Pennsylvania Oddities: Recent Episodes
Marlin Bressi
Author and "historian of the macabre" Marlin Bressi explores true crime, unsolved mysteries, haunted places, and strange history from around the Keystone State. Based on the Pennsylvania Oddities blog and book series by Sunbury Press. New episodes on the 1st and 15th of every month.
Be sure to visit the Pennsylvania Oddities blog for hundreds of astonishing true stories from every corner of the spookiest state in America!
It's not every day a chiropractor admits to dismembering the body of one of his patients, but, in January of 1926, that's exactly what occurred in Philadelphia.
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There are many strange ways to die, but few are as rare as being sacrificed by a group of religious fanatics. Yet, this is exactly the tragic fate which befell one five-year-old girl from Northampton County in April of 1908.
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On Monday, December 10, 1923, 38-year-old Harvey Willow left his home near Selinsgrove to go hunting. When Tuesday morning dawned crisp and cold without his return, his wife sent their eleven-year-old son, Glenn, to the home of a neighbor to learn if he knew of Harvey's whereabouts. It was this neighbor, Lewis Gemberling, who located the missing hunter in a clump of woodland on the property of Norman App, with the back of his skull blown off. And so begins the tale of one of the most shocking crimes in the history of Snyder County.
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German immigrant Herman Schultz holds the distinction of being the only person hanged in Pike County; he went to his death in 1897 for the murder of his estranged wife. However, another German immigrant nearly beat Schultz to the gallows fourteen years earlier. In 1884, George Jacob Schmidlin confessed to a cowardly murder. Schmidlin cheated the executioner by hanging himself in his cell in the Milford jail. But, if folks around Westfall Township thought they had seen the last of Frank Heitz's killer, they were wrong.
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While Solomon Boscov is remembered for founding the chain of department stores bearing his name, he also played a role in a chilling and mysterious Berks County murder. In August of 1941, Boscov opened an icebox door-- and discovered the tragic fate of little Billy Krewson.
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In March of 1930, one Harrisburg woman suffered the sort of death typically reserved for horror movies or nightmares.
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In 1909, Harry Keener confessed to murder. What makes this case truly remarkable is that it is one of the few instances in which a man who confessed to murder was set free, even though a witness testified that she had helped Harry dispose of the body-- in a rather gruesome way.
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In September of 1930, the peaceful village of Spry was the scene of the bloodiest murder in York County history. It was here where an entire family was slaughtered by the blade of an insane farmer's axe.
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Warning: This episode contains graphic depictions which some listeners may find disturbing. On February 14, 1891, Edward McMillan of Exeter Township committed one of the most revolting murders in the history of Luzerne County-- a crime which, according to one newspaper reporter, outshone Jack the Ripper in terms of sheer brutality.
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On Friday, June 28, 1929, William Kennedy was building a new fence on his farm near York Springs when the circling of vultures led to shocking discovery on the banks of Bermudian Creek, about a hundred yards from the old Gettysburg-Harrisburg highway. It was the badly-decomposed body of a woman lying face-down in the mud. The victim, a 27-year-old deaf mute and mother of four from Harrisburg named Carrie Shellenberger Weiss, hadn't been seen or heard from since June 22. Though her husband was questioned, he was never arrested-- though evidence seems to point the finger directly at him.
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Lined with quaint shops and historic buildings, Annville is one of the most charming towns in the Lebanon Valley. However, in 1887, Annville became the scene of horror after 60-year-old William Showers committed two of the most sensational murders in the county's history on the outskirts of town.
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Penn State Altoona, built on the site of a defunct amusement park, has a dark secret. At the center of the campus is a pond, the remnant of the warming dam which once fed Ivyside Park's massive swimming pool. There is one particularly sad tragedy associated with this pool-- a tragedy involving a distraught mother who drowned herself and her children one spring evening in 1930.
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In February of 1900, a tiny, middle-aged German tramp found himself confined to a steel cell in the basement of the Lebanon city hall. He had been brought to Lebanon from the Berks County, where he had been picked up on a vagrancy charge. This was nothing out of the ordinary for 50-year-old Leopold Rowe, who had been drifting from town to town for the past ten years of his life. Rowe was no stranger to county jails and small-town lockups, and, under normal circumstances, he would've been out on the streets in a day or two. But this time, things would be different. This time, Leopold Rowe admitted to murder-- and claimed that the ghost of his victim had tormented him into confessing his crime.
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In 1915, a group of boys skating on a frozen swamp discovered a headless body entombed in ice. All signs pointed to foul play, but who was the victim?
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Over one thousand criminals have paid for their crimes in Pennsylvania with their lives. But one man, Lorenzo Savage, holds the distinction of being the only voodoo doctor executed by the Commonwealth.
The story seems like a tale ripped from the pages of a dime-store novel: A lovelorn nurse is brutally slain, her body found outside an abandoned mansion. In her hand detectives find an arrangement of playing cards, which they soon learn is the black magic "hand of death". But the tragic tale of Elsie Barthel is not a work of fiction. It really happened in Pittsburgh in the fall of 1923.
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In Lebanon County there exists a place known to locals as Ghost Hollow. For more than a century, strange things have happened near this rural stretch between Shaefferstown and Newmanstown. In 1876, a teenage girl lost her life in a horrific carriage accident just outside the tiny village of Millbach. According to those who witnessed the entire incident, something "otherworldly" was to blame.
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Every Halloween, children's thoughts turn to black cats, goblins and ghouls. For most, it is a joyful occasion, a chance to indulge in all things delightfully wicked. From magic potions to witches on broomsticks, the imagery is often lighthearted and playful because Halloween monsters are just make-believe. But tragically, in October of 1954, one little girl discovered that some monsters are real.
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One of America's most successful serial killers was Martha Grinder, an Allegheny County woman who rose to notoriety in the years following the Civil War as "The Poisoner of Gray's Alley". What made Martha Grinder so successful in playing her deadly game, aside from the fact that she killed indiscriminately for years before getting caught, was that she appeared beyond reproach-- for Martha was adored by her neighbors and was regarded as one of the kindest-hearted women in the Pittsburgh area.
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The historical record shows that 1,043 criminals are known to have been executed in Pennsylvania, beginning with the hanging of Derek Jonson in Bucks County in 1693 and ending with the lethal injection of Philadelphia serial killer Gary Michael Heidnik in 1999. Of these 1,043 persons who paid the ultimate price for their crimes, only one was a clergyman-- Cyriacus Spangenberg.
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Two young lovers, killed by a single sniper's bullet. For 99 years, the Lamb's Gap Murders have perplexed law enforcement. Who killed Harry Ganster and Leah Ellenberger in May of 1924? Moonshiners? A jealous ex-lover? Or was it a murder-suicide? At various times, all of these explanations seemed to fit. The problem, however, is that none of these explanations fit perfectly.
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With Guest Host Ashley Bemis. In April of 1875, the most sensational murder trial in the history of Fulton County took place. Charged with one of the most shocking crimes imaginable were Mary Mellott and her husband Daniel, a Civil War veteran who was known throughout Buck Valley as "Wolf Dan" on account of his disfigured face.
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The McKean County township of Wetmore once boasted an architectural gem of a mansion with a dark and mysterious past. Rumored to the inhabited by maleficent spirits, the "Haunted House of Wetmore", as it was known to folks in Kane and surrounding towns, was erected in the early 20th century by a businessman who had something of a fire problem-- that is to say that every building he owned was destroyed by a bizarre series of fires over a period of several decades for which there was no discernible cause.
Stranger still, several family members of the man for whom the mansion was built died under strange circumstances, leading many to believe that the family of Thomas Keelor had been cursed by someone-- or something.
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In the backwoods of Cumberland County live some of the kindest, gentlest souls you could imagine; decent, God-fearing folks who'd gladly give you the shirt off their own back or drive you into town if you should happen to run out of gas on a lonesome country road. But the backwoods of Cumberland County have also been the home to some of the most depraved and reprehensible folks who ever trod God's green earth. One example is John Gampher, who, in the late 19th century, pulled off one of the most diabolical stunts in the annals of Pennsylvania crime.
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In 1911, witchcraft hysteria spread across central Pennsylvania, with dozens of superstitious citizens swearing out complaints against men and women accused of being hex or "pow-wow" doctors, but one bizarre story of Schuylkill County made newspaper headlines across the commonwealth. Alleging that her father, Howell Thomas of Tumbling Run, died as the result of a hex placed upon him, Mary Isabelle Thomas went to the press with a long list of peculiar incidents which she believed would prove that her father succumbed to the effects of black magic. Mary claimed these mishaps began immediately after a black cat showed up on the Thomas farm-- a cat that assumed monstrous proportions, growing to four feet in height before magically returning to its previous form.
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In 1862, the residents of Providence Township in Lackawanna County decided to establish a poor farm for those who were impoverished, handicapped, elderly, and otherwise unable to work and care for themselves. This facility, which was then known as the Hillside Home, also provided housing and treatment for the mentally ill. In 1943, the name was changed to the Clarks Summit State Hospital, which continues to operate to this day.
As with any asylum with such a long history, the Hillside Home has seen some dark moments, including several violent inmate deaths at the hands of staff members, but none so tragic as the brutal murder of two female inmates in the summer of 1906 by a deranged mute named Ignatz Krewzyk.
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In March of 1928, William Ward and his young wife, Catherine Ward, occupied the second floor of a Pittsburgh duplex with their two children, three-year-old Billy and eight-month-old Dorothy Mae. Once, the Wards had a been a happy family with all-American dreams of white picket fences and a garage to park their car. But everything changed one cold, dreary Thursday morning in March.
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On February 14, 1928, seven-year-old Lawrence McCall went to school at the No. 5 Mine schoolhouse in Springfield Township, near the Mercer-Lawrence county line. It was Valentine's Day and the teacher, Miss Ebba Widing, had planned a special presentation and all the parents were invited. Sadly, for the twenty pupils in attendance, this Valentine's Day would forever be remembered with horror, because on this particular day they looked on helplessly as Mrs. McCall slashed her own son's throat in full view of everyone.
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During the early 20th century, James Black Spahr was a popular member of the Chambersburg borough council. Unlike many politicians, Spahr genuinely cared about his community and those who called it home, and his many years of public service were unblemished by scandal. A devout Christian and family man, he didn't seem to have an enemy in the world. But on December 3, 1909, the beloved public figure made a horrifying discovery... someone had stolen the remains of his infant son. Who did it and why? Therein lies the mystery.
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Guest hosted by Ashley Bemis. In 1936, a perplexing triple murder occurred on South Braddock Avenue in Pittsburgh. Described as the "ideal family", five-year-old Bobby, three-year-old Janice, and their mother Eleanor were found brutally slain inside their luxurious apartment on June 18 while the husband was away from home. But who would want to slaughter Eleanor Feely and her two young children? To this day, no one is quite sure who carried out this gruesome act.
Connellsville dates back to the early 19th century, but it did not become a city until 1909, when the borough of Connellsville and its neighbor across the Youghiogeny River, the borough of New Haven, were joined together. While Connellsville is famous for being the center of the coke industry in western Pennsylvania during the late 1800s, New Haven was at the center of a spectacular quadruple murder in 1893.
Near Falls Creek in Jefferson County is a region known as Beechwoods, a locality which includes some of the finest farmland in Washington Township. The area was settled in 1824 by Henry Keys, Alexander Osborn, John McIntosh, John McGhee and Thomas Moore. These early settlers, mostly of Scotch and Irish origin, named the community after the large number of beech trees they found there. It is one of these founders, Thomas Moore, who played a role in one of the most colorful chapters in the history of Jefferson County. It is a story that seems ripped right out of the pages of a novel, and features murder, suicide, a haunted farm and a buried treasure of silver and gold.
The mysterious 1914 kidnapping of seven-year-old Warren McCarrick created a media sensation and culminated in the finding of a boy's body in the Delaware River. While the boy's abductor has never been caught, it's possible that Warren might have been one of numerous child victims tortured and killed by a monstrous degenerate.
A baseball executive, a sex-crazed playboy, and a wealthy doctor all suffer strange fates courtesy of the "evil eye".
Ask any resident of Exeter Township, and they'll tell you the most famous haunted house in the area is the Lizzie Lincoln house-- an abandoned 19th century structure that beckons spook-seekers from behind a rusting fence festooned with "No Trespassing" signs. The legend of Lizzie Lincoln is so famous around Berks County that it has found a home in numerous books about Pennsylvania ghost stories. However, it turns out that the entire legend may be nothing more than a hoax perpetrated by a lawless landfill owner... with a penchant for toxic waste.
When a small child was found hungry and crying inside an abandoned automobile parked along a rural stretch of Lycoming County in the summer of 1922, the first chapter of a perplexing mystery was written. When the bodies of a man and woman, their throats slashed as if by a razor, were found a few feet away in the waters of Lycoming Creek, the mystery deepened, and to this day no one knows if Henry Shearer and his wife were victims of a double murder or a murder suicide.
In 1909, an old hermit named David Cutschall died at the home of his brother-in-law in a sparsely-populated spot in Franklin County known as "The Corner". On his deathbed, Cutshall made a series of strange comments that left many scratching their heads, including a possible confession regarding the mysterious disappearance of an eight-year-old girl who vanished in the mountains below Mercersburg in 1869. At the time of the girl's disappearance, it was believed that she had either died of starvation after wandering off, or had been kidnapped by gypsies, but others believed until their dying day that David Cutschall had murdered the child in cold blood.
Perhaps the most famous haunted location in Erie County is the site of the old Gudgeonville Covered Bridge, which spanned Elk Creek for over a century near a gorge known as the Devil's Backbone. With rumors of paranormal activity stretching back to the early 20th century-- and a verifiable track record of bizarre deaths-- it is no surprise that Gudgeonville has become a favorite spot for ghosthunters. But when it comes to this spectacularly spooky site, what is fact and what is fiction?
Just outside of Lewistown in Mifflin County is a picturesque little valley of patchwork farms and ancient barns. Known as Ort's Valley, this was the home of Henry Ort who, in 1903, bequeathed the cemetery on his farm to be held in trust for future burials of his descendants. Perhaps then it is no surprise that, shortly before his death in 1907, Henry Ort experienced a supernatural event that not only astounded newspaper reporters, but seemed to suggest that a heavenly reward had been set aside for him by a Higher Power.
In 1903, the residents of York were terrorized by the appearance of a woman in a long black veil who strolled through Penn Park every night, imploring frightened passersby to lift her veil and take a peek. As if this nightly occurrence wasn't bizarre enough, it just so happened that Penn Park was once the site of a potter's field where York's impoverished and unknown dead had been buried in unmarked graves, as well as the site of a Civil War hospital.
Thousands of meteors streaked across the Pennsylvania sky for several weeks in October of 1907, with meteorites crashing into Schuylkill, Dauphin, Northumberland and surrounding counties by the hundreds. Across the mid-state, enormous chunks of red-hot space rock set forests ablaze while farmers and livestock alike huddled in barns and basements, fearful of their lives. From Wilkes-Barre to York, hundreds of men and women dropped to their knees in prayer, with many in hysterics. Surely, they thought, this is an omen of the end of the world.
It was a Wednesday morning in May of 1939 when neighbors of the Cook family made a startling discovery-- a bloody axe lying upon the ground. Being a farming community not far from the Ohio state line, blades and bloody implements weren't terribly uncommon in South Beaver Township; the necessities of daily life often required the butchering of a chicken or the slaughtering of a pig. But there was indeed something about the bloody axe that was very uncommon, and grounds for some concern-- there was hair stuck to the blade, and the hair appeared to be human.
Constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1961, Kettle Creek Reservoir in Clinton County is a popular destination for fishermen, boaters and swimmers. Yet, beneath its peaceful waters rests the bones of long-forgotten early settlers of Leidy Township.
Just about everyone in Pennsylvania knows about the ghost town of Centralia, and most folks who were born and raised in the area, such as myself, have spent many a summer day exploring the post-Apocalyptic terrain, marveling at the smoke billowing from cracks in the abandoned streets, and pondering the fire that has been burning underground for generations. However, very few locals remember Centralia's smaller and lesser-known neighbor-- the once-bustling village of Logan. Like Centralia, Logan also became a casualty of the infamous mine fire.
When one thinks of murder scenes, the mind naturally gravitates towards secluded wilderness spots, dark basements, bar rooms and back alleys. The actors in these grisly crimes, if justice is lucky, are arrested and locked up until such time as they are called upon by the criminal justice system to face the consequences of their sinister deeds in a courtroom. We tend to view courtrooms as impregnable places where killers go to face the music for their crimes-- not places where a murder is likely to occur. Yet, the Cumberland County Courthouse in Carlisle was the scene of a shootout in 1955 which resulted in the death of an attorney, and the wounding of several others, including a judge.
The story of the rise and fall of Frank Lee Wilson is a remarkable tale; it is the tragic story of a quiet, tiny man tasked with the awesome responsibility of meting out justice to the state's most hardened and repugnant criminals. And it is a cautionary tale about how a mild-mannered individual can turn into a cruel, hardened shell of a human being in just a few short years after being granted the God-like power of revoking human life.
When John Wentzel discovered a human skeleton buried in the basement of his Federal Street home in Lebanon in 1926, it set into motion a bizarre chain of events that whipped the entire city into a frenzy. It is a story of a chilling nightmare-- following by a gruesome find-- that still puzzles fans of paranormal unsolved mysteries to this day.
Built in 1894, the seven-story Hotel Jermyn has been a Scranton landmark for over a century. Named after coal baron John Jermyn, the 200-room hotel has seen scores of famous and infamous guests alike, from President Eisenhower to mafia hitmen, and has boasted a bevy of locally-famous bars and nightclubs such as the Omar Room, which opened in 1935 and showcased renowned performers of the era like Pauline Gaskins, Frank Fay and Red Nichols.
Today, the Scranton landmark once known as the Hotel Jermyn now operates as an apartment building for seniors. Perhaps some of the older residents may remember dancing the night away in the hotel's Arabian Ballroom or slaking their thirst in the Manhattan Bar. And perhaps some of them might still recall that strange night in 1947 when a young woman named Ethel White mysteriously jumped to her death from her seventh floor window.
Located about seventy-five miles northeast of Pittsburgh, Reynoldsville is a small, quiet town which hasn't seen much excitement since the 1920s, when a handful of factories and silk mills attracted workers to the tiny borough. In the summer of 1928, Frank Chiffin was employed at the silk mill as a watchman. The close proximity between the mill and his home allowed him to keep tabs on his family. He kept a particularly close watch on his wife, who was fifteen years younger and said to be quite attractive, and before long Frank Chiffin began to suspect that Gertrude was having an affair. What happened next? Listen to this episode and find out.
Located near the center of the Lock Haven University campus, Woolridge Hall is home to over two hundred college students. While scores of students have passed though the doors of this modern building since its construction in 1962, many would be surprised to learn that this spot was once the location of "Hillside"-- the sprawling estate of state senator Samuel Richard Peale and his wife, Harriet. It was also the site of a mysterious suicide in 1884.
The story of Solomon "Bip" Vawn is well known throughout Pennsylvania. It is a classic tale of a runaway slave who, despite unbelievable odds, finds freedom north of the Mason-Dixon Line and lives out the remainder of his days in peace and prosperity. There are many different versions of the story; in some accounts, Bip dies at a ripe old age and is buried on his farm in Mont Alto in Franklin County, while other versions of the story have him retiring to Ohio or Southern California. But what is the truth behind this classic Pennsylvania fable?
One of Montgomery County's most perplexing unsolved mysteries is the 1932 death of Samuel Forti, whose battered body was found hanging in the washroom of the Werner Foundry in Lansdale, where he worked as a night watchman. At various times, authorities believed that Forti's death was the result of suicide, an attack by a burglar, revenge by a jealous lover, and-- perhaps strangest of all-- a shadowy religious cult.
A decade ago, the law enforcement community of Chester County wanted to pay tribute to a sheriff who was killed on his second day on the job in 1887. They chose to memorialize the long-forgotten sheriff, Benjamin Irey, with an 18-by-15-inch bronze plaque at the courthouse in West Chester. Usually, such ceremonies involve descendants of the fallen hero's family. But in the case of Benjamin Irey, county officials were unable to find any of his descendants-- and, for a very peculiar reason: The Irey family bloodline was obliterated by a baffling series of strange deaths.
The Moosic Mountains of Lackawanna County are just a stone's throw away from the urban centers of Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, yet they still contain dark, shadowy, seemingly impenetrable places steeped in mystery dating back to Indian times. However, one of the most fascinating mysteries doesn't date back to the early settler days, but to the early 20th century, when the coal mining industry reigned supreme. It is the mystery of a skeleton of an unknown man whose bones might be scattered anywhere except the spot they were first buried in 1906.
In the early hours of September 10, 1896, the sleepy town of Bloomsburg became the center of one of the most diabolical murder plots ever concocted by the human mind. Poison, dynamite and deadly microbes-- these were the tools used by Clifton Knorr, a disgruntled son of a wealthy businessman hired by prominent local lawyer Lloyd S. Wintersteen to eliminate his chief rival.
With its fieldstone construction reminiscent of a Medieval fortress, the William Penn Memorial Fire Tower is a Reading landmark that turns about as many heads as its Mt. Penn neighbor, the Pagoda. While both structures are unofficial historic symbols of Berks County's largest city, the fire tower has a particularly strange history-- a history marked by irony, tragedy and perhaps even an Indian curse.
Amid the sprawling wilderness of the Allegheny National Forest, miles from the nearest town, four roads converge in a remote spot in Howe Township, where a wooden cross marks the lonesome grave of a murder victim long forgotten. Although the name 'Turner' is etched into the weather-beaten memorial, most locals can't quite say who the unfortunate man was or when he died; all they can tell you is that it happened long, long ago.
In September of 1924, a shocking act of violence stunned the residents of Carlisle when a jealous man shot his sweetheart and her mother before turning the gun on himself in the back yard of the Dotter family home at 118 Elm Street. The ghastly act was said to have left such an impression that witnesses reported seeing the ghost of the killer near the scene of the crime just weeks after the tragedy... and, strangely, an eerily similar brush with death occurred inside the very same house six years later.
The tiny borough of Hawley, in Wayne County, was the scene of horror on March 4, 1904, when the body of an elderly widow was found drenched in a pool of blood on the floor of her candy shop on Marble Hill. Although a veteran of the Spanish-American War was later arrested and tried for the crime, the evidence against him was flimsy at best, and the suspect was eventually acquitted. To this day, the heinous murder remains unsolved, although many residents of Palmyra Township insisted that they knew who the real killer was-- a mentally unbalanced man who lived next door to the victim.
There is a statue in a Lancaster cemetery that is said to come alive at night and descend from her pedestal when the moon is just right. It is the statue marking the final resting place of Augusta Harriet Bitner, a young woman whose death in 1906 has spawned many rumors and ghost stories. But is there any truth to this local legend?
During the 19th century, one riverfront tavern served as the secret hideout for some of Pittsburgh's most dangerous criminals. There was Brocky McDonald, the bank robber who would eventually meet his demise at the hands of his own gang. There was Booby Adams, Blinky Morgan, Kid Munn, Patsy McGraw, Dutch Tony and an assortment of criminals whose exploits were known all over the country. There was also Joe Anderson, the bartender who operated his own crime syndicate when he wasn't pouring drinks for Oyster Paddy.
Shortly before the owner, Hugh O'Donnell-- locally known as "Oyster Paddy"-- passed away in 1907, human skeletons were unearthed at the site of his notorious saloon during the construction of a new skyscraper. Since Oyster Paddy died taking his secrets to the grave, the identities of these forgotten victims have never been ascertained, thereby forming the basis for one of Pennsylvania's most perplexing unsolved mysteries.
Of the hundreds of murderers who have hanged for their crimes in Pennsylvania, only a handful have been female. Lena Miller, who was one of these women, also holds the distinction of being the first person sentenced to death in Clearfield County. This is the story of one pioneer woman who went to considerable lengths to kill her seemingly destructible husband.
Once a thriving lumber camp on the banks of Potato Creek in McKean County, the village of Betula lies halfway between Smethport and Emporium. The few people who call this backwoods location home are friendly folks, who are likely to point you to the best fishing spots or give you directions to nearest gas station. However, during the height of the lumber boom in the early 20th century, Betula was known around the region as home to some of the meanest characters who ever wielded an axe-- and home to the ghost of a murder victim named Edward Ralph.
On a sunny Sunday in June, 1907, a pretty little girl with golden hair walked the short distance home from her grandfather's farm near the village of Avondale in Chester County. Accompanying five-year-old Mary Robbins Newlin was her little sister, Fannie. At a fork in the road where an old, abandoned church stood, the sisters parted and it was at this lonesome spot where Mary was last seen alive.
The history of the Pennsylvania Coal Region wouldn't be complete without one, or several, chapters devoted to organized crime. During the Prohibition Era, crime rings could be found in just about every nook and cranny of the anthracite region. The nefarious plots of many mobsters were hatched in dozens of area "houses of ill repute", such as the notorious Sunset Inn in Numidia, which was just one of the many seedy establishments owned by Louis Moff, who met his death in a hail of gunshots outside his Atlas home in 1931.
Somewhere in the historic Cross Creek Cemetery in Washington County, about thirty miles west of Pittsburgh, there is a lost grave that holds the dust of a frontier wife named Mary Wallace, whose death in 1782 led to one of the most famous, and horrific, massacres in American history.
This is the story of famed balloonist Wash Donaldson and how he came to be buried thousands of miles away from home, in a graveyard north of the Arctic Circle. It is also a tale of unsolved murder; many believe that Donaldson intentionally "disappeared" after throwing a passenger from the basket of his hot air balloon in 1875.
Seventy-five years before the Wright Brothers flew into the history books, a pair of eccentric brothers from Dauphin County built a flying machine.
On a hot July evening in 1921, a mysterious fire claimed the lives of Reverend Felix Nowak, his wife, and their three children. Was this a case of arson or a tragic accident? Those who encountered the ghost of the dead preacher are likely to say it must have been a case of cold, premeditated murder.
On the cold, dreary Monday morning of January 10, 1916, two sets of parents awoke to discover their children were missing. Those who knew Clayton Mengle and Helen Hepler insisted they had gone to Maryland, where Helen's tender age wouldn't be a deterrent in obtaining a marriage license. Whether they ever reached Maryland is unknown; for three months no one saw or heard a thing from either Clayton or Helen. Whatever events took place during that time remain a mystery, but when the young lovers were finally found, many believed that Clayton and Helen had never made it out of sight of their Schuylkill County homes.
Like his father, Erasmus Godfrey Rehrer seemed destined for success. After serving honorably as an officer in the Union Army's engineering corps and attaining the rank of captain, he entered the coal mining business. As superintendent of the Tremont Coal Company, Captain Rehrer, along with two partners, saw an opportunity to strike it rich. After discovering a previously unknown vein of coal near Donaldson, they formed their own company, obtained a lease on the land and sunk all their savings into drilling a tunnel. And that's when things went horribly wrong.
It's impossible to say how many generations have been enchanted by the beauty of Wildcat Falls in York County, but it is known that hundreds of years ago the Susquehannock tribe had a village here, where Wildcat Run cuts a magnificent gorge through the rocky hills before taking a 150-foot plunge on its short course to the Susquehanna at a point across the river upstream from Marietta. It was here, on the site of the old Indian village, where a hotel was erected in the late 19th century.
Though largely forgotten today, the Wildcat Falls Hotel was a local landmark. During the early 20th century, cottages and cabins were erected along River Road, and the locale became a popular weekend getaway for many York and Lancaster County residents. But even after the last traces of the once-prestigious hotel had disappeared, there were still a few locals who kept a close watch on the grounds. One of them was George Wilson, who, for decades, upheld a little-known local tradition-- decorating the grave of an unknown Confederate soldier who was hastily buried at Wildcat Falls after a scouting mission gone horribly wrong.
Across the river from Pittsburgh, on the southern banks of the Monongahela, lies the suburb of Homestead. Here, on a quiet street, lived a quiet boy named Charlie Cawley, a teenage genius who seemed destined to one day join the ranks of Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell and Cyrus McCormick in the pantheon of great American inventors-- until he inexplicably slaughtered his mother and siblings one fateful night in 1902.
Somewhere just over the Columbia-Luzerne county line, on a hill overlooking the scenic valley north of Beach Haven, lies the mortal remains of one of the most eccentric citizens to ever call Salem Township home. Benjamin Remaley passed away in 1885 and the age of 75, but not before making out a detailed will with several bizarre stipulations-- like his demand that two holes be drilled into his coffin so that he could escape-- if necessary-- from evil spirits.
But that's just one of the many strange final requests made by the ornery farmer. And had Benjamin Remaley not been such a quirky fellow, his moldering bones would be slumbering in a graveyard instead of hidden somewhere on the foothills of Knob Mountain.
Old-time railroaders in western Pennsylvania often told tales about Wild Tom Skelton, whose ghost was fond of standing on the tracks as the locomotives bore down on him, leaning on his long gun with a forlorn look in his eyes, cursed to search for all eternity for his beloved Maria. The tragic tale of Tom Skelton is one of heartbreak on the wilderness frontier of present-day Indiana County, but what is the true origin of the story of Wild Tom Skelton's wandering spirit, known throughout western Pennsylvania as the Ghost of Packsaddle Gap?
The coincidental timing of the science fiction craze and the Cold War inspired millions of Americans to keep their eyes glued to the night sky for Soviet missiles, flying saucers, and all things in between in the decade following World War II. Just three years after the Roswell crash, a peculiar UFO sighting in Clearfield County on March 15, 1950, made national headlines.
The fact that this "flying saucer" was seen by Dr. Craig Hunter, an amateur pilot and technical director for a supply firm specializing in scientific instruments, added a touch of credibility to the claim. But not everyone was convinced of the authenticity of Dr. Hunter's story, however; some insisted that Hunter had fabricated his story, and had based his drawings of the spaceship he had seen on a drawing published earlier that month by a magazine. So what is the truth behind Dr. Hunter's spectacular story?
The trials and tribulations of Albert Large, a Civil War-era hermit who found peace living inside a hilltop cave... that is, until his hideaway was discovered by nosy locals.
In a lonesome spot on North Mahanoy Mountain, near the No. 3 Reservoir on Waste House Run, lies a grave with a peculiar history. This is the final resting place of Jost Folhaber, a Jewish-German merchant who became the first known murder victim in Schuylkill County. This spot, known locally as "Peddler's Grave", has been one of the Coal Region's best-kept secrets ever since Folhaber's gruesome death in the summer of 1797.
Peter Hauntz was the stage name of James H. Sharp, a Civil War veteran from Clinton County who rose to prominence during the latter half of the 19th century as a master puppeteer, ventriloquist, magician and stage performer. Trained in the German tradition of the famed Eisenstadt Puppet Theatre by Professor de Rotschkoff-- a man who believed the key to making realistic puppets was by using real human blood-- Sharp's performances included a variety of characters so realistic that, to this day, some aren't sure whether they were wooden puppets, or living, breathing human beings.
One such character was Herodia, a young gypsy ballerina who Sharp claimed had climbed into his wagon to hide from her evil parents one night in 1873. Herodia performed with the Peter Hauntz show for four years-- before disappearing as mysteriously as she had arrived.
In 1884, a peculiar series of murder trials took place in Cambria County. Two men, both of whom were named Mickey, were convicted of murder in the same week. Both men not only shared the same first name, but also the same handicap-- they both had wooden legs. But what makes this bit of historical trivia even more interesting is that both judges in these respective murder trials, Judge Dean and Judge Johnston, were also peg-legged. The court clerk who made out the juror's orders also had a wooden leg, as did the county treasurer who cashed the orders. One of the witnesses was peg-legged, while one of the jurors had not one, but two wooden legs. In total, there were nine artificial limbs in the Cambia County Courthouse during a single week in March of 1884.
But it is one of these two convicted murderers, Mickey Smith, who went on to achieve infamy after pulling off a daring escape from the Cambria County Jail in Ebensburg. This escape led to a massive manhunt and a spate of Mickey Smith sightings all across the state for years to come. And, strangely, no one knows for sure what became of the peg-legged escape artist. He was never caught.
Life was finally beginning to look up for James Buggy. It had been three years since his beloved wife Kathryn passed away during the birth of their first child, leaving him with the seemingly impossible challenge of keeping a steady job in the mines that would allow him to raise his infant daughter on his own.
And then, in January of 1917, James' prayers were answered. The thirty-year-old single father met and fell in love with a young Italian woman who also lived in the Edgewood neighborhood of Shamokin. With hair as dark as the anthracite mined in the nearby hills and piercing eyes that flashed with youthful passion, twenty-three-year-old Annie Compolo swept the lonely widower off his feet. And, much to James' delight, his new flame took an immediate liking to his motherless daughter, Eleanor.
Four weeks later, James would realize that he had made the biggest mistake of his life.
The small town of Montgomery in Lycoming County was thrust into the national spotlight on Thursday, November 23, 1899, after a chilling discovery was made under a haystack. Wrapped in bloodied burlap were the bodies of a young widow and two small children. The bones of another child, just a mere infant, were later found under a manure pile in a horse stall. Suspicion immediately fell upon a temperamental rag peddler whom the widow had married just one week earlier. This is the story of William Hummel, the cold-blooded killer who committed one of the ghastliest crimes in the history of Pennsylvania.
Chambersburg played a role in many important chapters of American history, from the French and Indian War to the Whiskey Rebellion to the Underground Railroad. Chambersburg also holds the distinction of being the only northern city that was burned down by Confederate forces; the order given by Gen. John McCausland on July 30, 1864, reduced much of the community to ashes and smoldering rubble.
History records only one casualty resulting from the series of raids on the borough-- a black resident who was trapped inside a burning building because the rebels refused to let him out. A few hundred Union soldiers were captured as prisoners, and two Confederate soldiers were reported as missing-- and therein lies Chambersburg's most captivating unsolved Civil War mystery. So how did these Confederate soldiers disappear, and why?
Eight miles north of Emporium, in the wilderness of McKean County, lies the ghost town of Gardeau. Once a prosperous lumber town with over a thousand residents, Gardeau is home to more rattlesnakes than humans these days. Although it is a lonely place today, Gardeau does boast one unusual and mysterious tourist attraction-- the mausoleum of Colonel Noah Parker.
What makes the mausoleum strange is that it is not in a cemetery; it seems to have just grown out of the wilderness like an ancient Mayan temple. And what makes the tomb even more strange is that some folks believe there is pirate treasure hidden inside.
On St. Patrick's Day of 1934, a 23-year-old taxi driver named Albert Shinsky murdered a woman near Ringtown, in Schuylkill County. But this was not a cold-blooded killing; according to Shinsky, the reason he put a lead ball through the heart of Susan Mummey was because a Pennsylvania Dutch witch doctor had told him that it was the only way to remove the evil spell that Mrs. Mummey had placed on him. This is the tragic tale of Albert Shinsky and Susan Mummey-- a tale of murder, superstition, ghosts, and modern-era witchcraft in the Mahantango Mountains.
In the spring of 1856 one of the saddest chapters in the history of Bedford County was written, after the two young sons of Samuel and Susanna Cox wandered away from home and into the mountains. The search for the two boys lasted for two weeks and culminated in a gruesome discovery beneath a large tree on the shady banks of Gypsy Creek. And had it not been for a prophetic dream, the whereabouts of George and Joseph Cox might still remain a mystery.
Virtually everyone who lives in Huntingdon County is familiar with the legend of John Armstrong, who is more commonly remembered as Captain Jack-- arguably Pennsylvania's most iconic hero of the frontier.
However, what most people don't know is the bizarre story of how his long-lost bones were discovered more than a century after his tragic death.
In the 19th century, Philadelphia lost one of its most curious and morbid historical landmarks-- an obscure graveyard hidden in the center of an urban jungle, where the bones of forgotten Philadelphians slumbered for generations-- until their remains were mysteriously and unceremoniously disinterred.
Attached to the graveyard was a curious legend about the plot's namesake, Margaret Duncan, who survived a ghastly "lottery" aboard a ship lost at sea to become of the most successful businesswomen of the Colonial Era.
Be sure to visit the Pennsylvania Oddities blog for hundreds of strange but true stories from every county in the Keystone State!
In the summer of 1947, Dr. Vernon Haber, a well-liked Penn State University professor, went missing. Despite a massive month-long search involving hundreds of students, law enforcement officials and State College residents, the fate of the vanishing professor remained unknown... until his body was found hanging from a tree, in a place that had been searched thoroughly just days before. Was it a suicide or murder? The mystery remains unsolved.
When a newspaper reporter from the Philadelphia Inquirer traveled to the remote mountain wilderness of Clinton County in 1890 in search of a story, he discovered more than the rustic ways and quaint customs of the backwoods hill people-- he discovered an unspeakable horror. It was in Sugar Valley where the Inquirer reporter discovered William Bierly, an elderly man, known to locals as a "raving lunatic", who had been chained like a wild beast for 35 years and forced to live inside a wooden pen.
Unpunished murders have always been a blight on Schuylkill County, especially during the 1920s and 30s. In some cases the murderer was identified but eluded capture, disappearing into the night, never to be seen again. Other cases, such as the peculiar death of William Laughlin in 1930, remain unsolved to this day.
Laughlin, who worked as a confectioner at his father's candy shop in Centralia, disappeared after attending a boxing match at Lakewood Park. His nude body was discovered the following day in a most unusual place-- inside a fortune-telling booth near the entrance of a now-defunct amusement park.
While many ghost stories are easily debunked or explained by natural phenomena, other stories-- such as the haunting of the Titus homestead in Luzerne County in early 20th century-- defy explanation and seem to provide irrefutable proof that the dead don't always stay in their graves.
The quiet borough of Lykens in upper Dauphin County was thrust into the national spotlight in July of 1932 when Barney Godleski, an out-of-work miner, inexplicably slaughtered three of his four children in the basement of his home on the 600 block of East Main Street. Pennsylvania Oddities presents the true tale of this ghastly crime.