The Ghost Dog of Peach Tree

Brindle Plott Dog
Photo by Mary Bloom

In his 1975/2008 book, Witches, Ghosts and Signs, Patrick Gainer shares an interesting story told by 'Uncle' Bud Workman. The story comes from Peach Tree, a small mining community in Raleigh County, West Virginia, and deals with what locals believed to be a ghostly dog.

The event takes place over a three-week span in 1880. A very large brindle-colored dog suddenly showed up in town, only being seen by the townspeople after dark. Although it was said this dog approached a local house where its very presence sent the owners' dogs (noted as being the meanest in town) running to hide with their tails tucked between their legs, it was never know to show any aggression towards humans. Still, since no one knew where the dog had come from and why it only appeared at night, the townspeople were fairly well spooked. Most everyone avoided going out at night for fear of running into the ghost dog. 

However, some were brave enough to actually try to confront the dog. One person tried to throw rocks at it, but the rocks went right through it. A local preacher took things a step further at fired five shots at the dog from close range. The bullets didn't touch the dog, nor did it seem bothered by this attempted murder. 

Luckily for the people of Peach Tree, sightings of the phantom canine only lasted about three weeks. Then, the dog disappeared as quickly and mysteriously as it had appeared.  Never again did the phantom dog bother the people of that small Raleigh County community. 

I find this story really interesting because when you think of ghost dogs and supernatural dogs and superstitions surrounding dogs, rarely does a brindle-colored dog appear. Generally, black dogs (especially here in Appalachia) and occasionally white dogs are the subject of such rumors. There are also some elements of this story that are reminiscent of a similar tale from nearby Wyoming County, where a 'witch dog' was said to frighten passersby, and was even shot at to no avail.  Anyway, I'm glad no one was hurt in this telling of the tale, including the dog.  Please see the links below for more spooky tales of phantom dogs here on Theresa's Haunted History!

Witch of Wyoming County

Pt. Pleasant's Phantom Black Dog

The Witch of Wyoming County

Castle Rock 1916 Source

Shirley Donnelly was a native of Jackson County, WV.  A local historian, Donnelly spent 27 years writing a column for the Beckley Post-Herald, called Yesterday and Today. Each column featured tales of local folklore, mountain superstitions, and my favorite: West Virginia ghost stories!

For his December 21, 1964 column, Donnelly rehashes a ghost story from the Sizemore Gap area near Pineville, WV. The story comes from another West Virginia historian, Barty Wyatt.  Barty tells of a dark and rainy night in the 1870's when a man named Saul Clay encountered a phantom black dog!

Today, the area of Sizemore Gap (named for the George Sizemore family) is more commonly referred to as Jackson Hill, and is located near the small community of Rock View, named for its close proximity to Castle Rock. The area was first settled around 1840 and is known today for its natural beauty.  But, in the 1870's it was better known for being haunted by what some thought was a witch!

The ghost (or witch) was said to appear to travelers on the road through Sizemore Gap, and even those who WEREN'T necessarily believers still avoided the area at night...just in case.  Saul Clay was not one of these people.  Saul was a fearless man, standing close to 7 feet tall, and he wasn't going to let any phantom scare him off.  At least, that was his mindset when he set off through the gap one dark and rainy night. His confidence was further bolstered by the American Bulldog pistol and hunting knife he carried with him.

Somewhere between the old Missionary Baptist Church and the school house (Barty believes it was the vicinity in which the home of Rev. Harry S. Stevens would later be built) the ghostly apparition appeared.  This wasn't a normal apparition, however.  What Saul Clay saw was a giant black dog, the size of a calf! Startled by the creature, Saul yelled at it to leave, but when it refused and started coming towards it, Saul fired his gun.

Beckly Post-Herald, 21 December 1964

The shot either missed or went through the creature (it being a witch or a ghost, obviously), but Saul's braveness still prevailed.  He started up the hill towards the old Rock View post office with the phantom black dog trotting alongside him.  It didn't take long before Saul's courage returned, full-force, and he decided that he was done with this creature once and for all.  Again, he gave the dog a rather stern verbal warning to get lost.  When it failed to do so, Saul LUNGED at it, rammed his pistol into its side, and fired off five shots.

Once again, the shots had no affect and Saul resorted to trying to out-flee the creature. In his haste to get away, he abandoned his hat and his gun and literally ran for the hills towards Rock Castle Creek. All the while, the phantom black dog was still right on his heels. Luckily for Saul, as soon as he reached the creek and began to cross, the creature disappeared.  Local folklore tells us that a witch's power cannot cross running water, confirming the suspicion that the phantom black dog must surely be the product of witchcraft!

If you're interested in MORE phantom black dog stories from West Virginia, check out my blog post on the Phantom Black Dog of Point Pleasant!

Map of the Area Today

Point Pleasant's Phantom Black Dog

I love finding vintage ghost stories in old West Virginia newspapers! Today's discovery comes from the May 9th, 1883 edition of the Pt. Pleasant newspaper, The Weekly Register, which can be found online at Chronicling America.  I wasn't able to find a 'Clarksburg road' anywhere on modern maps, but I was able to find the small, unincorporated community of Hickory Chapel located near Pt. Pleasant in Mason County.

GHOST---The people living along the Clarksburg road, in the neighborhood of Hickory Chapel, are very much exercised by the re-appearance of a ghost in the shape of a big black dog.  They all assert that it is a veritable ghost, and it has been seen time and again by numbers of people.  Men have met it in the road, while riding home on horse-back, and have put spurs to their horses, and have tried to out-run it, but never could; it has been shot at time and again by good marksmen, but without effect.  Sometimes when people are walking along the road it follows along by the side of them, and neither clubs, stones, or scolding will drive it from its position. 

Theresa's Note:  Stories of phantom black dogs have always been fascinating to me and they are certainly an integral part of ghost lore.  Known by many names, including the Black Shuck, phantom black dogs are a popular motif in the ghost stories of England, and undoubtedly, settlers from the British Isles brought these legends and superstitions with them to America...and even to the small, rural community in Mason County.  Tales of black dogs, especially those with glowing red eyes and of enormous size, are generally associated with the demonic, but I've found another aspect of the phantom black dog mystery.  Here in America, especially in the rural south, these phantom black dogs have become associated with being cemetery guardians, especially in cemeteries where there are many slave/former slave burials. (See my blog on Graveyard Guardians for more info.)  These beliefs may stem from stories of the Church Grim, another English tale of a black dog who protects churches and church burial grounds. The whole Pt. Pleasant area has such a history of strange and unusual activity that it just seems natural to add a phantom black dog into the annals of its haunted history! 

Church Grim, by Ines Lee