.
As the legend goes, young Katie had an affair with a married man. To save himself recrimination, he accused Katie of witchcraft. Unmarried, pregnant, and accused of being a witch, Katy Vandine hung herself from a tree by the church.
An alternate tale says that Katy was engaged to be married, but her fiancé, a soldier, died in battle. Distraught, Katy hung herself in her wedding dress.
None of this appears to have any historical accuracy, but a 2002 book by L.A. Flick perpetuates the legend. In truth, Catherine Vandine attended services in that church right up until she died of natural causes, at age 87.
The Face In The Window In Lewisburg, Pa
According to legend, around the time of the civil war, a black man died in what is today the Dale Engle Walker house in Lewisburg. Afterward, his image repeatedly appeared in a window on the second floor.
The tale brought so many curiosity seekers to the grounds that years later, an owner remodeled the upstairs of the home and removed the window, to discourage the trespassers hoping to see the image.
Allison's Grave, Duboistown
"People living in South Williamsport are greatly agitated by a strange apparition which appears nightly - that of a headless woman dressed in long flowing robes"
According to the legend of Allison's Grave, told in Weird Pennsylvania by Matt Lake, a World War II nurse from Duboistown was decapitated when her plane was shot down. Her remains were sent home to be buried at a cemetery along Mosquito Valley Road.
The above newspaper article about the apparition, however, is from an 1899 Bloomsburg newspaper - written 40 years before World War II began. If the headless apparition was Allison, she began her haunting before she was born. Edna Allison, in truth, died in a plane crash in 1964, long after the end of the War. And she had not been decapitated.
"Superstitious people believe the ghost is that of an unknown woman whose skeleton was found on the mountains back of Duboistown. many are afraid to venture out after nightfall." reads the 1899 article.
It appears to have been not uncommon in this area for people to dress up and "spook" for fun, and that is most likely what happened in 1899.
The Sunbury Spook Of 1887
In 1887, a man wearing half a mask roamed the streets of Sunbury, asking those he came upon if they could see a scar on his head. The local paper interviewed what appears to be most of the town, reporting their thoughts on the spook. Chief Burgess Cadwallader was quoted as saying: ‘‘What do |.I think of the cloak man? Well I think it is the best thing out, it saves the expenses Of a police officer in keeping the streets| quiet ; will engage another if possible.”
Read More here:
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The Legend Of Mad Anthony Wayne
And his ghosts yearly ride to collect his bones.
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The Legend Of The Jack-O-Lantern
How An Irish Legend Brought Us Carved Pumpkins For Halloween
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The Capering Ghost & Headless Man
Written by Charles Steese, for the Daily Item, 1953
Debunking Old Local Ghost Stories With The Union County Sheriff, John Middlesworth
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P.O.of A. Masquerade Party October 29 1917
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Find More Local Stories & History Here:
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READ MORE
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Published in the Lewisburg Journal, January 1908
John George Hohman
Long Lost Friend, 1819
"The Spook Book" (Superstitions)
"To win every game engaged in.—
Tie the heart of a bat with a red
silken string to the right arm, and you
will win every game at cards you
play."
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On March 7, 1760, the Goshen
Monthly Meeting of Friends (Chester
county, Pa.) disowned Robert Jones
for injury done to a poor woman, who
was popularly believed to be a witch.
He had driven her out of her house
and otherwise abused her.
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A Halloween Vandalism Warning
From The Sunbury Daily Item, 1943
All Hallows Eve
From the 1872 Northumberland County Democrat
Hallow Eve is a day that is particularly observed by young people, as on it various arts of divination are employed to learn who art. to be future husbands and wives.
It is believed in many parts of the British Isles that ghosts, fairies and spirits walk abroad, and that while the purpose of some is good, that of others is evil.
In the evening it is the custom for assemblages to take place at family firesides, where fortune-telling, recital of stories, and dances serve to pass away the evening. One of the principal amusements is suspending from the ceiling cross sticks, at each alternate end of which is a lighted candle or an apple, which is kept rapidly revolving around, inviting candidates to compete for the grateful prize. The result is that many only succeed in scorching their hands, but the pleasure of being laughed at is considered sufficient recompense.
Another amusement is placing coin in a bucket of water where all have the privilege of immersing their heads and making attempts to seize the shining silver in their teeth. Nuts are used in profusion.
There is a custom of placing three of the fruit on the bars of the grates naming the nuts after sweethearts, If the nut cracks or jumps, the lover will prove unfaithful, an if it begins to blaze or burn, ho has a regard for the person making the trial. If the nuts named after the girl or young man burn together they will be married.
Another custom much observed is that of placing three dishes in a row. These are respectively filled with clean and foul water and one is empty. The parties, blindfolded, advance respectively and dip their fingers into one. If in the clean they will be married to a virgin, if in the foul not to a virgin but to some one else, and if in the empty the party will remain siDgle or die without being wedded.
There are many other customs all having reference to the matter of future husbands and wives, and tseekiDg protection from the influence of evil spirits.
The observance of Hallow Eve, like many others that prevail in Europe, has been transplanted to this country and there is no doubt that in many households in every part ot the country there will be the usual merry makings.
In Ireland and Scotland, though many ancient customs have fallen into disuse, All Hallow is still reckoned among tho most joydul anniversaries. People of these nationalities in America will revive the merry scenes of their younger days, and their descendants will join heartily in the pastimes of the occasion.
Burns has depicted these in his poem. "All Hallow E'en." "He says: "It is thought to be a night when all the supernatural beings who people space and earth and air are in search of mishief. and it is, also, the grand anniversary of the more benignant fairies, whose occupation is to baffle the evil genius in his wicked pursuits."
The origin of the custom is not known but it is thought to extend back to the time of the Druids.
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An article on Ghosts, Published in the Lewisburg Journal, 1903
The Lewisburg Journal, 1909
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Mad Anthony Wayne's Ride To Collect His Bones
The Spook Of Spook Hill - Pennsylvania Mountain Stories, by Shoemaker
The Old Righters Ghost - Pennsylvania Mountain Stories, by Shoemaker
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