Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State: West Virginia's Monkey Cemetery

Great (or Big) Bend Tunnel
Near Hinton, WV

Last year, Luke and JR accompanied me on a quest to find as many Legends and Lore roadside markers as we could. The Legends and Lore markers are part of the William G. Pomeroy Foundation and provide information for travelers on places of interest regarding folklore, traditions, superstitions, and even supernatural occurrences! So far, we have visited quite a few in West Virginia, but the one that eluded us was the one I was most intrigued by: The Monkey Cemetery in Ronceverte.

We drove around that area for literally an HOUR. Unfortunately, at the place of the given address and coordinates, there was nothing. NOTHING! My disappointment was immeasurable and my day was ruined (bonus points to anyone who gets that reference, lol). But seriously, I was really saddened that we couldn't find the marker for what the website listed as the final burial place of 300 dead monkeys.

Yeah. 300 dead monkeys. As the legend was told, a circus train for the Sells and Downs Circus had just played a show in Charleston, WV and was heading to their next venue in Ronceverte. While passing through the Big Bend Tunnel near Hinton on Sunday, August 5th, 1906 (the same Big Bend tunnel made famous by John Henry), the train stalled. The tunnel, being just a little less than a mile and a half long, already wasn't known for its great air quality, but the actions of the steam engine trying to get started again further complicated matters by filling the tunnel with steam and gases. It wasn't pleasant for the people...but it was deadly for the circus' monkey collection.

When the train finally got going again and reached its destination, the deceased primates were buried in a large trench, where the Virginia Electric and Power Co. would later be built.

As of right now, the website has been updated to note that this particular roadside marker is no longer available, and it really made me wonder why it was so short-lived. So...I did some digging into old newspaper articles, both from the time of the accident, and from 1956 when several newspapers ran an article by Fred McCoy telling the tale. According to an online article from the Mountain Messenger, it appears that the information for this tale came from a piece in the Greenbrier Independent from June 8, 1950 that features former circus employee, W.F. Beard, reminiscing about the tragic event. Beard, who worked with the circus at that time, quit after the incident and settled in the Ronceverte area.

But, as often seen in legends of this caliber, the story told didn't exactly match up with historical documentation. To further complicate matters, even contemporary news articles couldn't quite get the story straight...

I've included the relevant news articles, as well as some other online resources below, so you can follow along with the jumble of misinformation. There are, however a few things that the 1906 articles tend to agree on that dispute Beard's recollections. For example, the articles all claim that it wasn't the Sells circus, but the John Robinson circus show, which did just wrap up in Charleston on August 4th. On August 5th, the train did stall in the Big Bend tunnel, and animal lives were lost. However, the number of lives varies GREATLY from article to article. One article claims it was 100 monkeys. Another states only 25. Still, another states only 16 monkey deaths. Some claimed this was the entire monkey population of the circus, while others claim that it was only half. (I found some articles not included that support the idea that the circus did have surviving monkeys. In fact, an ape was born several weeks later!) All of these are a far cry from 300.

Big Bend Tunnel

What happened with the bodies is also up for debate. As the more modern articles claim, the monkeys were buried in a trench where the power company would later be built. However, the 1906 articles all agree that the monkeys were cremated, and the urn containing their ashes was buried on Fort Hill. This urn, which may have been silver, may also have been transcribed with a quote from Darwin. It is also believed that M.E. preacher, W.H. Sheak who traveled with the circus, presided over the funeral and gave an eulogy.

Among the dead were claimed to be a talking baboon named Jocko, a large mandril ape with the strength of multiple men, and a black-maned lion named Robert E. Lee who succumbed later and was donated to the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.

I don't have a good explanation as to why there are so many conflicting details in the story of West Virginia's Monkey Cemetery. I honestly thought (and am still not entirely convinced either way) that the articles from the 1950's were a type of thinly-veiled racist commentary on the many African-American railroad workers that gave their lives building the Big Bend tunnel, and others throughout West Virginia after the Civil War. We all know the story of John Henry, but there were countless others who passed away from silicosis, accidents, etc. that aren't named, and never received a proper burial. But, there does seem to be some historical documentation that there's a least a kernel of truth about circus monkeys meeting their demise in a tragic accident among the West Virginia hills. Perhaps it was just a poor recollection from an aging circus employee many years after the incident, maybe it was just poor journalism, and maybe it's just a really strange story that we'll never truly know about for sure.

As of this writing, you won't find a roadside marker for the Monkey Cemetery, but you can visit the Big Bend Tunnel. See the statue of John Henry. Learn about the history from the interpretive signage posted throughout the park. And of course, listen REALLY closely. You might hear the swing of John Henry's hammer striking railroad ties...or you might hear the hoots and hollers of 16 to 300 circus monkeys who took their last breath over 100 years ago.

Sources and Further Reading:

Ronceverte's Famed Monkey Cemetery Has Roots in Traveling Circus, by Doug Hylton. 31 May 2017 Mountain Messenger.

Pomeroy Foundation: Monkey Cemetery

WV Folklife: Legends and Lore Historial Markers

Southern Spirit Guide: "A Haunt with a Hammer in His Hand" by Lewis Powell IV