Welcome to Haunted Pennsylvania
We will begin our descent into curiousity and folklore starting in North Central Pennsylvania.
The Pine-Loganton road runs for miles through the local townships Crawford, Greene, and Wayne. On the north end of the start of the road. If you walk down in the opposite direction and take a right, you will see a cemetery down the street, named "Stamm Cemetery". The Stamm Cemetery was built in 1874 by Jacob Stamm. There was also a church that once stood nearby but is there no longer. According to local legends, there is a spirit of a man who haunts the cemetery to this day. The man was believed to have hung himself in a nearby oaktree, and had never left the area since.
Back to the Pine-Logaton road itself. Once you travel a bit down the road, on the west side, there was once a field that was known as a home to a herd of pigs that witnesses say to have started to fly, flew, and then disappeared. These reports started coming forward as early as 1894.
Not far down the road from the flying pigs resides one favorited local legends of the Pine-Loganton road. The tale tells of a young servant girl from the year 1879, who was murdered by her rejected suitor. For some unknown reason, when she manifests herself she does so as a cupboard (yes, the furniture) and dances around in the moonlight. They say that young men who walk along the stretch of road may encounter her spirit reincarnated into the cupboard. No one knows exactly why she decided to take form as a cupboard when she manifests. However, a theory suggests that the slamming and moving of the cupboard doors is enough to ward off men and it is a way of protecting herself or perhaps something else. It's just best you be on your way if your lucky enough to spot her.
Also along the Pine-Loganton road, there was once a house that was inherited by a man named Billy Anderson. Before inheriting the home, Billy was rejected by a woman he loved, so then he was destined to live in the home alone for the rest of his life. Eventually, Billy was found deceased in his bed, still clutching to his love's picture. Legend has it that on a dark night you could have an opportunity to see the ghost of Billy Anderson. He is claimed to be attired in a white suit, walking the garden near his home, while waiting for his one and only love to arrive.
A more light-hearted legend of Pennsylvania. This cryptid is described as having misfitted skin, that of which is covered with moles and warts and just generally having a sad and unruly disposition. The Squonk is said to be easily hunted, as it's easy to follow its tear-stained trails. This mythical phenomenon cries constantly, and when it is hunted down, cornered or outright frightened, it will cry so many tears that is will dissolve in them. Some retellings of the Squonk also describe it as having webbed toes on their left feet. Why it's only the left foot i'm not entirely sure. The Squonk is known to be slowest on moonlit night and avoid traveling near bodies of water in fear of seeing their own reflection. The creature is quite aware of it's unsightly presence. Reputed to live in the dark hemlock forests of northern Pennsylvania, the Squonk is celebrated each year in Johnstown, PA at the Squonkapalooza. Don't forget to also check out the Squonk song by Genesis, it's worth the listen if you have never heard it before.
Founded in 1855, this church is still reportedly haunted to this day. In the 1880’s there lived a married couple, Jacob Shultz and his wife Rebecca. The couple lived across the street from the church, and one chilly May night as they sat leisurely on their front porch, they noticed a black figure coming from down the road, past their house and towards the church. After watching this figure make its way closer, they realized it was a figure of a woman carrying a child. They reported to have heard the woman weeping and uttering “Will” over and over again. She had gotten so close they could see that she was, in fact, a restless spirit. They watched as she approached the church. As they stood in front of the building they could see the doors fly open and the gas lights and candles lit up. The spirit then went to the front of the church and stood next to the podium. She presented the child to the absent congregation and proceeded to walk down the center aisle showing the child left and right. As she approached the back of the church she had disappeared and all of the lights extinguished. Research after the incident explains a story of lost love. It turns out the woman was once a member of the congregation. When she was alive, she was in love with a young man but he joined the Union Cause in the year 1862. They both knew they would be separated for a long time and they pledged to get married. As love goes, the couple expressed theirs through making love before he went away. The young man she was in love with soon after left to join the 148th, company D. As some time went by, the congregation noticed her pregnancy, and refused to believe her story of impending marriage. They then cast her out as a fallen woman and what became of her, who she really was, and what happened with her pregnancy became a mystery. Until that dark May 3rd night when she was seen by the Shultz’s on their front porch. It’s said that the church is still haunted and many people to this day can hear her weeping and ghostly lamaints of “Will, Will, Will”. Please note, the church is private property, any investigating and/or exploration should be approved first by the property owner.
A photo of Bethesda Evangelical Church
As told by, Henry Wharton Shoemaker
In the 1800’s, there was said to be small groups of Native Americans that habitually camped at the confluence of Pine Creek and the Susquehanna river. This place was not far from Jersey Shore, and Henry wrote that they would camp here during the Fall time. The natives were speculated to be there selling handwoven baskets and trinkets of all sorts. Others have claimed a different intention from the Natives staying there. They thought they knew something else, and as they watched the Natives, they speculated that they had found something secret in the Bald Eagle mountain. The suspicion led to the natives being watched by settlers in the area. They claimed that on very dark nights, you could see in the distance the Natives hurriedly carrying their canoes across the river, with their lanterns light and at times, being muffled by their blankets. They would speculate carefully as the lanterns lit their way up the mountain, and they could see movement of the light throughout the night until daybreak. Some settlers attempted to follow them up the mountain, but the group of Natives were able to extinguish their lanterns quickly before anyone got close enough and would scatter and disappear into the darkness. This of course would leave the whites more confused and mystified as ever.
Local farmers claimed to have met the Natives on their way back to the New York State Reservations where they had traveled from to stay at the confluence. They claimed that the Natives showed them carrying bags of pure silver and when asked where they recovered the silver from, declined to answer or give any idea of the location. Traders from Buffalo recognized some of the Natives that would be there trading and selling their silver from being in the area of the Bald Eagles. Later on came a man of culture who resided in Lock Haven who became fascinated with the story of the fabled silver mine. Having geological knowledge, he believed it was quite possible for there to be pockets of silver present within the mountain. The man made several inquiries until he was led to one of the last Natives in the area. The rest had gone back to New York and only an old squaw had remained. Def: Squaw - (a motherly-like woman) Being as old as she was, she was not able to make the adventure up the mountain again. The man offered him the old squaw gifts of money, rewards, and other promises in exchange for a diagram of the mines. She agreed and went on to describe the mine as a cavern that led one hundred feet into the body of Bald Eagle mountain, the walls lined with the purest silver.
The man, now armed with his map, quickly went back to the Bald Eagles expecting to locate the lost mine within a day’s time. However, disappoint soon set in after finding the landmarks described to him by the squaw, a pile of rocks thrown into a pyramid shape, and a dead yellow pine. He found two men to aid in his adventure but to no avail. Trying again with a surveyor from Williamsport and an engineer, he failed once more. The man became relentless in his search and made his way back to the reservation to speak to the old squaw. Within the time of his way back, the old squaw had died. On her deathbed, she left her grandson, Billy Douty (William Doudy in other contexts) the secret. Billy was positive he was able to find the silver mine by instruction of his grandmother. He declared if someone paid his way to Pine, he would help to locate the mine in which the proposition was happily granted by the man from Lock Haven.
Billy arrived at Pine Station around 6 o’clock, refused any dinner, and made straight for the lower mountain. As quoted in SHoemaker’s book, Billy is quoted saying “Me find before morning, me dead sure.” The next morning as Billy returned, he came back hungry and empty-handed. This was not enough to leave Billy discouraged, as he loaded himself with a stock of provisions and went on back out to the mountain where stayed for three weeks. It’s said that in the stillness of the night back then, the ringing of his pickaxe hitting the stone could be heard far away on the summit. Finally, Billy’s patience gave way and he made his descent down the mountain, ending his quest for finding the lost silver mine. Quoted again, he would say “River run wrong, Allegheny River run west, Susquehanna run east, me twisted.” And still to this very day, the silver mine awaits to be rediscovered. More details of this story can be found in Henry W. Shoemaker's book, Pennsylvania Mountain Stories.
When the time was right, the both made their escape into the night. In the morning, when the chief was alerted of Nita-nee’s absence, he sent his seven sons to track her and Malachi down and bring them back to the Seneca camp. Chief O-Ko-Cho’s sons found the runaway couple just outside of the eastern settlements and quickly brought them back. I read somewhere that once they were found, Malachi pulled his knife traded to him by the Chief, and during the confrontation, stabbed Hum-Kin in the heart, killing him, and wounded the other brothers. Once they runaway couple was found, that would be the last time they ever saw each other. The chief ordered his remaining 6 sons to throw Malachi into the water cave and to guard the entrance, although heavily wounded by Malachi, the brothers would ensure he would not escape and run away with their sister ever again.
It’s said that for about a week, Malachi swam back and forth in the dark waters of the cave, desperately trying to find an exit that was not guarded by the Seneca. To no avail, Malachi found no way out and was starving and out of energy. Malachi vowed that Nita-nee’s brothers would not see him perish so he traveled to a far recess at one end of the cavern, crawled up to the dry bank, and died. Later on, Nita-nee’s brothers went into the cave with their torches, found his body, tied him up with heavy rocks, and threw him in the deepest water of the cave by their father’s request. There was also speculation that they left his money in his pockets. They wanted nothing from Malachi except to guarantee he would never be alive to run off with their sister. To this day, people claim that you can on some occasions hear the Frenchman’s ghost crying out his lost love’s name in the cave, "Nita-nee...Nita-nee..." You can visit the cave and purchase a ticket for the tour ride by boat through the waters of the cave. While on the tour, you will see different formations, the ledge where Malachi made his way to and died, and even the soot from the torches used by the Seneca, inside the caves.
Eventually, the body of Elizabeth’s offspring was found and she was immediately suspected of murdering him. She was arrested and put on trial, eventually found to be guilty and sentenced to death by hanging. William heard the news about his sister and tried his best to save her. He reached out to many to try and pardon his innocent sister from her hanging, and failed many times trying to do so. One day before her execution, William tried again and managed to schedule a meeting with the Governor and once more begged for Elizabeth to be pardoned. The pardon was finally granted to William and he hurried to the execution grounds on his horse only to find her was just a few minutes too late.
Elizabeth had already been hung and was dead.
William became so bereaved and delirious over his sister’s death he declared he would never be able to heal and that he would quit human society altogether. William started to wander across the countryside. He discovered and settled in a cave just outside of Harrisburg. He decided to stay at the cave for the rest of his life and lived inside for 19 years before dying in 1821. The cave is now known as Indian Echo Caverns. After about 20 years of the Hermit’s death, a biography of his life was published by one of his supposed friends. In addition to the biography, The Sweets of Solitude, or Instructions to Mankind How They May Be Happy In a Miserable World, was also published along with the biography and is said to be written by the hermit himself.