TALA Tales: Sonny's Story

Photo by Find-a-Grave Contributor,
Mom of 3 Boys

The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, formerly known as Weston State Hospital, is one of West Virginia's most haunted locations. Each year, hundreds of people ascend upon the massive stone Kirkbride building in hopes of experiencing one of the many ghosts believed to still walk the hospital halls. Every once in awhile, I like to bring in a human element by spotlighting the story of an actual patient committed to the institution. With a history dating back before the Civil War, there are plenty of souls with stories to tell. Although not everyone featured in TALA Tales has a known ghost story associated with them, I still feel like it is important to share their background. Not only does doing so give investigators and students of history a clearer look at everyday life in the hospital, but you never know when an EVP or other response will reveal a name not previously well-known to the building's ghost lore. So, without further ado, here is Sonny's story:

William Paul Hall, Jr., also known as Sonny, was born in Diana, WV in 1949 to parents William Sr. and Iva. At the age of 19, his parents admitted Sonny to the Weston State Hospital, on the advice of a psychiatrist. Sonny was classified as 'retarded,' a clinical term at the time. He barely spoke, and was unable to dress, feed, or otherwise take care of himself. Physically, he was said to be very small in stature, and quite hirsute. Presumably, he was getting to be at an age where his parents felt that they could no longer take adequate care of their son, and his doctor suggested having him admitted to the state hospital where he'd be in more capable hands. 

Sonny had been a patient at Weston State Hospital for seven years when his life would come to an end at the hands of another patient. On August 20, 1975, Sonny was being housed in Ward 14, Unit 5. Fifty-nine men called this ward home, and only two attendants were assigned to care for them all. That evening, Sonny was locked into an enclosed sun porch with three other men. All three other men were known 'troublemakers,' and were put into the locked sun porch for an alleged 4.5 hours while the two attendants on duty attempted to shave the other 55 men. 

Around 8pm, Arnold Lee Shinaberry, who had been given some matches by another inmate, apparently got bored and wanted to have a little fun. That little bit of fun involved setting Sonny's long tee shirt on fire. Mickey Scarff, one of the attendants on duty, heard Sonny's screams and ran to unlock the door. He called for the other attendant and the two helped Sonny to his room. A registered nurse, as well as the only on-duty physician, Dr. Zabat, were called immediately to render aid. Dr. Zabat had Sonny immediately transferred to the WVU Medical Center in Morgantown by ambulance. Upon arrival, he was immediately sent to a burn unit in Pennsylvania. 

The Raleigh Register
01 December 1976

Two days later, on August 22, Sonny passed from his injuries. The autopsy revealed his cause of death as complications from 2nd and 3rd degree burns over 36% of his body. He was taken home to Diana and buried in the Cool Springs Cemetery. He was survived by both parents, four sisters, and a brother.

William Hall, Sr. filed a lawsuit against the institution the next year. On December 7, 1982, he was finally rewarded $10,000 in bereavement and $1783.19 for funeral expenses. The judge agreed that Sonny and the other patients were under-supervised, and proper aid was not rendered in a timely fashion. I wasn't able to find too much on Arnold Lee Shinaberry, other than a charge of auto theft in 1960, and a potential obituary from 2007. 

Places like the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum aren't really known for their happy-go-lucky, positive tales...but this one is particularly tragic, especially because it most likely could have been avoided. For YEARS, Weston State Hospital was under fire for its overcrowded conditions, understaffing, and overall poor conditions. There was no need for a defenseless young man to be locked into a small space with three other men for over four hours, unsupervised. Unfortunately, Sonny's story isn't the only one of its kind to come out of the Weston State Hospital. I hope you'll join me here at Theresa's Haunted History as I work to uncover and share as many of these tales as I can. 

Sources and Further Reading:

Find-a-Grave Entry for William P. Hall, Jr.  

State Court of Claims 306. William P. Hall, Sr. Vs. Department of Heath/Division of Mental Health

The Raleigh Register. 01 December 1976

Beckley Post Herald. 28 August 1975

Sunday Gazette-Mail. 24 August 1975

Top 10 Tuesday: Favorite YouTube Channels

It's been a hot minute since I shared a Top 10 Tuesday post, and even longer since I posted some of my recommended YouTube channels! So, for today's blog, I've got for you a list of ten YouTube channels that I really think you should check out. Go give them a look, and if you think you'd be interested in that content, subscribe and share! 

These are in no particular order, and if you don't see your own, or your favorite channel, please don't be offended! These are just the channels that I've been watching a lot of recently, or channels that are fairly new and haven't been featured in any of my past YouTube recommendation lists. However, I'm always looking for new channels to subscribe to and share, both here and on Theresa's Haunted History Facebook page. Join me over there, or submit in the comments below any channels that YOU recommend, especially those channels featuring investigations/cases/hauntings here in West Virginia. But without further ado...

1. SRI-Huntington: Come join me and the rest of the Spectral Research and Investigation team as we investigate the most haunted locations in southern West Virginia and beyond! Our videographer, Kaysee, has done an amazing job putting together interviews and investigation footage to create some awesome documentary-style videos of our investigations! Please LIKE and SUBSCRIBE for more behind-the-scenes footage, live investigations, and much more. Additional content being uploaded regularly!

2. West Virginia Paranormal Investigations: The WVPI team's web series, Forgotten Relics, is an awesome look at the hauntings behind many popular locations, especially throughout the Mountain State. Check out their channel for videos on some of MY favorite locations, such as the Haunted Haymond House in Sutton, WV and the Old Hospital on College Hill in Williamson, WV.

3. Jordan Cline-Fireside Paranormal Podcast: Brian and I were honored to be guests on the Fireside Paranormal Podcast several months back! You can find our episode, as well as Jordan's archive of past Fireside Paranormal and Whispers Radio episodes on YouTube. This is a great show, with lots of guests and topics dealing with a variety of paranormal topics, many with a West Virginia element to them.

4. Wild and Weird WV: The Wild and Weird Crew, featuring Joe Perdue and Ron Lanham, have begun uploading episodes of their awesome podcast, Wild and Weird Radio, to their YouTube channel, along with plenty  of other videos featuring strange and spooky happenings in and around West Virginia. Lots of great information on local cryptid and UFO reports, including 'debunking' where applicable, are included. Go check 'em out to help keep updated on all the cool projects they have going on throughout the year. 

5. Amber's ParaWorld: I just recently stumbled upon Amber's channel through another channel I had been watching, and was thrilled to see that she was located VERY close to me, here in West Virginia. Go check out her channel for investigations into haunted locations, interviews (such as with the awesome Les O'Dell of WV CASE) and much more. 

6. This Uncanny Earth Official: I've been listening to This Uncanny Earth podcast for a LOOOONG time now, and it's always been one of my favorites. Lots of West Virginia based stories/locations are featured, but seriously, they talk about anything weird and...uncanny. It's a great show, and they're in the process of loading up the new YouTube channel with content, so follow along! 

7. From the Asherz: From the Asherz is the YouTube home to Ashley Hilt's podcast, On Wednesdays We Talk Weird. Ashley is a Fortean researcher based in Ohio. I got to see her Mothman talk in January at the Hidden Marietta Paranormal Expo, and didn't even realize that it was her podcast that I had been occasionally listening to! It's hilarious and informative, and if you like all things strange and spooky, you'll love it. 

8. Jared Tracey-Pasadena Paranormal: This is a channel I discovered purely by accident one evening flipping through Twitter. I joined in on a live talk and was impressed with how community-oriented Jared is. He always encourages his chat participants on any live shows to share their own channels and subscribe to each other to help each other grow. Plus, we have very similar ideas, theories, and methodologies when it comes to paranormal investigation. 

9. Small Town Monsters: If you're not already subscribed to the Small Town Monsters channel, stop what you're doing and go do it now! This channel is the home of SOOO MUCH GOOD STUFF. There are original documentaries, web series, podcasts (including The Lore You Know with Heather Moser!) and so much more to explore. 

10. Alex Matsuo: Alex Matsuo of the Association of Paranormal Study, talks about The Spooky Stuff on this channel, such as her haunted dolls, celebrity haunted houses, whether or not there are 'experts' in this field, and many more fascinating and fun topics. Go subscribe!

"The Girl with 1000 Eyes" Comes to Charleston's Plaza Theater

Leona LaMar
Source: Wikipedia

Leontine DuMar was born in Rochester, NY on October 26, 1883. Although this was the same town the famous Fox Sisters hailed from, making it a modern mecca of the Spiritualist Movement, it is unknown whether or not a young Leontine also exhibited early signs of mediumistic ability. However, by the 1920's, Leontine, now going by her stage name of Leona LaMar, would be known as one of the best mentalists in the country. Billed as "The Girl with 1000 Eyes," she'd tour the United States, headlining vaudeville acts from city to city.

She and her husband, Walter (Hugh) Shannon, were a duo. They were signed by Terry Turner in 1910 and it is reported that they made $2500 a week off their show of mind reading and astrology, which Leona referred to as 'mental telepathy'. In one popular act of theirs, Hugh, referred to as 'The Professor,' would go out into the audience and randomly select small personal articles, such as a scarf or wallet. Leona, who would be blindfolded on stage, would then have to identify the article using mind reading. Her accuracy was outstanding and thrilled audiences as she could even correctly guess dates on coins and names on calling cards. 

From my modern perspective, I assumed that Leona, aided by her husband, was a skilled cold reader. In short, cold reading is a technique used by mentalists/psychics/etc. in which they ask leading questions and follow certain visual clues in the person's appearances/mannerisms/reactions to come up with high-probability answers to questions. And, I'm sure that to a degree, cold reading techniques WERE used in her acts. However, Joe Nickell, in his 2005 book, Secrets of the Sideshows, puts forth the explanation that Leona and Hugh had actually worked out an elaborate system of code. For example, if Hugh would say, "what am I holding?" that would signify it was a specific item, such as a scarf. But, if he said "What do I have in my hand?," that would indicate a different item as specified by their code. 

During the week of November 24, 1919, The Girl with 1000 Eyes was the headlining performer at the Plaza Theater in Charleston, West Virginia. The Charleston Daily Mail ran an article announcing the show, and sharing a little bit about what Leona could do. It was requested that audience members have faith when asking Leona to help them find friends and lost articles or answer any other pressing questions they may have. It was suggested that tickets be bought early, as seats would surely fill up fast. And, in addition to Leona's headlining act, this particular vaudeville show would also feature some wonderful singers, actors, and others. Phil Weir, Jack King, Margaret Ryan, Will Halliday, Curly Burns, and the 'Parlines' would all be there, accompanied by the Plaza Orchestra under direction of C. Raymond Minotti. 

After Hugh's death in 1930, it seems as if Leona would still perform...just not to the same degree of touring that she and her husband undertook. Leona herself would die in 1941 at her home in Englewood, New Jersey. She was buried at Mt. Carmel Cemetery. Her gravestone bears her given name of Leontine DuMar Shannon, and makes no mention of her profession as the Girl with 1000 Eyes. 

Throughout her career, Leona was often compared to and even said to have abilities far superior to Eva Fay, a contemporary medium/mentalist. Ironically, Eva Fay would be investigated by Harry Houdini for fraud, and after retiring in 1924, admitted to faking much of her work. As far as I can tell, Leona was never actually studied under controlled settings or ever really a part of any major public controversy. I don't want to downplay her 'abilities' because I honestly have no idea whether the possibility of her legitimately being a psychic can be proven or disproven at this stage. I think she avoided a lot of the scrutiny from the scientific community simply because her work on the vaudeville circuit, demonstrating this fun, little 'parlour tricks,' made her public persona one of an entertainer and not a Spiritualist. Although she answered questions from the audience, undoubtedly some of which were from grieving survivors, she wasn't regularly involved in seances, manifesting ectoplasm and  channeling deceased loved ones. She was telling people where their lost keys were and if her husband was holding up a hair comb or a dollar bill. She predicted the outcome of sporting events, and offered relationship advice, occasionally during special 'women-only matinees' held in larger cities.  And when she died, her profession was listed as 'actress.'

Even if Leona's 'ability' was strictly being really good at her novelty act and NOT actually possessing any real psychic senses, I think her story is an interesting one. It provides a glimpse into the Spiritualist movement that swept the country, especially in the years following the First World War. People were desperate for hope and desperate to have proof that life continued on after bodily death. They were also hungry for new forms of entertainment and escape from everyday monotony. While some viewed Spiritualism as a religion, others just enjoyed the novelty of the unknown. While Leona wasn't the only mystical performer to come to Charleston, West Virginia, or even the Plaza Theater (which still stands downtown and is said to have a haunted reputation), her booking is a fun snapshot into the history of Spiritualism in Charleston and a really interesting peek into the history of the old Plaza Theater. Leona LaMar has certainly earned her spot in the spooky and weird side of West Virginia history. But, like I said, she isn't alone! Over the course of the next few months, I have many, many more stories to share with you all about Spiritualism in Charleston and West Virginia as a whole! Until then, you may enjoy past stories I've shared, such as Effie Fulton: Huntington Spiritualist or Charleston's Very Own Ouija Board. 

The Charleston Daily Mail
24 November 1919

The Clarksburg Ghost Dog: A Friday Fright Bite

On January 11, 1869, the Wheeling Daily Register ran a small news item from the city of Clarksburg, West Virginia. The article read:

"They have an original ghost on the railroad near Clarksburg. The spook takes the questionable shape of a black dog with a red ring around its neck, and is impervious to pokers and "sich."" 

That's it. That's all that I could find mentioned, and its somewhat of a head scratcher. What do they mean when they say a red ring around its neck? Like...a collar? I'm sure things are MUCH different today than they were in the years immediately following the Civil War, but I do think the mention of a red ring is rather interesting. According to modern practice, if you see a dog with a red leash, collar or bandana on, it is generally taken to mean that the dog is potentially aggressive. It may bite, snap at, or lunge at people and other animals, so if you see it out, don't approach it without owner's permission.

My own black pup, Nazy, was red-collared. She was rescued from a horrible existence as a bait dog and although she was gentle with humans and learned to get along with her canine sister, she was aggressive towards unfamiliar dogs. She was controllable, but she couldn't be trusted to interact normally with other animals she met out on her walks. 

Red tends to be a universal color meaning STOP or warning. Was the red ring around this phantom dog's neck some sort of warning system to those it encountered, warning them to stay away? Did the red denote there was something bad or evil, even...supernatural...about the dog? 

While we may never know the fate of the phantom dog haunting the railroads near Clarksburg, we know it wasn't alone in a long history of phantom dogs seen in West Virginia. Below is a list of just some of the phantom dog stories from all over the state, which you can read about right here on Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State!

The Ghost Dog of Peach Tree (Raleigh County)

The Witch of Wyoming County

Pt. Pleasant's Phantom Black Dog

The Murdered Merchant's Ghost

The Snarly Yow *Coming Soon!*

Wheeling Daily Register
11 January 1869

Finding the Facts Among the Folklore

Library Research at the
Cabell Co. Main Branch

Nothing in the paranormal research realm frustrates me more than the following scenario: You're researching a haunted location with a complete back story as to who the ghost is and what tragedy occurred that sparked the haunting. Sometimes names of those involved are given. Occasionally, the storyteller may even have rough or specific dates of when the events happened. It's a damn good ghost story, complete with an actual location with alleged activity to investigate. 

As a paranormal investigator who specializes in historic research, I'm always excited when a haunted location comes complete with such an elaborate tale that explains why the location is haunted. But, I would be doing my field a huge disservice if I just took those ghost stories at face value and didn't try to verify and uncover my own documentation. That's where the frustration comes in. More often than not, I WILL FIND NOTHING. 

It's one thing to find historical records that dispute the widely accepted ghost stories and debunk the details behind the haunting. It can be disappointing, proving that the stories behind a haunted location that have been told for YEARS may not have any basis in fact---that Mr. Smith, who was said to have murdered his whole family in the barn before taking his own life, ACTUALLY died of rheumatism at the age of 85, and was outlived by all three of his children and wife. In rare instances, it's possible to find historical documentation that disputes the original story, but offers up details of an even stranger series of events that even more accurately fit the details of the reported paranormal activity. Either way, it's something I can work with. I can show tangible proof of historic details and go from there. And just because the back story to a haunting didn't happen the way folklore insists it did, doesn't mean that the location isn't haunted. As paranormal researchers and investigators, we have a lot more to learn about why some locations attract paranormal activity even without a tragic event tied to it. Further, lots of ghost stories and urban legends have at least a small grain of truth buried deep within, and it's always fun and rewarding to find that grain of truth and figure out how it relates to the story as a whole. 

What's frustrating is the finding of NOTHING---no historical documentation to disprove an event happened, and no documentation to prove it did. As I always tell my clients, just because I personally cannot find confirmation, doesn't mean that confirmation doesn't exist or that the story isn't true. And until I do find confirmation that an event took place or a specific person existed as described, that case is open to me. 

With any of my cases that I investigate, or even simply feature here on Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State, nothing is ever closed. As my historical research skills evolve, as my access to research materials increases, and as more resources are in general are being digitized and made available to the public, the more I discover about the many, many haunted places throughout West Virginia and beyond. 

My biggest fear is that with many of these stories, there never will be confirmation (or denial). Historic research can be a bit...muddled. For most of our history, it wasn't required to officially register things such as births and deaths. People signed official documents with their nicknames, not the names given on their birth certificates. Newspapers didn't always get their facts straight, and in some cases, made up stories for readership. Census takers often mis-recorded and misspelled information...and that was if they could even get the accurate information out of the family in the first place. Tombstones become lost or illegible. The digitization of records has opened up a lot of doors in the realm of research, but transcription errors and low-quality or damaged scans are a huge problem and have led to a lot of misinformation.

And unfortunately, some documents have been permanently lost to history. Courthouses burn down, destroying documents. Floods wash away important papers. Newspaper offices go out of business and chuck their archives. Natural and man-made disasters, not to mention just the passage of time, have erased any written documentation of a story, or any proof of the existence of those involved. All that remains is the folklore--the stories passed down orally through the generations. Some of these stories remain largely intact as to the original content, while others grow and change a little with each re-telling and each generation, trying to fill in the gaps and keep the story relevant throughout the years. And as a researcher, it frustrates the hell out of me. I love a good mystery, but I hate the idea of never knowing the truth. Just how accurate ARE those old ghost stories if I can't find any way to prove or disprove them?

It also leaves me conflicted. I want to do my due diligence. I want to bring legitimacy to the field of paranormal research and investigation. That requires finding out the truth, no matter what that truth may be. If I cannot find solid proof for or against, I feel like I've failed. I feel like I've failed my clients, my readers, and myself. More importantly, I feel like I've failed those whose stories are waiting to be told. But what about those stories? What value, if any, can be found in the tales told that cannot be authenticated?

The older I get, the more I appreciate how our West Virginia folklore, in particular our ghost lore IS a part of our history. Ghost stories serve as a reminder that none of us will live forever. They serve as morality tales, reminding us to act a certain way. They serve as a warning---here in Appalachia, it wasn't unheard of for ghost stories to be told as a means of scaring outsiders away from a well-hidden moonshine still, and certainly, throughout history, spooky stories have been told to children to keep them from wandering away and exploring areas where real life dangers abound. Ghost stories are a commentary on the values and beliefs of a group of people, and in some cases, are used to explain that which cannot be explained by normal means. 

Ghost stories also serve simply as a means of entertainment. Before the days of television, many dark nights were spent by the fire, telling and re-telling spooky stories. Most of us still love reading/hearing a good ghost story, or watching a spooky show on television to pass the time. Ghost lore is a part of our collective history, and therefore, despite my dedication to the truth, I strongly believe that our ghost stories and related folklore should be preserved and studied, whether or not they can be verified to be historically accurate. Long-time readers to Theresa's Haunted History might notice that I've always tried to represent both sides. I've always told the popular ghost lore and shared the ghost stories of each haunted location I feature. Then, I share any historical research I've uncovered, whether it backs up the stories or disputes them. I try to do the same for my clients; I will make sure to document the stories that are told, but present historical documentation illustrating my findings. 

This marriage of fact and folklore is the basis for this blog, and as my work as a paranormal investigator. I believe I owe it to this field of study and to my readers/clients to present the facts and documentation. I believe I owe it to our 'ghosts' to tell their stories as truthfully as possible, and ensure they are not forgotten. But, I believe I owe it to our collective history and culture to also document and share the stories that cannot be historically proven, as there is just as much to learn from them as any verifiable source. 

Stay spooky, y'all. 

A Gruesome Grave Robbing in West Virginia

Find-a-Grave
Uploaded by Tammy Parks Markwood

Ghoul: n. An evil spirit or phantom, especially one supposed to rob graves and feed on dead bodies.

When I hear the word 'ghoul', that's the definition I usually associate with it, but throughout history, the term has also come to be a description of those flesh and blood living humans who engage in the heinous act of disturbing buried bodies. It was these types of ghouls that had a small community in Preston County, WV outraged.

Mary Ellen Shaffer Calhoun was a well-known and well-respected elderly widow living in the community of Newburg. When she passed away on January 27, 1916 at the age of 78, she was buried in the Calhoun Family Cemetery near Manheim, beside her husband, John G. Calhoun. There she laid in rest...for about two weeks. 

February 11th, 1916 was a Friday. That morning, two boys, Kramer Brandau and Harold Painter, were on their way to school in Rowlesburg. On route from their homes in Manheim, they passed the Calhoun Family Cemetery and noticed a big pile of fresh dirt and wooden boards strewn about. Being a small community, they knew that there wasn't a recent burial, so they walked over to check it out. To their horror, they found the body of Mrs. Calhoun, partially nude, lying above ground. The wooden case enclosing her casket had been smashed and scattered. The coffin lid and nameplate had been removed. The body, although outside of the coffin and lying on the ground, was left intact. However, the clothes had been partially torn off and ripped to shreds. 

The boys ran all the way to Rowlesburg to report the incident to authorities. It wouldn't be long before Sheriff Laco Wolfe, accompanied by a pack of bloodhounds belonging to Sheriff Ross F. Stout were on the scene. Dim footprints were found in the mud, but unfortunately, the dogs were unable to sniff out the trail of the alleged grave robbers. Mrs. Calhoun's body was placed in the care of the local undertaker, who hastily reburied her with as much dignity as the situation could merit. 

Local rumor believed that Mrs. Calhoun was the victim of grave robbers because she was buried along with expensive jewelry, valuable papers, and even perhaps a large sum of cash. Local newspapers covering the story even first reported that rings were violently cut from her fingers and stolen by the grave robbers. However, all this would prove false. The family claimed that she wasn't buried with her jewelry, and she certainly wasn't buried with CASH. These rumors may have been started when Mrs. Calhoun's oldest son, Albert Dodson (AD) Calhoun, who was named administrator of her estate went over all the assets on February 5th. In doing so, he discovered that his mother had never cashed or deposited a check for $400 that he had written her 18 months prior for debts he owed her. Upon discovering this and checking with the First National Bank of Grafton, he reissued a check in the same amount to be paid to the estate. However, he claims that no one, not even other family members, were aware of this transaction.

So what was the motive for this horrific crime?

Perhaps the motive was robbery. Mrs. Calhoun seemed to be a very well-known figure in the community, and she probably had some wealth to go along with her reputation. Maybe the grave robber(s) thought she WOULD be buried with jewelry and/or other items worth stealing. That would account for the disarray of the clothing/shroud as the robbers hastily tried to find what they were looking for. However, a strange article came out in the February 12, 1916 edition of the Daily Telegram. This paper claimed that Mrs. Calhoun was disinterred in such a disrespectful manner because of SPITE. It was noted that the body was found in a field near the railroad tracks...the same railroad tracks traveled daily by her son, H. Calhoun who was a conductor on the Morgantown and Kingwood Railroad. 

That's an interesting take on the whole situation, but I never found out what in the actual hell Mrs. Calhoun or her family had done to make someone want to hurt them and disrespect them in such a gruesome manner. Digging up a corpse and leaving it out where it can easily be found by two young boys on their way to school is absolutely horrific. For one to do so out of spite is the sign of a pretty twisted mind.

Whatever the reason behind the gruesome event, it doesn't appear that the case was ever solved. On February 19th, the Martinsburg Herald basically stated that the case had gone cold and all leads exhausted. However, on the following day, the Sunday Telegram ran a small article saying that all clues had been exhausted, BUT an unnamed hypnotist/mind reader was being called in as a last resort to uncover clues. After that, it seems that local papers dropped the matter, and I couldn't find any additional mentions in the sources I regularly use. 

This story may seem a little more...gruesome...than what you're used to seeing on Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State. And although it's not paranormal, it is WEIRD---weird and spooky. I love branching out into ALL aspects of West Virginia's strange and fascinating history and thought a tale of grave-robbing might be something YOU'D be interested in as well! Lemme know down in the comments what YOU think of these types of stories, and as always, let me know what kind of content you'd enjoy reading about. 

Sources:

The West Virginia Argus. 17 February 1916

The (Clarksburg, WV) Daily Telegram. 12 February 1916

Martinsburg Herald. 19 February 1916

The Sunday Telegram. 20 February 1916. Accessed through Newspapers.com 

BONUS GHOST STORY:

As a paranormal researcher/investigator, I was REALLY hoping I could find some ghost stories associated with the Calhoun Family Cemetery, or tales of it's reputed haunting. How cool would that be to find documentation that this lil' location has a history of being haunted...and making the connection that this tragic tale could be behind it.

Unfortunately, that wasn't to be. But, I did find a very, VERY brief mention of another cemetery being haunted! Mrs. Calhoun was apparently living in Newburg, WV at the time of her death. Newburg is a good 30 minutes away by today's standards from her burial place between Manheim and Rowlesburg. Newburg is also home to an allegedly haunted cemetery of its own! The Damon Cemetery (sometimes referred to as the Knights of Pythias Cemetery) is haunted by the ghostly apparition of a lady in white. A visitor to the cemetery, checking on her father's grave, also had her own personal experience in the cemetery, which was shared on the Facebook page, West Virginia's Most Haunted Places. 

Lviv's Haunted Church

Photo by Maksym Kozlenko
WikiCommons

The Dominican Church of Lviv, Ukraine is a massive, but beautiful piece of architecture. Although the Dominican Order came to the Lviv area centuries before, the current church's cornerstone was laid in 1749. Designed by Polish engineer, Jan De Witt and largely financed by the Potocki Family, the church was finished 15 years later. In 1764, it was consecrated by the archbishop of Lviv, Waclaw Hieronim Sierakowski. 

Over the next couple of centuries, additions and renovations slightly changed the look of the building. In the years following World War 2, the church was occupied by the Soviets, who used it as a storage warehouse before finally turning it into a museum of religion and atheism. However, following the collapse of the former Soviet Union, the church was given back to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, and resumed its function as a parish church. 

Somewhere along the line, the church picked up a reputation for being haunted! 

Witnesses report that quite often, as the midnight hour descends upon the city, the church comes alive. For at least three hours at a time, loud, passionate, ghostly sermons can be heard thundering through the empty building. A phantom choir sings out, their voices amplified by the wonderful acoustics in the building. 

The church library is also a scene of regular paranormal activity. Books tightly packed on library shelves still manage to wriggle themselves free and fling themselves on the floor. Sounds of an old-fashioned typewriter, pecking away with unseen hands, are also observed. 

According to various websites, more than a few night watchmen have quit their post after experiencing these disembodied sounds, and even more have quit when they've run into the ghost monk! It is believed that the hauntings of the church only began over the past few decades when the basements were opened up and renovated, setting lose the ghost of a monk who was most likely buried on the property. This monk appears as a translucent shape, wearing a white robe. He seems trapped in a time long gone by, as he performs his usual duties, going about on his usual route, oblivious to the frightened night watchmen who have encountered his image. 

It is my great hope that this wonderfully historic (and haunted) showpiece to Ukraine's architecture still stands tall and proud and in the ownership of the Ukrainian people for generations to come. Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State proudly supports a FREE and Democratic Ukraine and stands with the Ukrainian people as they currently fight to keep their freedom. Please keep the people of Ukraine in your thoughts during these horrific times, but also remember to include the Russian people who are NOT responsible for the acts of their government, and whom of which many don't support this assault on Ukraine. 

Source: 

Top 10 Mystical Spots in Ukraine, by Oleh Apostolov. 24 February 2012.  The Ukrainian Week.