Lawrence Co. Ohio's Haunted Courthouse

Lawrence Co. Courthouse
Ironton, Ohio

On October 16, 1873, the Ironton Register ran a letter from a local citizen informing the paper about a ghost that was stalking the area around the Turner Kemp farm. The Lawrence Register historical website transcribes the article as seen below:

I have, on several occasions, noticed that you solicit local items. I thought it not amiss to inform you of a visitation the neighborhood has been blessed with since sometime last May.

On the farm of Turner Kemp stands a small, plain, framed house occupied by a colored man and his family. Since about the time mentioned above, there has, at regular intervals, appeared to some of his family a veritable ghost. It sometimes is seen only by his wife, and at other times is seen by the family, and on several occasions, it has been seen by many of the neighbors. I have had frequent glimpses of it myself, and although I have been taught to disbelief in such things, I must confess that the evidence, in this case, is so strong that I am forced to admit it a fact.

The first time I saw it was just in the dusk of the evening, as I was returning from the field. It started near the fence and flitted along till it came to the house and disappeared rather suddenly. Since then, I have often seen it in broad daylight and after dark. Contrary to most, it seems to have no regular hours of visibility but comes and goes just as it happens. I heard from a reliable source that it had been seen in the Court House yard last Saturday evening. The last seen of it was at a small house in East Ironton. So, Mr. Editor, it may, someday, take a notion to walk into your ‘sanctum.’

Anyone having doubts about the above facts can obtain the full name of the writer of this, by calling on the Editor of the Ironton Register.

It seems like this wandering ghost didn't limit itself to just showing itself to the family living on the farm and their neighbors...at least once it was spotted nearby at the Lawrence County courthouse! However, this courthouse wasn't much longer for this world. In April of 1875, the building was heavily damaged by fire. It was patched up, but at the turn of the century, would finally be replaced. In 1906, construction began on the 'modern' courthouse and was completed in 1908. This new courthouse was built on the lawn of the previous courthouse and may have inherited its predecessor's reputation for being haunted. 

On October 29, 2000, The Ironton Tribune ran a special Halloween article featuring haunted locations around the area. The 1873 article was quoted, but some additional information was provided by Constable Marty Smith, who spent many late-evening hours at the Lawrence County Courthouse.

Smith had several of his own experiences in the courthouse, including feeling cold drafts and witnessing the elevator stop and open up when no one else was around to operate it. He was even punched in the shoulder by an invisible force. 

Smith wasn't the only person to witness spooky phenomena. One evening he was summoned by several custodians for help. They had watched as a man walked past them and into the men's restroom. The courthouse was locked up for the night and they weren't sure who this potential intruder could be. They followed him into the bathroom but found it completely empty. The only two ways out would have been through the window, which was bolted tightly shut, and MAYBE a tiny crawl space in the ceiling. 

No one is sure who this ghost may be, but Smith theorizes that it may be the spirit of one of the three men he knows about who died on the courthouse grounds; one who was hanged legally, one who was lynched, and one who was shot during a political rally. 

Andrew Price was sentenced to be hanged on the courthouse lawn for his role in the murder of Louis (Henry) Hillenberg. Price and another man, Andrew/Jerry Spears, took the life of Hillenberg and robbed him of some old clothes, whiskey, and 18 cents. Spears, who was accused of cutting the man's throat, was given a life sentence at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Moundsville. Price, however, had taken a hatchet to the man and was sentenced to hang. After several petitions extended his execution date from March 12, 1869, Price finally swung from the gallows on April 2, 1869. 

Again, the Lawrence Register website has a wonderful collection of articles concerning this incident, including an interesting little blurb about a superstitious fellow. An older gentleman came to town to witness the execution, but his purpose for coming was to request the rope used in the hanging. Apparently, his son was an epileptic, who had been cured in the past by wearing an execution rope around his neck. 

The Lawrence Register website also has information regarding the November 3, 1936 slaying of 30 year old Bert McMahon. Around 300 people were crowded in the courthouse lobby on election night, when McMahon got into a political argument with Charles Roach. Both men had been drinking, and the fight quickly escalated, culminating with Roach pulling out a pistol and firing three shots at McMahon. One newspaper article quoted said that the fatal shot hit McMahon in the heart and he was deceased within ten minutes. 

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any clear information about a lynching, other than it MIGHT be the 1932 lynching of Luke Marion. However, that event occurred in South Point, not Ironton. If I find more information, I'll definitely update, but it seems like either Price or McMahon could be good candidates for the potential ghost of the modern Lawrence County courthouse. As for the spooky fellow roaming about in 1873, I guess that COULD be Andrew Price, but I'm not convinced that is the same ghost that is being reported today. But, let me know what you think! Comment down below, or find me on Facebook at Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State! 

The Ironton Tribune
29 October 2000

The Frametown Monster

Frametown Monster
Drawing by Frank Feschino

Just one day after Kathleen May, Gene Lemon, and five young boys encountered what would become known as the Flatwoods Monster, the Snitowsky Family had a similar experience. On September 13, 1952, George Snitowsky, along with his wife Edith and their 18-month-old son were traveling along Route 4 between Frametown and Sutton (about 17 miles south of Flatwoods). 

The family, who lived in Queens, New York, was returning from visiting family in Cincinnati. It was around 8pm when their car suddenly stopped on that lonely stretch of highway. After a few attempts at restarting it, George got out of the car to check under the hood, but he couldn't detect what the problem was. The air was filled with a foul odor of sulphur, and as the stench worsened, George got back into the car and rolled up the windows. Edith grabbed the baby from the backseat, as he woke up and began crying. 

The smell was worsening, and George was at a loss as to what to do. According to their map, it appeared that Frametown was the closest town to them, and it was a twelve-mile walk. George didn't want to leave his wife and baby alone for that long at night, so they decided to stay put and hope a vehicle would come by. A vehicle would come by...but it wouldn't be a local citizen driving past in their car!

Noticing a bright light coming from a wooded area nearby, George rolled down the window for a better look. The area had a hazy, purplish tint to it, and as George opened the window, that cloudy haze flooded into the car, making the family gag. The stench was sickening. However, George, overcome with curiosity, followed the light source. The ground sloped downward off the road towards the woods, and George could see a large sphere-shaped object behind the trees, only about 200-300 feet away. The glowing object seemed to be floating, and the closer he got to it, the heat and the stench increased dramatically. He also experienced what felt like small, electrical shocks or vibrations.

Still sick to his stomach, and having vomited a few times, George stumbled back to the car. When he was almost there, he stopped to catch his breath, leaning against a tree. He then heard Edith let out a horrific scream. He turned to look and saw that a strange creature was behind him. Off to the right of the road and illuminated by the glowing sphere, stood a humanoid creature, 8-9 feet tall. The creature had what appeared to be a bloated, reptilian upper body and a solid metallic lower half. 

George ran and jumped in the car. He pushed Edith and baby onto the floorboard and threw himself on top of them, but not before grabbing a large knife out of the glove compartment. The creature approached the car and touched the hood with one of its creepy, forked claw-like hands. It then moved back towards the woods. After a few minutes, George noticed the sphere slowly rise, stopping a few times on its ascent. At around 3000 feet, it swung back and forth like a pendulum and then shot out of sight. The smell and the fog started to dissipate, and the family was able to get the car started.

They headed to Sutton and made a stop at a local truck stop/diner before finding a hotel for the night. As they were leaving the next morning, they noticed the car had a V-shape singed into the paint down to the primer where the creature had touched their car. 

The Snitowsky's decided to keep quiet about the incident and made it back to New York without further ado. However, several years later, George decided to tell his story to Paul Lieb, president of the Flying Saucer Research Institute. Paul wrote a story about the incident, which was published in the July 1955 edition of Male magazine. 

So, what was it that the Snitowsky's saw that night? It is theorized that they saw THE Flatwoods Monster. The area where the strange creature was sighted was an area near Strange Creek known as James Knob. It is believed that after making an emergency landing (after potentially being shot down by our government) in Flatwoods, the monster made its way south. The reason why the creature appeared without its trademark spade-shaped head and was reported as being shorter than the previous witnesses claimed, was that it had taken off the top part of its spacesuit/spacecraft vehicle!

In both incidents, the bottom half of the creature was described similarly, and was accompanied by the same noxious gas that made the witnesses vomit. Personally, I think that the Snitowsky's DID witness the same creature (or a different creature of the same species) as the Flatwoods Monster seen the previous night. Over the course of a few days in mid-September, a strange set of phenomena involving suspected meteors, UFOs, and even a few alien entities were reported in and around West Virginia. Fank Feschino, in his ground-breaking book, The Braxton County Monster: The Cover-Up of the Flatwoods Monster Revealed (2004), goes over the entire conspiracy of just what was going on that late summer day of 1952. I highly recommend checking out his book for a more comprehensive account of how the 'Frametown Monster' would become an integral part of the Flatwoods Monster lore.

Hinton Daily News
13 September 1952

Friday the 13th's Freaky Phone Call

HAPPY FRIDAY THE 13TH! 

A normal telephone conversation between two sisters on Friday, December 13th, 1968 turned into a rather bizarre experience!  Mrs. John Cox of South Charleston rang up her sister, Mrs. Clyde Cox, also of South Charleston to wish her a Happy Anniversary. Mrs. Clyde Cox and her husband had been married for 33 years and this Friday the 13th, were celebrating a wedding that had also taken place on a Friday the 13th. With a marriage spanning a little over three decades, one could argue that for the Cox Family, Friday the 13th wasn't the unlucky occasion superstition would lead us to believe.

However, this Friday the 13th would just be a little...weird. At least, the phone call between the two sisters would leave them scratching their heads. Both sisters were talking on their private phone lines, but had a strange series of calls break onto their line. Within 10 minutes, calls came in from two local chemical companies (FMC and Carbide), a doctor's office (Dr. Dunn), and two private calls. All five callers were wishing to speak with a Mrs. Riffe.

So, who was Mrs. Riffe, why were so many people eager to contact her in a span of ten minutes, and how did they ALL end up breaking into Mrs. Cox's private phone line? Obviously, this little anecdote sounds more like supernatural snafu (or simply, a technical error, but that's way less interesting to write about) than it does an example of Friday the 13th being an unlucky day. But, I guess maybe it's all about perspective. Strange phone calls may not have necessarily been unlucky for Mrs. Cox and her sister...but somewhere out there was a Mrs. Riffe who no less than five people desperately needed to reach but couldn't. Sounds like it was an unlucky day for her and those trying to reach her!

I hope this Friday the 13th brings you good luck and good fortune...and maybe a phantom phone call!

The Charleston Daily Mail
13 December 1968

The Fire-Breathing Monster of Flatwoods and Other Weirdness

On September 12, 1952, seven people in Flatwoods, WV would witness a sight that would not only affect their lives forever...but would become an event cemented in the study of ufology for decades.  After a group of boys playing football observed what they thought might have been a meteor or even a plane crash on a nearby farm, five of the boys, including Eddie and Freddie May, were accompanied by their mother, Kathleen May and Gene Lemon, a 17 year old National Guardsman in pursuit of the wreckage.

You know I love to share vintage newspaper articles covering strange happenings, and since I've already discussed the Flatwoods Monster incident a few times before (plus, there are so many other great resources on this case) I thought today would be a good day to just share the UP article that hit newspapers across the country! The clipping I chose at random comes from the Record American (Pennsylvania) of September 15th, but the same article, with differing headlines, would be published in MULTIPLE newspapers on the 15th and 16th. I'll transcribe it below for easier reading:

The Record American (Pennsylvania)
15 September 1952

West Virginia Folks Saw Monster with Green Body, Red Face

Sutton, W.Va. (UP)---Eyewitness accounts of a tall, glowing monster with a blood-red face skulking in the hills divided Braxton County Monday into two camps---believers and skeptics.

Seven persons said they saw the unearthly being, described as "worse than Frankenstein," in the hills above Flatwoods, W.Va. Friday night.

State police and a number of residents hooted at the reports as a product of mass hysteria. Police said the eyewitness' guess as to the monster's height varied from seven to 17 feet.

The excitement began when the two young sons of Kathryn May, a Flatwoods beautician, said they saw a "flying saucer" land on C.B. Fisher's farm near here.

Mrs. May, National Guardsman Gene Lemon and five boys climbed a hill on the Fisher farm to look for the "saucer."

Mrs. May said a "fire-breathing monster, 10 feet tall with a bright green body and a blood-red face," bounced and floated toward them."

"It looked worse than Frankenstein," she said. "It couldn't have been human."

Lemon, 17, said he thought he saw a 'possum or coon until he put his flashlight on "the thing." It was then that he saw the monster with the blushing face and green body "that seemed to glow."

Mrs. May said Lemon stared and then screamed as the monster duckwalked toward them. All of them fled, occasionally looking over their shoulders. 

The monster, Mrs. May said, had an overpowering metallic odor that nauseated them. She said they vomited for several hours. A. Lee Steward, co-publisher of the Braxton County Democrat, received the first report from Mrs. May. The veteran newspaperman organized an armed posse and went to the scene. 

"The odor was still there," Stewart said. "It was sort of warm and sickening. And there were two places about six to eight feet in diameter where the brush was trampled down." 

Stewart did not know what to think. 

"I hate to say I believe it, but I hate to say I don't believe it," Steward said. "Those people were scared---badly scared, and I sure smelled something." 

Authorities said they believed the "flying saucer" which Mrs. Mays' sons saw was a meteorite. The incident occurred during a meteor shower over a three-state area. 

Theresa's Note: On September 13, 1952 newspapers along the East Coast noted that reports of meteorites being seen in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, and Ohio had flooded local law enforcement the night before. Many witnesses assumed they were witnessing planes going down in fiery crashes. A woman in McMechen, WV reported seeing a noiseless object, shooting blue and white flames out of one end. A man in West Liberty stated he saw several objects that looked like Roman candles. And, a Hinton preacher saw what he described as an "old time streetlight". Many witnesses to these "meteorites" claimed that the objects were moving horizontally and at very low altitudes. 

I'm not an expert in astronomical matters, but it seems like these were a little more than your normal meteorites, especially when you take into consideration the incident at Flatwoods, as well as similar incidents at Frametown and Wheeling (more about those in upcoming blogs!). There was even a couple of UFO reports from Raleigh County that occurred on the 13th of September. Was there a massive invasion across the East Coast that September...or was it simply a combination of natural phenomena and mass hysteria? 

Hinton Daily News
13 September 1952

The Flatwoods Monster Lantern

Flatwoods Monster Lantern
from my personal collection

Postcards. T-shirts. Stickers. All of these make great souvenirs for those wanting to remember all the fun events they attend and all the scenic travel destinations they visit. But...for a truly unique experience, one needs a truly unique souvenir!

I love traveling the great state of West Virginia, taking in her majestic beauty and learning about her fascinating history. And, over the years, I've tried to commemorate my trips with some fun souvenirs. Aside from the everyday postcards, stickers, t-shirts, etc., my collection contains reproduction grotesques from the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, a fidget spinner from the former WV State Penitentiary at Moundsville, and more Mothman plushies than any child could ever need. However, one of my favorite pieces I've collected is a treasure just as unique and fascinating as the story from which it originates: The Flatwoods Monster Lantern.

John Gibson with Lantern
Source

The story begins on September 12, 1952 when a group of kids playing ball in Flatwoods, West Virginia saw a strange sight overhead. Thinking a meteor had crashed on the hill near the Fisher farm, the boys headed to investigate, stopping at the home of brothers, Freddie and Eddie May. There, they were joined by their mother, Kathleen May, Eugene Lemon, a young National Guardsman, and the family dog. Grabbing a flashlight, they ascended the hill where they'd see something that would become the source of legend for years to come. 

The red-faced, spade-headed, pleated-skirt-wearing alien (?) that was seen up on that mountain that day is one of the strangest creatures to show up in UFO history and has since become a pop-icon the world over. Thanks to video games, artists, television shows, and social media influencers, the story of the Flatwoods Monster and its one-of-a-kind appearance have become almost mainstream. Braxxie, as the monster has affectionately become known as, shows up in various media across the world and instantly recognized by even those not in the paranormal community. 

UFO Researcher, Barbara Hudson
Charleston, WV 1969
From Gray Barker Archives

A monster as unique as the Flatwoods Monster deserves an equally cool and unique souvenir, and back in the late 1960's, the local chapter of the Jaycee's found a way to accomplish that...as well as keep the story of the monster alive AND make a few bucks! 

John Gibson doesn't remember whose idea it was exactly to create a LANTERN based on the 1952 monster sighting, but he was put in charge of the project and he ran with it! He had a little help from a pal named Bob Bossert, though. Bossert was a paint salesman. He also knew someone who could make ceramic molds. Together they worked on what would be the first run of Flatwoods Monster Lanterns. 

Complete with a paint lid base for a candle, and a paint can handle as the lantern handle (and of course, painted with Bossert's own paint inventory by his own family), a small run of Monster Lanterns was produced, and sold out rather quickly! The following production runs eliminated the paint can candle base, as it confused people, but the lanterns continued to sell better than expected. At $5 a piece, a profit of $500 was quickly made. Lanterns were sold at various events around the county, as well as being sold at a roadside stand during peak traffic times. An 8ft tall plywood sign would announce to travelers on Rt. 5 that they could own a piece of Fortean history for just $5. Apparently, a collection of lanterns was also sent to Charleston, WV to be sold off during a UFO convention held in 1969. 

L to R: Gray Barker, James Mosley and Ralph Jarrett
Charleston, WV 1969
Gray Barker Archives

Unfortunately, sales began to drop off, and John Gibson got busy with a new job, so production on the lanterns was put on hold throughout the 1970's. However, when the Clarksburg library was about to open its Gray Barker Archive in the 1980's, the librarian reached out to John. John brought a lantern to donate to the collection, which sparked a renewed interest in them from the UFO community. Production began again, and to this day, you can pick up your own unique souvenir of the Flatwoods Monster!

Darlene's Ceramics in Marietta, OH is responsible for creating these wonderful pieces of Fortean home decor, and even though the price has increased a bit (they usually sell for $80), you can find them at various locations around Flatwoods, including at the Flatwoods Monster Museum in Sutton, WV. I'm lucky to have one of these in my collection, but I feel kinda bad about how I acquired it...

Original Mold
On Display at Flatwoods Monster Museum

                                              

I'm not entirely sure when and where I first saw or heard about these lanterns, but I had known for a while that I REALLY wanted one. I was in one of my favorite local antique stores and as I had walked in the front door, a guy had one of the lanterns in his hand, asking the owner for a price. After a price was given, the guy frowned and put the lantern back down. I followed him down the aisle and as soon as he put it down and walked off, I snatched it up, ran to the front, paid for it and left! So yeah, I sniped a lantern, but I gave it a good home! It sits on the bookshelf year round, and at Christmas time, it's red and green color scheme make it a perfect center piece for our holiday mantle. A battery operated tea light candle completes the ambiance. 

If you can't make it to town to purchase your own Flatwoods Monster Lantern, you CAN order one on-line when they are in stock from CryptidMart. Also, during the 2020 Covid lockdowns, Andrew Smith, who runs the Flatwoods Monster Museum, finished an excellent 22 minute documentary on the history and production of the lamps. You can watch it for free at YouTube! 

Information for today's blog post comes from The Lantern, a Short Documentary by Andrew Smith (2020), as well as Braxton County's Visit Braxton Website. 

Huntington's Most Reliable Spirit

Third Avenue, circa 1880
Source: WV History on View

The Huntington, WV of today is vastly different than the Huntington, WV of 1875. Third Avenue, between 9th and 10th Streets, was a mere dirt road, filled with pedestrians and horse-drawn wagons eager to complete their shopping and take care of other errands in one of the city's main business districts. But beside one such shop, Chase and Burdick, was a house. A HAUNTED house. 

For over two weeks, the occupants of the house experienced a mysterious phenomenon. Every night at 9pm sharp, there would come a tapping at every window in the building, both upper and lower floors. The taps would start at one window, and when they reached 12...not one more or one less...they'd move on to the next. Witnesses said it sounded like a small hammer striking a nail. 

Four brave fellows gave up a Saturday evening to try to solve the mystery, standing guard at four separate windows. At 9pm, the tapping began at a front window on the second floor, then proceeded to make its rounds. No explanation was given as to what was causing the strange sound. 

An article in the Huntington Advertiser notes that members of Huntington's Spiritualist movement were convinced the tapping was the result of a deceased person, desperately trying to communicate with the living. An elderly Black woman living in the rear of the nearby Third Avenue Hotel, had a more specific cause in mind. She claimed that a man was killed on the spot where the house stood, back about 15 years prior (so, around 1860). It was this man's spirit who was the one trying desperately to communicate or make his presence known. 

I don't know if an explanation was ever discovered for the mysterious window tapping, but I do hope that after nearly 150 years, the phantom tapper finally got his message across to someone and is now at peace. 

Huntington Advertiser
4 March 1875

TALA Tales: The Strange Death of George Elkins

Source: WV History on View

Friday, July 3rd, 1896 started out as a nice summer day for George W. Elkins. Despite being a patient at the Weston State Hospital, he was considered a "better class of patient," suffering not from insanity, but epileptic seizures. He had gone to town that afternoon to do some shopping at the local stores, and even got a negative made for some photographs. 

However, presumably upon returning to the hospital later that afternoon, something happened. George Elkins was found dead, lying face down in a bed of mortar. It was assumed that George had an epileptic fit, but unfortunately, no one saw the accident, and he was not found until he was already deceased. His official cause of death in the Lewis County registry is asphyxia. George Elkins was only 22 years old at the time of his death, and according to a Find-a-Grave entry for the young man, he was buried in the hospital cemetery. 

I haven't been able to track down much more about George Elkins, unfortunately. In a newspaper article from the Wheeling Daily Register that erroneously states that Elkins died at the state hospital in Spencer (debunked by the listing in the Lewis County death registry), Elkins is said to have been from Kanawha County (although his death registry and Find-a-Grave listing note he was born in Pennsylvania). 

If that's true, ANOTHER newspaper article I found may give some insight into George's medical condition. In November of 1895, the Shepherdstown Register ran a short blurb about a George Elkins from outside of Charleston who had fallen off a high porch and broken his neck. Although his injuries were severe, he was expected to survive. If this is our same George Elkins, is it possible that his fall off the porch was the result of another epileptic seizure...or did the potential head injuries sustained in that fall lead to his development of a seizure disorder?

Collections: Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum

The Clarksburg Telegram
24 July 1896

Lewis County Death Registry
Entry for George Elkins 1896

The (Wheeling) Daily Register
14 July 1896

Shepherdstown Register
28 November 1895

TALA Tales: William Cook--Cooked Alive

Photo by Donnie Nunley
Source: Only in Your State

The summer of 1891 was pretty rough for the Weston State Hospital, also known as the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. Over the course of two months, four patients died tragically by their own hand, either through suicide or accident. I'll discuss those other patient tragedies in upcoming blogs, but for today's story, I wanted to discuss the horrific fate of William T. "Frank" Cook. 

Cook was a thirty-seven year old cigar maker from Wood County, WV who had been admitted to his second stay at the hospital on August 15, 1890. After being released the first time, he spent a few months at home before once again becoming erratic, and needing treatment. Generally known as being from a good family and being a calm and inoffensive patient, it's probably safe to say that in an overcrowded hospital, Cook was most likely not watched super closely...at least not as closely as some of his fellow patients on Ward 3. 

On Saturday, August 22, 1891, Cook was suffering from diarrhea associated with dysentery, and had become quite weak. After he had accidentally soiled himself, instead of waiting for the help of a nurse or other staff member, Cook entered the bathroom and drew his own bath. After climbing into the tub of water, it was found to be scalding hot. Too weak of mind and/or body to remove himself from the scalding water, Cook remained in the tub until, as the sensationalized headlines of the time reported, he cooked himself alive.  

Around 5pm a staff member finally entered the bathroom and found Cook in a horrific state. It is noted that when he was removed from the water, his flesh literally fell off, leaving exposed skeleton. One would imagine the shock associated with such injuries would result in a quick death, but Cook would cling to life until the next day. He died on Sunday, August 23 and was buried in the hospital cemetery. 

GHOST ALERT!

Cook is believed to be one of the spirits still haunting the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. According to the Miami Ghost Chronicles, he has been known to communicate on Ward 5 (2nd floor) by turning flashlights on and off in response to questions. His spirit has also been witnessed on Ward 3 (third floor) in and around the bathroom where his accident occurred. He makes himself known through loud bangs, dragging noises, and the sound of footsteps moving through water. 

More stories from the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum can be found at my page:

Collections: The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum

The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer 
28 August 1891

The Courier (Waterloo, IA)
29 August 1891

West Virginia Argus
29 October 1891

TALA Tales: J.G. Whitten

Source: WV History on View

In my quest to document the lives (and deaths) of the men and women who called Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum home, today's blog is about the unfortunate end of John G. Whitten, a 52 year old man from Monroe County who managed to escape the hospital...but not with his life.

On March 13, 1890, Whitten was admitted as a patient to the asylum in Weston, but it wouldn't take him long to realize that institution life was not for him. After only six weeks, John managed to escape on April 26th. A search was implemented, and he was tracked three miles away from the asylum, where evidence was uncovered that he had had help crossing the river. From there, the trail ran cold, and the search was abandoned. 

A month later, on May 27th, Mrs. Joseph Markley and her young son were out harvesting ginseng in the woods near the William Propst Farm. They came across a horrific sight; a man's body lying beside a large log. Alerting the officials, Coroner Conelly, accompanied by two officials from the asylum went out to the location, which was in the neighborhood of where Whitten was last seen. They arrived at about 9:30am. 

The body was severely decomposed. The head had separated from the shoulders, the hair and beard had detached, and what little flesh remained was black and rotting. However, Whitten was able to be identified due to the fact that his name was written on his shirt. Because the decomposition was so advanced, it was suggested that Whitten be buried where he lay, but the asylum Superintendent insisted that he be brought back to the hospital and buried in the patient cemetery.

Following the discovery, an inquest was held, and it was presumed that Whitten had been dead for three weeks and had died from starvation and exposure. The hospital was found not to be at fault, as all efforts had been made to find him. It was noted that the area in which he found was high up a mountain and in dense woods. That fact alone makes it remarkable that his body wasn't in worse condition than it was, and that he was found at all. Those circumstances also kind of remind me of modern Missing 411 cases. How did Whitten get up the mountain? Why didn't he seek help at the nearby Propst farm, unless he had planned on dying? Why didn't the local wildlife do more damage? Did the hospital REALLY thoroughly search his last known area?

These are questions that will never have answers, and unfortunately J.G. Whitten has become just one of many tragedies associated with the old hospital in Weston. If you would like to learn more about the tragic (and haunted) history of the former Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, please see my page:

Collections: The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum

West Virginia Argus
05 June 1890

Entry for Lewis County's
Death Registry