Barboursville Haunted House Has Something Spookier Than Ghosts!

 

I love me some oddities, especially historical oddities documented in old newspapers. Last month, while researching a completely different topic, I kept coming across the 'News Oddities' article. This particular clipping comes from the November 18, 1916 edition of the Daily Arkansas Gazette, but I came across the same thing, word for word, in a bunch of different newspapers from all over the United States. If you haven't already guessed...I'm only mildly interested in the legless kid in Kansas or the unwilling hobo of Indiana. What I'm REALLY interested in is the haunted house in West Virginia!

Not much information is given in this little snippet. "Ghosts that had long haunted West Virginia house were a dozen black snakes that had taken possession of the attic." Hmm...okay. I had to learn more! After a bit of digging, I found the following newspaper article, which gives quite a bit more information. 

According to this article, found in August 30, 1916 edition of The West Virginian, a Logan County miner named Green Simpkins moved his wife and six children to an area of Cabell County near Barboursville known as 'N-Word Gap.' This area picked up this unfortunate nickname after the Civil War, and it was still be referred to by that name WELL into the 20th century, although the preferred name for the area is Ousley's Gap. (The Doors to the Past website has a really great article on the history of this area, and some lore as to why it got called what it did.)

Anyway, the family rented an old home that had been vacant for quite some time. Whenever you have an old home that has been empty for any length of time, it's bound to pick up a haunted reputation. This house was no different, as it was said that strange, phantom noises came from the attic area of the home at all hours of the day and night. At first, Mrs. Simpkins was terrified of these noises, but she was apparently quite the brave woman. One day she took her gun upstairs to investigate the ghostly noises. But, instead of ghosts, she found a dozen black snakes! She called for help, and together with two young men, she battled the snakes for an hour, finally killing them all, and putting the rumors of a haunting to rest for good.

I'm not necessarily scared of snakes, especially black snakes, but I think I'd rather take the attic full of ghosts over an attic full of slithering reptiles any day! Also, just what kind of noises were these snakes making to be misidentified as ghosts?? Major respect to Mrs. Simpkins for facing her fear and doing a lil' ghost-busting...er, snake busting. 

Keep it weird, keep it creepy, keep it odd, and let me know in the comments below what you'd rather have: an attic full of ghosts, or an attic full of snakes! 

Minnesota Exorcism Church

You might have seen this image before.  It's a favorite on Pinterest as well as on many different Facebook pages.  A creepy, dilapidated church out in the middle of nowhere just HAS to have a suitably creepy back story, and this seems to do the trick.  Furthermore...unlike many of these images with accompanying outrageous text, this story sounds like it COULD be true.

It's no secret that throughout history, not much was known about mental illness. A favorite scapegoat was obviously that people suffering from such things as schizophrenia and other mental illnesses were, in fact, under demonic possession. And, its no secret that historically, the treatment for the mentally ill were sometimes worse than just living with the affliction itself! Many families, for a variety of reason, chose to keep mentally ill loved ones out of asylums.  However, if they were a risk to themselves or others, they sometimes had to be restrained or locked away.  Sometimes they were simply locked away from the outside world out of shame and embarrassment. In any event, its not too far of a stretch to believe that mentally ill persons who were assumed to have been possessed by demons would fail to be 'cured' from an exorcism, and thus locked away for safety's sake. I don't necessarily think it happened at this church, though...

From the Church's FB page

After an attempt to verify the information presented in this graphic, I learned that the church in question wasn't even IN Minnesota. This church is actually the Estonian Ev. Martin Luther in Lincoln County, Wisconsin! It was built in 1914 as the first Estonian church in the United States. The actual congregation dates back to 1897, however and by 1903 there were enough members to start looking to move church services from private homes into a new church.  Money for the project began to be collected in 1907, and the graveyard (which would only ever hold about 14 people) was established in 1909.

The church wouldn't be used all that much.  By the 1950s, the small Estonian population was moving into the cities, and 1964 marked a 50 year reunion celebration that effectively ended regular church services as the small church in the woods.  In 2011, the current owner, Bill Rebane, claimed that a group of about 20 still worshiped at the site, weather permitting, yet the small building was in an obvious state of disrepair.

However, recent posts to the church's Facebook page show that care is being taken not only to preserve the church, but to restore it to its former glory!  There Facebook page, along with a blog called Shunpiking to Heaven, have some awesome photos and history---just no mention of any failed exorcisms on the site!  Please check them out for more information.

Church Facebook Page

Shunpiking to Heavens Backroads Blog