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    Forgotten Tales of Pennsylvania
    Forgotten Tales of Pennsylvania
    Forgotten Tales of Pennsylvania
    Ebook136 pages1 hour

    Forgotten Tales of Pennsylvania

    By Thomas White and Marshall Hudson

    3/5

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    About this ebook

    What do you really know about the Keystone State?


    William Penn, the Revolutionary figures of Philadelphia, and the strength of Pittsburgh's steel all loom large in Pennsylvania's history, but author Thomas White brings together a collection of tales that have been cast in the shadows of these giant icons. From the 1869 storm that pelted Chester County with snails to the bloody end of the Cooley gang, White selects events with an eye for the humorous and strange. Mostly true accounts of cannibalistic feats, goat-rescuing lawmen, heroic goldfish, the funeral of a gypsy queen, and a Pittsburgh canine whose obituary was featured in the New York Times all leap from the lost pages of history.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThe History Press
    Release dateOct 1, 2009
    ISBN9781625843265
    Forgotten Tales of Pennsylvania
    Author

    Thomas White

    Thomas White is the university archivist and curator of special collections in the Gumberg Library at Duquesne University. He is also an adjunct lecturer in Duquesne's History Department and an adjunct professor of history at La Roche College. White received a master's degree in public history from Duquesne University. Besides the folklore and history of Pennsylvania, his areas of interest include public history and American cultural history. He is the author of Legends and Lore of Western Pennsylvania, Forgotten Tales of Pennsylvania, Ghosts of Southwestern Pennsylvania and Forgotten Tales of Pittsburgh, all published by The History Press.

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    • 3/5
      A nice little book with stories and anecdotes that may have been forgotten about Pennsylvania. From heat waves, fires, and a Goat man in Lancaster this book has it all. Who knew we had so many werewolves running around, and escaped circus animals and reptiles? Events take place between the 1700's and the 1950's.

      In some of the stories I would have like to find out more details about what happened to some of the people. But I was left hanging guess that's where I have to do my on research.

    Book preview

    Forgotten Tales of Pennsylvania - Thomas White

    Stakeley.

    Introduction

    Sometimes Pennsylvania can be a fascinating state. For over a decade, I have studied the history of the state in a professional capacity in one form or another. As an archivist, curator and professor, I worked with documents and artifacts from the cradle of liberty in the East to the workshop of the world in the West. I have spent countless hours reading books and articles dealing with everything from the French and Indian War to the Cold War in Pennsylvania. But those stories are familiar to many, and that is not what this book is about. This book is about the things that you stumble across when you are researching all of the big events. This book covers the strange stuff. It is about the bizarre anecdotes, trivia, legends and mostly forgotten stories that you do not normally see in a history book; the kind of stories I, and hopefully you, like best.

    Writing this book reinforced for me just how interesting—and weird—Pennsylvania’s history is. For example, you probably did not know that there were werewolves and giant snakes in Pennsylvania (at least that’s what they tell me) or that there are several lost treasures hidden or buried here. You might be surprised to learn that a Pittsburgh dog once had an obituary in the New York Times, that a gypsy queen is buried in the Shenango Valley or that giant skeletons were excavated in some of the state’s ancient burial mounds. One day, the midafternoon sky even went black over much of the state.

    The tales presented here cover a wide variety of topics, in addition to the ones already mentioned. They include witches, tornados, floods, bandits, explosions, strange animals, legends, unusual people, hoaxes, meteorites, cannibals and the end of the world. I cannot say that I had any strict criteria for a story to be included. It only had to be unusual, relatively unknown to your average person and to have happened in Pennsylvania. A few of these tales may be known in one part of the state and not others. The tales were compiled from a variety of sources, including old newspaper accounts, obscure books and journals, court documents, weather reports, interviews and oral histories. I hope that you enjoy reading these unusual stories because I certainly enjoyed writing about them.

    Forgotten Tales of Pennsylvania

    A BAD DAY AT THE MCGRATTIN HOUSE

    A series of bizarre accidents befell the boardinghouse of Charles McGrattin, located in Rankin, during one twenty-four-hour period in mid-July 1891. The body of twenty-nine-year-old David Bell, one of the boarders, was found in the river one afternoon. He had apparently fallen in and drowned while drunk. Two hours later, a lamp exploded in McGrattin’s house, burning it to the ground and killing two of his sons, Robert and Charles. The next morning, two other boarders, Harry Rowe and Peter Knee, returned to the burned-out ruins to see if they could retrieve any of their belongings. The remains of the brick chimney collapsed on them, killing Rowe outright and severely injuring Knee. A Dr. Cope was called to the scene, and despite his attempts to save Knee, he ultimately died. On his way home, Dr. Cope’s horses darted from his buggy, causing it to crash. The doctor was severely injured, and it appeared that his wounds could be fatal. There were no follow-up articles in the newspapers revealing the doctor’s fate, but given the circumstances, it looks like the odds were against him.

    CANNIBALS AT THE HOTEL

    When P.T. Barnum brought his traveling act to York County in May 1872, he stayed at the Pennsylvania House Hotel in the city of York. Among his entourage were four genuine cannibals from Fiji. His advertisement described them as the Four Wild Cannibals, Captives of War, lately ransomed from King Thakembau by Mr. Barnum at a cost of $15,000. During their stay, one of the cannibals, who was a dwarf, became ill, refused to eat and could only be heard repeating the word Fiji. Late one evening, when a doctor attempted to give him medicine, he fell backward and died.

    The cannibal’s body was placed in a casket and locked in an adjoining room until burial arrangements could be made. S.S. Smith, who was watching the body, left for less than thirty minutes. When he returned, he discovered that two of the other cannibals had somehow entered the room and were chewing on parts of the dead man. Only the fourth cannibal, a female who had been converted by English missionaries, refrained from feasting on the corpse. The body was buried in the potter’s field the same evening to prevent further incidents. One local paper, the True Democrat, called the story a hoax perpetrated by Barnum to capitalize on the death of one of his performers.

    JUDGE SAVES GOATS FROM FLOOD

    During the Great Saint Patrick’s Day Flood of 1936, much of Pittsburgh and the surrounding neighborhoods were under water. A section of Judge Michael A. Musmanno’s nearby hometown of McKees Rocks was also flooded. While traversing the area known as the bottoms in a rowboat, the judge heard a noise. It came from a small herd of goats and their owner marooned on a rooftop nearby. The judge rescued the goats and the man in his small boat, making two trips. As a reward, the owner of the goats gave the judge a small white kid. The judge named the kid Bottoms.

    GIANT SKELETONS

    In 1885, a team of scientists from the Smithsonian excavated an Indian mound near Gasterville. Beneath the mound of earth was a crude stone burial vault. Inside was the skeleton of a seven-foot, two-inch giant. The skeleton was said to still retain some of its long, coarse black hair. On its head was a copper crown or band. Nearby were the remains of several children. All were lying on straw mats and animal hides. The stones that made up the burial vault were inscribed with petroglyphs that could not be deciphered.

    During the 1921 excavation of an Indian mound near Greensburg, archaeologists discovered a giant skeleton that measured between eight and nine feet tall. Dr. Holland of the Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh was directing the opening of the one-hundred-foot-long, twelve-foot-high mound. The team also discovered a partially mummified body, which they estimated at the time to be as many as four thousand years old.

    A WEREWOLF IN CLINTON COUNTY

    Henry Shoemaker, one of Pennsylvania’s early proponents of regional folklore, was told the story of the Clinton County werewolf by Peter Pentz in 1900. Pentz’s own aunt, a midwife, had a frightening encounter with the creature in the 1850s. One night, when she was returning home from assisting with a birth, she spotted an enormous black wolf or dog creeping nearby. When the creature noticed her, it stood upright on its hind legs and began to pursue her. She managed to evade the werewolf long enough to make it to her cabin and alert her husband. He grabbed two bullets wrapped in sacramental wax, went outside and shot the creature as it approached him. Before their eyes, the dying werewolf turned back into one of their neighbors. He thanked them for ending his torment as he died.

    AN EARTHQUAKE IN BEAVER COUNTY

    A minor earthquake was reported in Beaver County on September 22, 1886. The shaking was felt about 8:45 p.m. and was initially thought by many to be some type of natural gas explosion. The quake lasted for about thirty seconds, and though buildings swayed, no major damage was reported.

    AN ALLIGATOR IN THE SEWER

    George Moul, an employee of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Highways and Sewers, made an unusual discovery on the job in September 1927. He was assigned to fix a blocked sewer on Royal Street in the city’s North Side. Moul removed the manhole cover and began to clear an obstruction when he realized that a set of evil-looking eyes was staring at him. After the initial surprise faded, Moul realized what he was looking at. He managed to grab the head of the three-foot alligator and drag it out of the sewer. After tying a rope to the alligator, Moul took it to his home on Lockhart Street. He and his co-workers never figured out how it got into the sewer or how it had traveled so far north.

    A YORK MAN’S HEALING HANDS

    A rather miraculous healing was reported in York County in September 1884. A former sheriff named James Peeling had taken ill with severe pain throughout his body. He could not get out of bed, so the family doctor was called. The doctor believed that he suffered from intercostal rheumatism and asked if a second doctor could be brought in to confirm his diagnosis. Peeling declined, and his condition continued to get worse. Later in the week, his brother convinced him to allow a man named Edmund Meyers to visit. Meyers was becoming known in the community for his unusual ability to heal by touch.

    When Meyers arrived, he placed his hand on Peeling’s forehead and ordered him to take a deep breath. Peeling said it was impossible, but when he tried, he found that it was not as painful as it had been. As he exhaled, his pain continued to decrease. By the time Meyers was ready to leave, Peeling was able to walk him to his front gate. After word got out, hundreds of people came to Meyers for relief, and many left with their own stories of healing. Meyers never claimed to have any supernatural power and did not know how his ability worked.

    TROLLEY CARS COLLIDED IN FOG

    The morning of September 23, 1908, was an extremely foggy one in Philadelphia. Two trolley cars loaded with workmen were making their way through the city on their usual routes. What neither of the operators knew was that the signal box

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