Shapeshifting Squirrel Monkeys

Squirrel Monkey

I'm not sure if this is a case of synchronicity, or if I am just naive in my assumptions of how common an occurrence it is. But in my quest to bring ya'll wild and weird West Virginia content, I came across two different stories, nearly 40 years apart, of basically the same story. 

In October of 1923, Tom Saunders of Wheeling was visiting the Hinton, WV area to go squirrel hunting. He was in the Upland area when he saw a squirrel jump from one tree to the next. With cat-like reflexes, Mr. Saunders aimed and shot, hitting his mark. However, when he went to collect his prize, to his shock and horror, there was no squirrel. He was staring at the carcass of a monkey!

Apparently, for several months before the incident, a local kept claiming that a monkey was 'haunting' the Upland area, but no one seemed to believe him. Now there was proof, lying there wearing a leather collar with no markings. It was theorized that the monkey had gotten loose from a street carnival that had passed through Hinton. It was also noted that Mr. Saunders would have never knowingly shot a monkey, as their cries are way too close to a human's. 

Fast forward to October of 1962. Wetzel Justice was squirrel hunting in Boone County, WV. He also shot what he legitimately thought was a squirrel but turned out to be a monkey. The mystery of where this particular monkey came from was soon solved when Ruben Lee Pauley came forward to claim the body.

Ruben had purchased the monkey for $19.95, plus shipping costs from a Miami company, Jungle Pets Incorporated. He only had the squirrel monkey for about a week before it escaped and made its way over the mountain ridge where it met its demise at the hand of the squirrel hunter. Not one to waste an opportunity, Pauley planned to have the monkey stuffed. I really wonder if somewhere out there, there's a taxidermy squirrel monkey sitting in someone's living room in Boone County. 

Obviously, monkeys of any type are not native to West Virginia, but they have a long history of getting away from circuses, street performers, and even private owners. It makes one wonder if there could have ever been enough of these rogue primates to create a breeding population, deep in the Appalachian Mountains. I also thought it was pretty interesting that in two separate incidents, those out squirrel hunting saw what they swore was a squirrel but turned out to be a monkey. It's actually kind of scary; I don't seriously think these were shapeshifting monkeys....but why were they so hard to identify? Are hunters really just out there shooting anything that moves? (Don't answer that, lol). 

Anyway, this isn't West Virginia's only weird primate story. In the summer of 1906, an incident with a circus train in the Great Bend Tunnel outside of Hinton led to numerous monkeys being suffocated. The bodies were taken on to Ronceverte for burial. It is thought that those monkeys haunt the tunnel to this day. Also, in 1915, a pet monkey named Mary Jane got loose and terrorized the citizens of Huntington, before finally being caught eating jam in a local home. Then of course we have several BigFoot-type sightings that have been blamed on gorillas and other bigger primates escaping circuses. I've added a few stories below for you to check out, but this fall, keep your eyes open in the woods, especially if you're out squirrel hunting. We're overdue for another shapeshifting squirrel monkey sighting!

Monkey Cemetery

Monkey Loose in Huntington

Hinton Daily News
29 October 1923

Beckley Post-Herald
31 October 1962

A Dancing Ghost in Lewis County

Early Hot Air Balloon

In June of 1872, a Braxton County man was tending to his colts in neighboring Jacksonville, WV, just across the border into Lewis County. He was in the area of Abram's run, and while most of the town were attending church services at the nearby chapel, the unnamed man noticed what he felt was a GHOST!

A field surrounding the local 'haunted house' was currently the site of a what appeared to be a fiery, dancing phantom image. Alarmed at what he was witnessing, the man ran and got the closest neighbor, a former Confederate soldier. Unfazed by the possibility of a supernatural entity haunting this particular field, the former soldier bravely approached it and snatched it up. 

Unfortunately for the paranormal enthusiasts reading this, it wasn't a ghost. It was a balloon! Emboldened now that the threat of spooks and spirits was no longer an issue, the first man grabbed the balloon by the string, declared 'finders, keepers,' and proudly took it back home to Braxton County, showing anyone and everyone who he ran into his cool new find. 

But why was there a balloon found in a field in rural West Virginia in 1872?

The Weston Democrat, the newspaper who covered the story, notes that the balloon was a Greeley Balloon from Cincinnati, sent out as a message of peace and hope. 

The previous month, the Liberal Republican Party held its convention in Cincinnati, Ohio. Newspaper editor, Horace Greeley, was nominated to represent the party in the upcoming Presidential Election, a choice even the Democrats cross-supported. In what we'd today call a viral marketing campaign, Greeley hired renowned balloon pilot, Professor Samuel Archer King to tour the east coast in a huge hot air balloon called Colossus. As Colossus sailed over the open skies, it waved Greeley's distinct campaign flag. Apparently, smaller balloons were also released, one of which found its way to a field in Lewis County, WV....right next to a rumored haunted house. 

Ultimately, Greeley would lose the election to Ulysses S. Grant, and Professor King would have multiple issues with Colossus. It was a cool concept, but it wasn't enough to sway the majority of voters. What it DID do was cause a couple of paranormal-related scares, as those not realizing what the stunt was all about were witnessing an unidentified craft fly through the air....and occasionally finding the remnants of smaller items in unexpected places. 

The Weston Democrat
10 June 1872

Witchcraft in Greenbrier County

 

Spencer State Hospital
Source: WV History on View

In June of 1937, a little old mountain woman made the trek from Greenbrier County to Charleston, WV. She came to see John Baker White, President of the Board of Control. She was on a mission; she had come to convince the Board of Control that her 57 year old brother, who was a patient at Spencer State Hospital, was not insane. Rather, he was bewitched.

The woman claimed that no less than four families, all with the powers of witchcraft, had used "little birds and dogs" as messengers to do their evil bidding against not just her brother, but her mother as well. These families allegedly wanted control over the bewitched family's farm in Frankford. 

To White's credit, he did order an investigation into the brother's confinement, and wrote to the Superintendent at Spencer State Hospital. However, it was deemed that the man in question wasn't bewitched. He was suffering from "abnormal imaginary ideas" and needed to stay hospitalized. 

Oddly, this wasn't the first time Spencer State Hospital dealt with a patient who blamed witchcraft on their ailments. Twenty years earlier, Crews/Cruse Hall, a farmer from Mercer County, was adjudged insane after claiming he, his farm animals, and even his farm equipment had been put under a spell by his neighbors. He had suffered similar delusions several years before, and sadly passed away from tuberculosis in 1919 at the hospital. You can read his story here: Bewitched Man Adjudged Insane

The Independent Herald (Hinton, WV)
09 June 1937

The Charleston Daily Mail
10 June 1937

Monster Bird Haunts Webster County

When the first reports of a monster terrorizing the area around Pt. Pleasant, WV started pouring in at the end of 1966, the sightings all had one thing in common. Not one witness ever described an actual...moth. The term Mothman was the invention of a newspaper reporter, taking inspiration from pop culture at the time. What people WERE describing was a bird. A very, very large, man-like bird. 

This wouldn't be the first time a giant bird would haunt the people of West Virginia. In February of 1895, Webster County would be the site of a rash of sightings, and even attacks, by what locals referred to as a giant eagle. 

The trouble began when Landy Junkins, the ten-year-old daughter of Dan Junkins of Bergoo mysteriously disappeared. Landy's mother had sent the young girl out one Friday around noon to visit the cabin of Joe Warnick. Landy was to walk the 1.5 miles from the Junkins cabin to the Warnick cabin to check on Mrs. Warnick, who had been ill. When she didn't return home by that evening, her father set out to look for her. Thinking perhaps she had stayed with the Warnicks, he went straight to their cabin, only to find that Landy never made it there. 

An intensive search began that evening and lasted all the next day. The only thing that was found of the girl were her tracks in the snow. Her tracks led off the trail and into a small clearing, where it became apparent that she circled around, rather frantically, before her tracks just disappeared. It was almost as if something had come down from the sky and carried her off....

That's exactly what people believed happened as in the following weeks, more and more reports of a giant bird were made public. Peter Swadley, a bear hunter, was out with his dog Gunner, hunting on Piney Ridge. Suddenly, a giant bird swooped down on him and attempted to lift him. The creature's sharp talons tore into his back and head, ripping his coat to shreds, and partially scalping him. The only thing that saved him was that his dog came running. The bird stopped attacking Swadley, and turned its attention to the dog, ripping it open before carrying it off. 

Swadley made it over a mile away to the cabin of Abe Kitsmiller, who brought him to town to treat his wounds. Despite a severe loss of blood and other injuries, Swadley recovered. His dog, however, was never seen again. 

In another incident, Deputy Sheriff Rube Nihiser and his son also had an encounter with the giant bird, and from a 'safe' distance away, were able to get a good description of the creature as it attacked a doe and her fawn. The Nihisers described the bird to have a wingspan of 15 to 18 feet and a body as big as a man. Its feathers were dark brown, with white on the wings. The eyes were large and shining. The sound it made was a terrible, shrill shriek.

Dogs, deer, and even sheep were not immune to the dangers of the giant bird. Hanse Hardrick kept a few sheep in a shed during the winter months. He locked the shed and headed into town, but upon his return, saw that someone or something had made a huge hole in the roof of the shed. Wool was caught around the edges of the hole and one of his sheep was missing. No tracks were observed anywhere near the shed or property, and the sheep was never found. Hardrick, believing a ghost, or 'harnt' as he called it, was to blame, covered the shed and property with small crosses made from hemlock boughs. 

But it wasn't a ghost. Ol' Pap Tammen, the oldest man in Webster County knew what it was. Many years before, TWO giant birds spent an entire winter terrorizing the countryside. It was believed that those two birds, as well as this one, made their den atop the isolated Snaggle Tooth Knob, an area inaccessible by man even in the best weather. It is unclear as to whether the creature of 1895 was one of the original two giant birds, their off-spring, or another altogether. 

Was the Mothman of Pt. Pleasant simply another one of these 'giant eagles,' or was the 'giant eagle' of Snaggle Tooth Knob actually an early visitation by the creature we now know as Mothman?

St. Louis Globe-Democrat
14 February 1895

The Flatwoods Monster: A Supernatural Scapegoat

Elk Creek: 2006 Clarksburg
Source: Wiki User Tim Kiser

April 8th, 1959, was a fairly average spring day here in West Virginia, but it was a busy one for two Clarksburg women. Juanite/Juanita Ferguson President of the Goff Plaza Garden Club in Clarksburg, while her married daughter, Mrs. Truman Sayre, belonged to the Briarcliff Garden Club in Beckley.

Mrs. Sayre was hosting a meeting at her home on Daniels Street, at which her mother was to give a presentation. Accompanying Juanite on the trip from Clarksburg to Beckley and back was her friend and fellow garden club member, Virginia Conley. The ladies wrapped up the meeting, and left Beckley at around 5:30pm in Juanite's green 1955 Buick. Juanite was speaking at an event at the Clarksburg City Hall the next day, and Virginia had a whole day of errands planned, so they needed to get back that evening. 

The trip between Beckley and Clarksburg was quite a bit longer in 1959 than it is today. Around 9pm, the ladies arrived at the Laurel Court motel near Sutton, where they stopped at the motel's cafe for coffee and a snack. Mrs. Ferguson actually knew the owner, Earl Marple. He chatted with the ladies a bit and confirmed they left around 9:30pm, on schedule to arrive in Clarksburg by 11:30pm. He noted that both were in good spirits and that the conversation was normal. 

But 11:30pm came and went and still the women hadn't made it home. It wasn't until 4:30am that Juanite's husband called Mrs. Sayre, asking if her mother and Virginia had decided to spend the night in Beckley. Mrs. Sayre told him that they had left the previous evening and should have been home by midnight. Immediately, she and her husband contacted the WV State Police in Beckley, while Mr. Ferguson contacted the WV State Police in Clarksburg. 

By 9:00am on Thursday, the official call went out over the police radio and law enforcement between Beckley and Clarksburg were on the lookout for the missing women. By that afternoon, local media was alerted. It quickly seemed that the two women were truly missing, and not just on an unplanned girls' trip. 

Unfortunately, the women remained missing for nearly two months. A massive search had taken place along the two most likely routes between Sutton and Clarksburg. The state and local police, the FBI, the National Guard, and scores of civilian volunteers searched nearly every square inch between the two cities, focusing on the 'Buckhannon Route,' which was the most popular way to enter the east side of Clarksburg where Mrs. Conley lived. Helicopters were sent out, and there was debate as to whether the Buffalo Reservoir should be drained. It was a mystery as to how two housewives in their 50s managed to completely disappear. 

The Flatwoods Monster
aka, Braxxie

And that's where the conspiracy theories come in. Talk about strange lights in the sky and flying saucers led some to believe that the idea of Juanite and Virginia being abducted by aliens or taken away by flying saucers was as likely an explanation as any other. One unnamed commentator was quick to point out that the women went missing in an area that was known seven years earlier as the site of one of the strangest UFO mysteries in the state. On September 12, 1952, a group of boys playing football observed what they thought may have been a small plane or meteor crash onto a nearby hillside. They, along with the mother of two of the boys, a family dog, and a teenage cousin/National Guard Member, went in search of the wreckage. What they found was a creature that would be forever known since as the Flatwoods Monster. 

There were similar encounters reported in the days following the initial encounter, both in Braxton County, and possibly even as far away as in Beckley and Wheeling. Many believed that a monster from outer space (or SEVERAL monsters) had crash-landed in the Mountain State. Could this monster still be lurking around the area, ready to grab unsuspecting motorists?

This wouldn't be the last time that the continued existence of the Flatwoods Monster in WV would be questioned. A few years later, a series of encounters with what we'd call a Bigfoot-type monster now was causing cars to stall, peeping in windows, and being a general menace. Without a proper understanding of the Bigfoot phenomenon, which was largely seen as a Pacific Northwest thing at the time, these sightings all fell under the category of 'The Flatwoods Monster.' You can read more about that in my article: A Braxton County Monster Wrap-Up. 

Blaming the Flatwoods Monster on the disappearance of Juanite Ferguson and Virginia Conley was hopefully a tongue-in-cheek commentary on the frustration that despite their efforts, law enforcement was nowhere near finding any answers. And in the end, it wouldn't be law enforcement who found the women.  On May 31, two hikers were out and saw part of a green car sticking out of Elk Creek, near Clarksburg. Inside were the badly decomposed bodies of the missing women. The car doors were locked, and the key was still in the ignition. It was theorized that Juanite may have fallen asleep and drove off the road.

But why had it been so difficult to find the vehicle, even after searchers covered this area? According to the state police, this was the least likely area where an accident of this nature could have happened. The women were on WV Rt. 20, only about six miles from Clarksburg. The Elk Creek only ran parallel to the road for around 75 feet in this stretch. When the Buick left the road, it managed to go between trees, leaving little to no damage or disturbance to indicate that a car had passed through. The car was only found when a run of dry weather left the creek's water level lower than normal. 

No foul play was suspected, and by all accounts, neither woman seemed like they were planning to take themselves out for any reason. The incident was chalked up to an accident, although there were questions as to whether Juanite dozed off or simply took the turn too wide in the dark. Either way, I think it's safe to assume that we cannot blame this on Braxxie. It was a tragedy that cut short the lives of two beloved members of the community, but due to a one-off remark in a local newspaper, their story will always be linked to central West Virginia's wildest monster tale.

*Quick note: Mrs. Ferguson's death certificate, as well as several other documents, record her first name as Juanite, with an 'e', not Juanita, as many newspaper articles call her. 

Sources and Further Reading:

Juanite Ferguson's Death Certificate
WV State Archives

Virginia Conley's Death Certificate
WV State Archives

The Raleigh Register
10 April 1959

The Raleigh Register
27 April 1959

Beckley Post-Herald
27 May 1959

The Raleigh Register
01 June 1959

A Clay County Ghost Story (1870)

Stock Photo of a Cabin 
with Flag Stone Chimney

I love a good 'debunking' story! In today's blog post, I'd like to share with you a ghost story from 1870 that wasn't exactly what it seemed. When two reverends took shelter in an abandoned house, they experienced horrific noises...and an even worse smell. After fleeing in fear, a brave (reckless?) neighbor decided to investigate. Personally, I think what he found was worse than a ghost! Here's a transcription of the article from The Weston Democrat, dated June 27, 1870:

A correspondent of the Kanawha Journal relates the following: 

A few days after a Sunday snowstorm, during the past winter, the Rev. Daniel Schoonover and the Rev. George Arbegast, were ascending Elk River in one of those celebrated packets familiarly known as "canoes." Late in the afternoon they cast anchor at the mouth of Peter's Creek, in Clay County, where they took immediate possession of an unoccupied house, known as the "Whaggy House." The evening being quite cool, they provided an abundance of fuel, started a roaring fire, and began to prepare supper and congratulate each other with the comfort they were about to enjoy, when lo! an unearthly sound grated discordantly on their ears; supposing the noise in the rear of the chimney to be only a resident varmint, they mustered their limited courage, sallied forth to discover if possible, from whence the frightful sounds proceeded; arriving at the rear of the chimney aforesaid, pausing for a moment to suppress, if possible, the audible working of their hearts, they heard the same unnatural sounds in the house. They hastily returned; when a horrible stench presented itself to their olfactory nerves, which one averred smelled like an old barrel of sour kraut, and the other said was sulphur, so hastily seizing their cooking utensils they immediately decamped, and boarding their craft and weighing anchor, rowing at the rate of about 40 knots an hour, they soon arrived at Brother Ralph Smyth's where they entered in a very unmilitary style, overcome with fear and great trembling, with eyes dilated to about the size of ordinary dog-wood blossoms. The dismal tale they related about the haunted house and their hairbreadth escape. The news soon spread over the neighborhood, when D. Brown who is celebrated for his reckless daring, heard the news of a haunted house in the neighborhood; he instituted a voyage of discovery, and after carefully examining the premises he found out the cause of all the fright, which he gives us as follows:

The side walls of the fire place having been made of flag stone, there was a cavity between the outside wall, and a flag having previously fallen out, the rats had taken possession, and the aforesaid gentlemen's fire cut off their outside communications, they were literally roasted to death, and their dying groans produced the horrid noise they heard, and their parched tails the infernal smell.

The Weston Democrat
27 June 1870

A Most Unusual Rooster

Jane Lew Town Hall
August 2026

I recently visited the town of Jane Lew, West Virginia. I've been THROUGH Jane Lew numerous times while traveling I-79 between Charleston and Morgantown, but I never really stopped there to look around. On a recent WV road trip, we made a detour just to eat breakfast at the town's Lightburn Family Diner (which was awesome by the way!). You can read more about those adventures at my blog: WV Road Trip Part One.

As I was just doing some reading on the history of the town for that blog post, I stumbled across a most unusual newspaper article. According to the December 19, 1902 edition of the Clarksburg Telegram, a Mr. Bishop of Jane Lew sent a rooster to R.M. Orr of Clarksburg. This wasn't an ordinary rooster, however. This particular rooster had FOUR LEGS. The strange creature initially caused a stir at the local depot, but many believed that the two extra appendages were not real. It was believed they were somehow stuck on, and then camouflaged by the natural feathers. 

I wouldn't be so quick to call B.S. on that too soon. Chickens are sometimes born with extra legs. It's a condition called polymelia and is often caused by incomplete twinning or some type of genetic mutation. Most often, the extra limbs are smaller than usual or malformed in some way. Rarely can the animal move the extra appendages. They tend to just sort of flop around. Luckily, this doesn't seem to affect the animal's life span or quality of life in any significant way.

This story reminds me of another West Virginia chicken with polymelia. In 1923, a THREE LEGGED chicken went missing from Wayne County. That chicken was a Plymouth Rock breed and while only a couple of months old, was quite the topic of conversation around town. I never did find out what happened to that bird...

Wayne County's Weird Chicken Blog

Clarksburg Telegram
19 December 1902