The Marion County Monster: Hoax or Bigfoot?

 

Downtown Worthington. Photo by Tim Kiser. Source: Wikipedia

West Virginia's Bigfoot sightings continued into summer of 1961 with what most people accepted as a hoax, perpetrated by the organizers of a county fair. However, to some people in Marion County, namely in the Bunners Ridge area near Fairmont, the monster was VERY real. Stories of some sort of hairy creature began in early August, with the monster being blamed for the destruction of camping tents and convertible car tops, attacks on cars, and even the death of a horse! No one, however, was as affected by the beast as much as a young man named Junior Dale Wagner.

Referred to as 'John Wagner' in another article, the 17 year old was coming home from his girlfriend's home on the evening of August 7th, 1961. Near the town of Worthington, he saw something that scared him nearly to death. 'Something brown and pretty big' came rushing at him from a nearby hill. Wagner took off running, running so fast that he ran out of his shoes, leaving them in the street. After about 300 yards, he panicked, looking for a place to hide, when he decided to enter the closest building by any means necessary.

Wagner dove head first through the glass window of the local barbershop, knocking himself unconscious in the process.  He also suffered bruises and cuts from the broken glass. He was found by Mayor Heisel Fox, who had heard shattering glass and moaning coming from the barber shop. Wagner was taken to a local hospital and treated for his injuries.

Apparently, the organizers of this rural fair never officially admitted to being behind the prank, but quite a few officials went on record stating that there was no monster in Marion County. Interestingly, newspaper media didn't bother with lumping these events in with the 'Braxton County Monster' sightings of the beginning of the year.  However, the Braxton County Monster wasn't completely forgotten, as you'll see in the upcoming days!

Stay spooky, ya'll. 

Weirton Daily Times. 09 August 1961

The Braxton Monster: An Explanation

 In the July 27, 1976 edition of the Charleston Daily Mail, a reader going by the initials of J.C., from St. Albans, wrote into the paper asking for some information. J.C. had recently seen the documentary, "Mysterious Monsters,' which mentioned that West Virginia was listed as having two sightings of Bigfoot. 

Unfortunately, the Department of Natural Resources had no records of such a creature, which at the time, was more closely associated with the Pacific Northwest than West Virginia.  However, the paper did have record of two incidents that seem to fit the description. 

The first is the Charles Stover incident of December 1960. Stover, a delivery driver, saw a hairy creature, about 6 feet tall, standing on the edge of the road in the Hickory Flats area of Webster County. 

The second incident involved W.C. (Doc) Priestly, who saw another hairy creature in Pocahontas County. While reported a week or so after Stover's sighting, Priestly actually saw the creature back in October of 1960, and claims that it raised it hair upwards, causing his car to stall. 

When these stories were published in various local newspapers, the authors of such articles tried comparing them to the 1952 sighting made by Kathleen May and others in Flatwoods, Braxton County. What Ms. May and a group of boys saw on the hillside would later be known as the Flatwoods Monster. However, what they described as a green, hissing, metallic-like THING is a FAR cry from the hairy humanoid monsters reported by Stover and Priestly.

Further, neither of the stories mentioned (nor several others that I'll be sharing over the next few days) even HAPPENED in Braxton County! Stover's experience happened NEAR Braxton County, but technically not in it. So why, as the article to the left states, were both of these beasts dubbed "The Braxton County Monster?"

Honestly, I don't know.  But, I can make some guesses. 

In 1960, most people weren't super familiar with the creature known as Bigfoot.  In fact, the term 'Bigfoot' had only come into existence two years earlier to describe the unknown beast believed to have left humongous footprints in Northern California. So, even those who were familiar with the concept of a hairy, bipedal creature, maybe didn't quite know what would later become a sort of catch-all term for these types of monsters. Others may have only believed that 'Bigfoot' was a single creature that lived on the other side of the country---surely it couldn't travel all the way to West Virginia. 

It's that idea of a single creature that can be applied to what was called The Braxton County Monster. I think that when Stover's report was published, it was a combination of a lack of a better term for the creature and a reporter, trying to be cute and perhaps draw a parallel to a well-known nearby West Virginia monster, just dubbing it the Braxton County Monster. From then on, ALL hairy creature sightings got lumped under this title. This largely applied to the events of 1960 and 1961, but as you'll see in upcoming blogs, there are stories from the mid-1960's as well that are still attributed to 'The Braxton County Monster.' 

Today, Braxton County actually does have quite a few reported sightings that would be classified as Bigfoot. You can read many of them at the Braxton County website! Also, Sutton (in Braxton County) will soon be home to a Bigfoot museum, so please follow them on Facebook for more information! 

The New Martinsville Monster

 

The Raleigh Register 12 January 1961

Today's blog post is the third installment of my 'Other' Braxton County Monster series!  So far, we've had Charles Stover's December 30th sighting in Webster County, followed by a report on January 5th, 1961 by W.C. Pierce in Pocahontas County, which actually happened some time the previous October. Both of these sightings were compared by the local newspapers to the 1952 Flatwoods Green Monster sighting, despite having completely different appearances. 

This third potential sighting happened on Tuesday, January 10, 1961 near New Martinsville, WV. A young woman, Mrs. Gene Chute, came home late, only to find a barefoot, long-haired, wild looking man in her house. The 'monster' grabbed her, but she was able to get away and run to a neighbor's house. Afterward, she was so unnerved by the experience that she was admitted to the hospital for treatment of shock. Obviously, no sign of the wild man was found.

The article's author does note that it isn't likely the Braxton Monster traveled this far north, but a tongue-in-cheek headline about the monster being on the move was still added to grab the attention of those following the story. It certainly grabbed my attention, but I'm not as quick to label this creature as a potential Bigfoot as I was the previously mentioned two cases. The witness makes no mention of the creature being COVERED with hair, nor does she comment on its height or foot size. I'd love to be able to track this witness down and see if she recalls any additional details that will help in solving exactly what attacked her that night in her own home. Until then, this is just an interesting story, and a small piece of the legend of Braxton County's Other Monster.

Please be sure to check out the first two articles in this series!

Braxton County's OTHER Monster Seen by Delivery Driver

Braxton Monster Causes Car to Stall in Pocahontas County

"Braxton Monster" Causes Car to Stall in Pocahontas County

 

Raleigh Register, 05 January 1961

"The Braxton County "monster" is back again and apparently branching out."

In yesterday's blog, I shared with ya'll a newspaper article from 31 December 1960, discussing a very strange experience with a hairy man-like creature, just outside Braxton County in the Hickory Flats area of Webster County. Charles Stover, a delivery driver for a bakery, was coming home from his shift around 11pm when he saw a creature, standing about 6 feet tall with hair all over its face and body, on the edge of the road. Local papers were quick to draw parallels between this sighting and the 1952 monster sighting, known today as the Flatwoods Monster...but completely ignored the more close resemblance of the creature to perhaps a small Bigfoot.

Less than a week later, a newspaper out of Beckley, WV reported on yet another very strange monster sighting, which again was compared to the original Flatwoods Monster as seen by Kathleen May and others, or even perhaps a bear...but not a Bigfoot. Bigfoot or not, this newest sighting of the hairy creature seemed to have a really unique ability!

W.C. Priestly of Alum Creek was driving along a backwoods road along the Williams River in Pocahontas County in October of 1960. As his car began to sputter and die, he looked to his left and saw a creature with long hair. The long hair was standing straight up, pointing up toward the sky. As another car approached, the creature's hair fell back down and it ran off, allowing Priestly to start the car and drive off. He notes, however, that a short time later the points completely burned out.

Now, its not completely unheard of to associate various forms of paranormal activity with electrical disturbances, but this is the first case I've heard of in which a hairy monster was accused of causing a car to stall with its HAIR. I don't want to speculate too much because this is already such a weird report---but what if there was something else causing the car to stall AND the creature's hair to stand on end? Something like a UFO, perhaps?  Maybe the creature seen by Charles Stover, W.C. Priestly, and others in the coming months, really was more closely related to the Flatwoods Monster than I previously thought!  

This story isn't over quite yet! A similarly described creature was reported in local newspapers a few more times in 1961, so please check back tomorrow for the latest adventures of the 'Braxton County...Thing'!

Be sure to checkout yesterday's blog, the first in this series:

Braxton County's Other Monster Seen By Delivery Driver

Braxton County's OTHER Monster Seen by Delivery Driver

From The Charleston Daily Mail, 31 December 1960
Continued below

Just eight years after the infamous events of September 12, 1952, the people of Braxton County and surrounding areas began to chatter about seeing...another monster?

On Friday, December 30th, 1960, Charles Stover was driving the backroads between Braxton and Webster Counties. The 25 year old was finishing up his route, delivering for Dutch Oven Bakeries, and was headed back home. At around 11 p.m., he was in the vicinity of Hickory Flats. As he came around a curve, he spotted a creature on the edge of the road, glaring at him. The creature was "standing erect, with hair all over his face and body." He estimated that it stood about six feet tall. 

Stover stopped his truck a short distance away from the creature, took another look, and found it still standing there, glaring at him before 'roaring off.' Understandably shaken Stover took off and didn't stop until he found a restaurant-filling station still open. He spilled his coffee as he nervously tried to explain to the men in the station what he had seen. They told him that eerie cries had been reported in the woods near that area over the past couple of weeks. Now, with an actual sighting, some of the group decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to witness this thing for themselves. They went home and armed themselves with rifles and shotguns, and traveled out to the spot where Stover had his sighting. Fortunately for the creature, all the men found were some upturned rocks and a couple of 'marks' in the otherwise frozen ground. 

NOT what Stover described

The next morning, Stover's wife reported the incident, which appeared in the Charleston Daily Mail and other papers. She wanted to emphasize that her husband was not drunk. He had really seen SOMETHING that spooked him so bad that he couldn't sleep all that night. She believed him, his boss believed him, and the posse of men believed him, vowing to continue their search for the mysterious hairy beast. 

But what was it that he saw? Obviously, a 6 foot tall, hairy man-creature absolutely does NOT fit the description of the 1952 Flatwoods Monster reported by Kathleen May and others. However, it does sound like a Bigfoot (well, maybe a juvenile or relatively small one). What I find interesting is that not one news source I came across ever used the term 'Bigfoot,' or seemed to make any connection between a Bigfoot-esque creature and what Stover witnessed. The term 'Bigfoot' was coined two years earlier to describe the mysterious creature that had left its oversized footprints in a wooded area of northern California. I guess its possible that the name hadn't yet caught on yet here in central West Virginia, or that local news media simply didn't feel like this WAS a Bigfoot. Maybe they just wanted to cash in on the notoriety of the Flatwoods Monster, which, according to the article in the Daily Mail, sent 10,000 to 15,000 visitors into Braxton County.

 Nevertheless, Stover's sighting wasn't an isolated incident. Over the next year, several interesting monster sightings were reported throughout central and north central West Virginia. Strangely enough, none of these additional monsters were given the Bigfoot moniker either---they were simply the "Braxton County Monster on the move." I'll be sharing some newspaper clippings from these additional sightings throughout the next week...so check back throughout the week for more monster madness! 

Mothman is Coming...to Inform You About Your Car's Extended Warranty

 

Happy Friday! I hope your weekend is full of spooky fun, and your phone is free from calls regarding your car's extended warranty. But, if you do get a call from an unknown number, maybe go ahead and answer it ...unless of course you WANT to be chased down the highway by West Virginia's favorite flying humanoid. 

Heehee, on a separate note, I've seen this artwork many times before the hilarious caption was added, but I never really took the time to look closely. I love the license plate (which hopefully I'm correctly interpreting as meaning 'Fortean') and the fact that the steering wheel is on the opposite side of what you'd see in Pt. Pleasant, WV, leading me to believe the artist may be European?

If you or someone you know is responsible for the original artwork, or for adding the bit about the extended warranty (which is cracking people up all over social media) let me know so I can give credit where credit is due. Stay spooky, ya'll. 

Remembering Susan: Susan Sheppard Passes Away

This past Monday (April 19, 2021), the paranormal and art communities were faced with a heart-breaking tragedy. Susan Sheppard --author, poet, astrologer, artist, and creator of the Haunted Parkersburg Ghost Tours-- had passed away.

Susan Sheppard has been one of my biggest paranormal influences since I became familiar with her work in high school. My first interaction with her was while working on a school project.  The topic was West Virginia Tourism, and like the weirdo I was, I chose to do something with ghost tours. Unfortunately, at that time, there wasn't a ton of paranormal tourism and ghost tours going on in West Virginia, lol. I reached out to Susan about her Haunted Parkersburg Ghost Tours, and without hesitation, she sent me pamphlets, information, and a nice little note wishing me luck on the project. What I wouldn't give to have kept that note...

As my own interest and involvement in the paranormal field grew, my respect for Susan grew as well. I was lucky enough to be able to take her ghost tour several times and was so impressed! There's a reason it was voted as one of the best ghost tours in the country. Susan was so knowledgeable about both paranormal phenomena and local history and shared that information in a way only an artist could. Her love for the topic really shined through, and made even the most skeptical tour guest leave with something to ponder. 

Obviously, her most iconic paranormal work, Cry of the Banshee, is a beloved piece of my library, and I have multiple editions of it. I've probably scoured through that book hundreds of times, using it as a resource for blogs such as The Parkersburg Ghost Cat and Haunted Van Winkle House. In fact, I'm pretty sure that most, if not ALL of my blogs dealing with locations in Parkersburg were inspired by Susan's work!

 I also never missed an opportunity to see Susan speak at the annual Mothman Festival. She was a staple at this iconic gathering of paranormal enthusiasts, and always had an interesting topic to discuss. I especially loved her lectures on Indrid Cold and the Woody Derenberger Tapes. It was such a treat to listen to her speak, then go have a chat with her and Rosemary E. Guiley at their side by side booth. Susan was the epitome of class and knowledge, and no matter how busy she was, could always spare the time to answer questions and greet her fans. And, she had plenty of those! She was featured on one of my favorite shows growing up, Scariest Places on Earth (she talked about Lake Shawnee), as well as numerous other paranormal shows and documentaries. She was definitely well known, not only by the West Virginia community, but far beyond. 

Her work in astrology was also known world-wide. She appeared regularly on various television and radio shows as their in-house astrologer, wrote the horoscopes for Seventeen Magazine for a time, and created a beautiful deck of tarot cards that  are still widely used today. 

It wasn't until we became Facebook friends that I was really able to see and appreciate the many facets of Susan Sheppard's life. She was an award-winning poet who constantly supported other authors and poets. She created beautiful pieces of art in a variety of mediums, and enjoyed the work of Frida Kahlo. She was so proud of her daughter, actress Scarlet Sheppard. It was a beautiful glimpse into the life of a beautiful soul. Unfortunately, being connected on social media also allowed me to witness the quick and devastating decline of Susan's health, as she battled an aggressive cancer. Hearing of her passing still came as a shock, however.  

West Virginia's paranormal community has really suffered a loss, but so has the art and poetry communities, as well as the many, many friends, family members, and others who were positively impacted by Susan over the years. I hope she's at peace and that those who loved her can heal from this devastating loss. 

For anyone interested, on Sunday April 25th, starting at 3pm, a New Orleans-style memorial parade will be held in Susan's honor. The walk will start at Bicentennial Park and end at Riverview Cemetery. More information on this event can be found at the links below. 

Susan Sheppard's Obituary

Candice Black's article on Susan's passing in the Parkersburg News and Sentinel