Civil War History with the St. Albans History and Mystery Tour 2022!

Tour Guide, Denise Cyrus

One of the things I love almost as much as the paranormal is learning about local history. As a native West Virginian, I'm fascinated by my state's rich and unique background, and the stories of those who have called these hills home over the years. And obviously, whenever, I see an opportunity to experience the SPOOKY and unusual history of the Mountain State, I jump at the chance! Last week I did just that with a guided walking tour of St. Albans!

Led by local historian Denise Cyrus, this month's St. Albans History and Mystery Tours are focused on the Civil War era and the impact of the war on the citizens of a small, but bustling town known then as Coalsmouth. Like many towns in what is now West Virginia, this area truly embraced the old 'brother against brother' saying, as families, friends, and neighbors were split as to whether their sympathies were with the Confederacy or with the Union...and interestingly enough, some citizens' sympathies seemed to align with whichever side was in control of the village at the time! Still, other families just left the area entirely. But, those who stayed left quite a treasure trove of stories to be passed down for us today.

St. Mark's Episcopal Church

Our group met at The Loop, and after an introduction to the history of the town, proceeded to our first stop, which was St. Mark's Episcopal Church on 'B' Street. Originally organized as the Bangor Parish on the other side of town, St. Mark's was built on this site around 1847 after the previous church burned down. During the Civil War, Union troops camped on the site and used the church to stable their horses. In fact, our first spooky story is connected to this Union occupation of the grounds. A lady was out back behind the church and witnessed a man dressed as a Civil War era soldier. This gentleman was so clearly seen that she just assumed that he was some sort of re-enactor...but no re-enactors were present.  In a weird twist of fate, as we walked back to the area where the presumed spirit was seen, the group noticed that there was a man lying down near the corner of the property! I can't help but wonder if it was just a homeless guy taking a rest in a relatively safe and comfy spot...or if we collectively caught a glimpse through time and observed one of those Union soldiers, still camping out there behind the church. 

Anyway, while we were back there, we discussed the nearby Hansford House on Riverside Drive. The Hansford Family were prominent citizens in the area, and Victoria Hansford was a figure whose name came up in multiple stories throughout the evening. I don't want to give too much away, because I encourage you to take the tour for yourself, but let's just say she was quite a brave young woman! The house she called home, however, was the site of at least two tragic deaths. After the Battle of Scary Creek, it is said that a wounded soldier who knew the family made his way to Hansford House in search of help. Unfortunately, he passed away from his injuries, right at the entry to the house. After the Civil War, 78 year John Hansford was going out to vote and was walking along the train bridge when he was struck by a passing train and knocked off the bridge. He was dragged home from the river's edge, still alive, by his daughter Victoria and a servant, but unfortunately passed----in the SAME EXACT SPOT the soldier had died in. 

Behind St. Mark's where the ghostly soldier was seen

Moving on, we stopped at the new, modern post office building and talked a little about postal service in Coalsmouth during the time before, during, and shortly after the Civil War, which was really quite interesting. But, more importantly, the current site of the post office is actually the original site of the the Chilton House, before it was moved in the 1970's. Now known as Angela's On the River, the old Chilton House is a beautiful, upscale (yet fairly priced!) restaurant. 

The Chilton House was built around 1857 by Allen Smith, and didn't become known as the Chilton House until well after the Civil War, when the house was purchased by Mary Elizabeth Wilson Chilton and William Chilton I. And, it has a reputation for being haunted. Or rather, it DID have a reputation for being haunted. I had actually written a blog post about the hauntings of the Chilton House after speaking with an employee during the St. Albans History and Mystery Tour of 2019! I know have some updated information to add to that blog! You can read my original post HERE, but in short, when the current owner took over the building, she had bought an antique mirror which had come from England. Apparently, fingerprints were noticed on the mirror, and no amount of Windex could scrub these things away. Things progressed, and what were just fingerprints on apparently the inside of the mirror, became the vision of an entire HAND, which culminated in an image of a terrifying FACE peering back out from the mirror! Strange knockings and other disturbances seemed attacked to the mirror as well, so it was decided that the thing had to be gotten rid of...and was put out on the curb where some lucky passerby snagged  him or herself a FREE possessed mirror! 

Angela's On The River,
formerly the Chilton House

Walking down the river's edge a short ways, we stopped to discuss the importance of the old covered bridge that once stood over the Coal River and how as Confederate troops left town, they burned the bridge in attempt to stop the Union troops from following them. Hilariously, I guess it had been a particularly dry season, because the Coal River was low enough for them to just walk across without the aid of the bridge, so that piece of history was lost in an instant for nothing.  And, while we were still in sight of the Coal River, Denise told us the ironic tale of a former preacher who gave up the pulpit for the whiskey selling business, but drank away all his profits and ended up killing his wife and 'hiding' her body in the river. His subsequent trial and hanging were a big deal and featured in newspapers well beyond the borders of then-Virginia! 

The next location was St. Paul's Baptist Church, where there is some beautiful artwork on the doors to the church, and then a short uphill hike to everyone's favorite house in St. Albans---The Mohler House. Now, technically, the Mohler House isn't really Civil War related as it wasn't built until the early 1900's, but Denise found a couple of ways to tie it in, including the fact that where the house sits was once part of the large Muckamore estate, and was probably where the enslaved members of the estate lived. The Mohler House has an absolutely fascinating history, including being used to house nearly 100 young women known as 'Rosies' during WW2 who worked at the Naval Ordnance Plant in South Charleston. It's also thought to be haunted, of course! Activity isn't really specific, but the area around the staircase and in the basement tends to give people a very, very bad feeling. 

Mohler House

More stories were told as we got to take a little sit-down break on Old Main, and even more stories wrapped up the evening back at the parking lot.  Along the way, the sun had set and a bright, fat moon peeked eerily out from behind the clouds. It was a perfect evening...despite the earlier wind and clouds, it never got too terribly chilly, and it never rained. Just a wonderful night for a lot of history and a lot of mystery!  I absolutely had a fabulous time and learned a lot about the history of St. Albans. Denise was a great story-teller, and a wealth of information about anything and everything having to do with the history of the area formerly known as Coalsmouth. I can't imagine the dedication and hours of research that went into making these different tours, but it shows in her passion for sharing this knowledge with her tour guests. Each guest went home with a really cool photo postcard of the old covered bridge, a walking tour pamphlet of historic locations around St. Albans, and hopefully a greater appreciation for the history and mysteries of our little neck of the woods!

Know Before You Go:  

Make sure you're following St. Albans History and Mystery Tour on Facebook for updates on tour schedules and much more. See schedule below as well!

The October tours meet at the Loop in front of Family Care, across from the bridge.

The cost is $10 for adults/$5 for kids.

Tours generally run about 90 minutes.

Estimated length is 1.5 miles.

(It's a fairly easy walk, with only one fairly small hill. Even with my bad back, I managed to do just fine!)

Ghostly Image Appears on Window Pane in Fayette County

1880 Victorian Woman By Fresh Grave
Source: GettyImages

One night in December of 1904, Mrs. C.T. Rodgers, who lived at the head of Keeney's Creek in Fayette County, WV had a dream. She dreamed that her deceased sister came to her, asking for help. This sister had a daughter (Mrs. Rodgers' niece) who apparently had been led astray, and was not living a very moral life, according to the deceased. She begged Mrs. Rodgers to speak with the girl, and convince her to change her ways. To this, Mrs. Rodgers replied that it would be useless; the girl would not listen to her. So, the deceased then asked Mrs. Rodgers to simply pray for the misguided youth instead. 

The next morning, Mrs. Rodgers was mulling over the dream in her head as she prepared breakfast. But as the smoke from the stove began to curl oddly about, she felt something weird was definitely going on. As the smoke drifted toward the window, an image began to take form on the glass pane. At first, Mrs. Rodgers just thought it was the cold, morning frost, but the image soon took on the unmistakable likeness of a blonde haired woman in a blue dress, standing aside an open grave. Different accounts of the tale claim that the image was like that of a photograph, while others say it was more like the artwork of French artist, Gustave Dore, who specialized in woodcuts. Either way, it was a clear image of a woman beside a grave, just standing there.  However, despite the implied link between this ghostly image and the previous night's dream, the woman did not appear to be either the sister OR the wayward niece.

Mrs. Rodgers, not wanting to bother her husband with such matters, tried to quickly scrub the image off the pane, but it wouldn't budge. It was there to stay. Mr. Rodgers must not have been a particularly observant husband, because Mrs. Rodgers didn't say a word, and he never noticed the freaky image that was now permanently part of his kitchen window. That lasted all of two weeks before Mrs. Rodgers finally said something to him. After that, things kind of got out of control. Neighbor by neighbor learned of the eerie image and before long, the whole county knew. By the time different newspapers throughout the state had picked up the story in March of 1905, it was estimated that at least 2000 people had traipsed to the small Fayette County community to see the woman in blue. Among the sightseers was the Hon. J. Alfred Taylor, a politician who would later serve in Congress. A glass worker with years of experience who claimed to have never seen anything like this before, was also in attendance, along with some scientists who brought a microscope. But, just like trying to wipe the image away produced no effect, oddly, neither did the microscope. It was reported that for whatever reason, the image of the woman by the grave refused to get any bigger under the lens. 

No one ever did discover the identity of the mysterious woman in the image, nor whose grave she stood watching. And, I never did find out exactly what became of the image---whether it ever faded away, or even if the house still stands. But, one thing I DID learn was that the wayward niece whose deceased mother was so concerned about....well, after seeing the image in the window pane for herself, she vowed to change her ways and live a moral life once and for all. So, whether or not the image actually WAS linked to Mrs. Rodgers' dream doesn't really matter; the deceased woman's plea was answered. 

Sources:

The Weekly Register (Point Pleasant, WV). 8 March 1905. Page 3

The Independent-Herald (Hinton, WV). 16 March 1905. Page 2

Strange Lights Seen by Raleigh County Airport Employees

Raleigh County Memorial Airport
Source: Facebook

On World UFO Day 2020, I published a blog post called 1973 UFO Flap Comes to Southern WV, discussing a newspaper article dealing with a UFO flap in the Beckley, WV area. During the late summer months into fall of 1973, the United States as a whole was experiencing quite a number of UFO reports, including the infamous Pascagoula Abduction. That newspaper article, from the Raleigh Register, was dated October 17th, 1973 and in addition to the other numerous reports of strange lights and flying saucers coming in from around the county, mentions a UFO that was seen over the Raleigh County Airport by multiple witnesses. It's taken me over 2 years to realize that I should probably go into a little more detail about that particular sighting, sometimes referred to in UFO literature as the Howard Moneypenny sighting.  

Howard Moneypenny was a weather service specialist for the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA) and was on location at the Raleigh County Airport in Beaver, WV on the evening of Monday, October 15, 1973. Starting around 8:45pm and lasting 30 to 40 minutes, Moneypenny and virtually every other employee on duty that night at the airport witnessed an unidentified flying object over the airport. 

According to Moneypenny, the thing really didn't have a discernible shape, and due to the clear night, they really couldn't tell how big it was, or even how far away it was. What they did know was that whatever this was, it had red, green, and white flashing lights, but unlike the red, green, and white lights associated with aircraft, this thing would entirely change color at the same time. Oh, and at one point it seemed to HOVER for about 15 minutes at a point 300 degrees west-northwest.

A local pilot who wished to remain anonymous, jumped in his Cessna 182 and actually tried to go after this thing. He confirmed that the object would change color, and that he never seemed to be able to get any closer to it; it was moving away from him towards the area of Bolt Mountain. This pilot was apparently not a newbie to night flying, and could not understand exactly what he was seeing.

Darris Moore, Piedmont Airlines supervisor, however, had a rational explanation. According to Moore, this was just simply an aircraft, most likely a military helicopter, about 20 miles away. He absolutely refused to believe that the strange lights observed by so many employees of the airport could possibly be extraterrestrial. 

Whether or not the lights seen over the Raleigh County Airport were extraterrestrial, it's pretty interesting to note that the local newspaper stated that this was the first UFO report from West Virginia in quite some time, meaning that if true, it was the first UFO report of the huge 1973 flap to hit the Mountain State. But, it wouldn't be the last, not by far! The local newspaper would go on to report that in the following days, there would be at least 200 more calls about flying saucers in the Beckley area.  There would even be a rather significant sighting in Mingo County, where the Chief of Police and a whole restaurant full of people reported seeing something strange in the sky (see UFOs over Gilbert).  West Virginia has had a rich history when it comes to ufology, and this little tale of a UFO seen over a small, county airport is just one small piece to the larger puzzle. 

Raleigh Register
16 October 1973

Williamson's Haunted Rail Yard

Norfolk and Western Rail Yard (1944)
Williamson, WV
Source: WV History on View

It seems weird to me to write a blog post about Williamson, WV that ISN'T about the haunted and historic Williamson Memorial Hospital, now known as the Old Hospital on College Hill. But, awhile back as I was collecting old newspaper stories about haunted places and ghostly goings-on throughout West Virginia, I had clipped a tale from the September 1st, 1935 edition of the Bluefield Daily Telegraph.  At the time, the newspaper was running a series of articles featuring ghost stories submitted by readers. Most of the submissions were coming from Virginia, but a handful were from the Mountain State, including this story from Mingo County. 

For whatever reason, I pushed back sharing this article for quite some time and kind of forgot about it...until I saw where my good friend and colleague over at The Southern Spirit Guide had shared HIS blog post about this story. That post, while recently shared again, was published in 2018 so I'm REALLY late to the party, lol.  (Go check out the post, entitled Railyard Revenant) However, I still wanted to record the story here at Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State in an effort to further preserve the haunted folklore of West Virginia and share this story with as many people as possible. 

The rail yard in Williamson is still there, and still in operation, although the Norfolk and Western is now known as Norfolk Southern. The next time you're in town, especially if you're attending a private investigation or one of the upcoming spooky Halloween events at the Old Hospital on College Hill, take a moment to stop by. Although the yard itself is private property, you can still get close enough to MAYBE hear the phantom cries of a long-lost baby....

WRITER UNFOLDS NEW GHOST STORY

Strange Incident on Williamson Yards Baffles Railroad Men; Cry of Babe Heard From Locomotive Firebox

The popular demand for Sunday ghost stories has reached the point where these true tales are literally being "eaten" alive.

The first railroad ghost story, learned by accident, attracted so much attention that readers requested more of them.  Last Sunday was told how a fireman jumped off his engine at Flat Top yard after a voice from heaven had demanded that he quit railroading. That was a true story. Another voice from the spirit world warned an engineer in charge of a flier of an open switch ahead. A beautiful white pigeon alighted on a locomotive and the engine was wrecked killing the engineer. 

But today comes the strangest ghost tale ever published. The wonder of it is some of the big newspapers have not grabbed it, for it sure is a knockout. Many Norfolk and Western railroad men vouch for the truth of the story, men whose word is as good as their bond.

This amazing happening has its setting on Williamson yard, and has been told and retold until around the Mingo County seat the kiddies are sometimes put to sleep thinking about the yarn. 

But we will not longer keep the reader in suspense.

From the inferno of the boiler of a Norfolk and Western yard engine in use in Williamson yard may be heard the pitiful cries of a baby. Of course, there is no baby in that firebox. Even a child need not be told that.

But often during the dead hours of night from the firebox the engineer and fireman almost stand speechless as the faint cry of an infant is emitted from the seething furnace of their locomotive.

Billy Dotson, veteran engineer, is said to have been the first to hear the baby cry, but since, others claim to have heard the voice distinctly. 

One theory advanced is that a long time ago a young baby in some manner was tossed into the firebox of this particular engine, and that its tiny spirit remains.

Anyway, you have the story. It is not for us to offer a solution of this amazing phenomenon. 

Don't forget to check out my other blog posts from Williamson, WV!

The Nurse Who Never Clocked Out--Old Hospital on College Hill

The Haunting of Mose

Theresa's Travels: Williamson's Coal House

The Damron Family Tragedy at the Old Hospital on College Hill

Cheech and Chong Meet the Warrens

It isn't Friday yet, but I could desperately use a little laugh!  The photo above was all over Facebook the last few months, but was also all over Reddit, and by the caption, appears to have originally come from ifunny.co. It shows the legendary pot-smoking comedy duo, Cheech and Chong, meeting the world-famous ghost hunting couple, Ed and Lorraine Warren. 

You know me---I had to do a little digging to see what I could learn about the context of this rather odd celebrity meet-up. 

On September 24, 1982, both Cheech and Chong and Ed and Lorraine Warren appeared together on The Merv Show, with host, Merv Griffin. This was the 15th episode of the 21st season of the popular talk show, and the four appeared that day along with musical guest Richard Walley and actress Carol Channing. Another guest on this particular episode was Judith Glatzel, the mother of David Glatzel, who would become a central character years later in the movie The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It. 

The previous November, Judith believed that the 11 year old David had been possessed by a demon and had sought the help of the Warrens. While trying to petition the Catholic Church for a formal rite of exorcism to be performed on David, the demon allegedly hopped into David's sister's boyfriend, Arne Johnson. Johnson, under the influence of this demonic possession, killed his landlord, and was convicted of first degree manslaughter. 

David and his brother would later go on to sue the Warrens for publishing his story without his permission, and as family testimony of exactly what happened told very different stories, David seemingly dropped out of public view as an adult. So yeah, that's some pretty heavy stuff for this type of television program! I looked at various newspaper clippings showing TV guides, and it seems as if this show came on around 4pm EST...so particularly heavy stuff for late afternoon!  

Luckily Cheech was there to add in some much needed comedy to a rather dark segment of television history. I'm just hoping that the actual video surfaces soon! Happy Haunting ya'll. 

3rd Quarter Spooky Reading 2022

Another three months have passed, which means its time for another quarterly update on my yearly spooky reading! Ya'll know I love to read anything and everything I can in the paranormal non-fiction genre. As a paranormal investigator and researcher, I'm always trying to learn as much as I can about this field, and exploring books from a variety of viewpoints in a variety of different topics is a great way to accomplish that. As a blogger, it's also a great way to get new ideas for content to share with you all. And, as a paranormal enthusiast, I just love reading a good, spooky ghost story! 

Unfortunately, this quarter wasn't a great one for me. I only got around to eight paranormal nonfiction titles (and my general reading list wasn't much better). I managed to get a couple of gems, though, so let's take a quick look!

1. Living Among Bigfoot, by Tom Lyons:  This is the first in a whole series of books about one gentleman's encounters with Sasquatch. I found this as a free download, and while it was a quick, enjoyable read, I probably won't pick up any more in the series unless they become available for free as well. I'd just rather get the whole story in one volume, as opposed to a bunch of REALLY short (more like essays) books.

2. Strange Creatures From Time and Space, by John Keel:  John Keel is one of those authors you just HAVE to read if you research anything Fortean or strange. Keel has a very distinct style of humor to his writing, and each of his books, while usually overlapping heavily with his others in the content department, are full of really interesting cases of high strangeness and Keel's theories as to why these events are happening.

3. Queen Victoria's Other World, by Peter Underwood:  I love Peter Underwood's collections of ghost stories from various places around the British Isles. This book is a little different...instead of focusing on ghostly tales of haunted locations, it takes a look at the life of Queen Victoria and her interest in Spiritualism and the occult. There are also quite a few haunted places and ghost stories thrown in, with the note that no doubt Queen Victoria would have been familiar with this tale since she lived at this location, or visited it, or so forth. That part felt a little...forced for content...but it was still an interesting read.

4. Freak Files: The Unexplained Tales, by Gia Scott:  A free ebook download I found on Amazon. Not terrible, but nothing to write home about. Just a quick read about some spooky stories.

5. Real Celebrity Ghost Stories, by Sherri Granato. See above, but focusing on celebrities, lol. 

6. Life After Death, by Hans Holzer:  I love me some Hans Holzer. He was the author who inspired me as a kid to be a 'ghost hunter' in the first place, so I'm always thrilled when I come across one of his books. I found Life After Death at Goodwill and flew through the battered old paperback, loving the stories of people who claim that they have proof that life doesn't end with bodily death.

7. Mermaids: The Myths, Legends and Lore, by Skye Alexander: Ironically, I came across this book at a thrift store right as the whole Little Mermaid controversy was reaching a head. This is a beautiful little book filled with the origins of the mermaid myth, the mermaid in popular culture, and, well...anything and everything else you could want to know about mermaids. It gets super repetitive at times, but it was a fun read. 

8. The Grafton Monster, by George Dudding:  George Dudding is a prolific writer of all things paranormal, especially strange things going on in the Mountain State! I try to collect as many as his works as possible, so when I saw him at the 2022 Mothman Festival, I decided to pick up The Grafton Monster. My husband is from Grafton, so it's a topic that I love discussing with him, as he knows so much about the general area and his mom was living in the area at the time of the sighting. This was a fun book on a subject that there just isn't a whole lot of information available on. 

So there ya have it! That's what I've been reading lately, but I'd love to hear what paranormal nonfiction books you've been reading and loving lately. Join me over on Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State Facebook or let me know in the comments below! 

Theresa's Book Reviews

Spooky Season 2022 is Finally Here!

From SRI's Fairfield County Infirmary
Investigation in September

I mean, it's spooky season all year long here at Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State, but as October 1st finally arrives, it seems...official! Along with plenty of ghosts, spooks, monsters, and goblins, October also brings along with it another round of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. That's right---thirty one more straight days of brand new paranormal content here on the blog. 

As some readers may already know, I lost my mom last week after a nearly 6 month battle with cancer. I haven't had a whole lot of time, energy, or motivation lately to focus on my work, but I'm desperately needing a distraction. Hopefully, this blog will provide that much needed outlet for me to concentrate on during these next few months, and the UBC will give me the push to actually get it published. I've certainly got quite a back log of content I've been wanting to share with ya'll! Despite everything going on, I've still tried to keep up with my paranormal investigations with Spectral Research and Investigations, my spooky reading, making research notes on cases I'd like to study further, and going to as many local paranormal events as possible. 

Please join me all month long as we get caught up with some new haunted locations in West Virginia and beyond, take a look at some of SRI's events/investigations, and explore everything strange and spooky throughout the tri-state. This is my favorite time of the year, and I'm excited to get to share it with you.  Happy haunting!