Newspaper Clipping of the Day

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It’s time for that ever-popular Fortean staple, the mysterious shower of rocks!  The “Abilene Reporter-News,” November 10, 1962:

BIG BEAR LAKE Calif. (AP) Pebbles from the sky--or someplace--have pelted a house without apparent explanation for four months.

Why? Nobody knows, the sheriff's office says. 

It was spooky for the W.M. Lowe family. They don't believe in goblins, but on Halloween night they gave up and moved out. 

“The rocks were falling from all directions" they reported. 

Ever since the Lowes moved into the one-story house in this Southern California mountain resort last June 15: About four times a week--at all hours of day and night--rocks up to four inches long have rained on the house and an area of about two city blocks around. So say sheriff's deputies, and Lowe, 44, a former Fullerton, Calif., real estate man. 

Sheriff’s investigators theorized that somebody had it in for the Lowes, who endured the mysterious barrages for a month before they sought help. 

But, say officials, they’ve found no pebble tossers, even though they've been Johnny-on-the-spot when: 

A rock dented the hood of a patrol car parked near the house. 

A rock whistled past Deputy Jack H. Cox's ear on Halloween night and hit the house. 

Two window panes in Lowe’s house have been broken, others cracked. Eight windows in a neighboring house were broken. One of the Lowes' five children was bruised by a missile from nowhere. 

Sometimes they come from bright blue sky, says Lowe, sometimes at 4 a.m., noon or midnight. 

Sum result of more than a score of trips by eight different men from the San Bernardino sheriff's office: "The sheriff’s office is investigating.'’ 

The sheriff doesn't believe in goblins, either. 

Lowe's own theory: "I think it might be the wind blowing off that rocky ridge a tenth of a mile away--the closest hill. I have seen pine needles streaming past at treetop level during when rocks fell.”

As far as I know, the mystery was never solved.

Newspaper Clipping of the Day

It never pays to turn a cemetery into a playground.  The permanent residents don’t like it.  As an example, I present this story from the “Shreveport Journal,” August 29, 1897:

MADRAS India, July 10 — The best ghost story that has come to light in years has just reached here from Ooty, a small town in the presidency of Madras, and it is of such a character that it has been deemed worthy of discussion by some members of the London Society of Psychical Research. 

The authenticity of the happenings are vouched for by numerous persons who actually observed them, and to clinch the matter two of the spectators have made their statements in the form of affidavits. These latter are Dr. James L Kelly, the surgeon in charge of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, Madras, and Capt. W. H. Burchell, a retired sea captain living in the town of Ootacamund. 

The victim of the ghost was a native young lady, the daughter of a wealthy merchant. According to her native friends she was possessed with devils, but some English people attributed the strange happenings about her to the ghostly supernatural. 

It seems that with a friend who was about to be married the young lady paid a casual visit one evening to the Roman Catholic cemetery in Ooty. Three days previous to their visiting the graveyard a man had committed suicide and was buried there. Being light-hearted and not over-scrupulous the young people made the graveyard their playground for that evening and both of them carried their mischievous temperament so far as to dance and jump over the grave of the man who had committed suicide, and brought matters to a climax by even digging out the cross that was imbedded in the grave. 

When they returned home they fell ill. They were restless, looked at every one with fiery eyes, and became so uncontrollable that they had to be safeguarded within the precincts of a room. They would tear their clothes, and if women crossed their way in the house or held them they would be sent reeling to the ground, but if men constrained them from doing anything hurtful or injurious they would partially yield to their threats. 

A native woman who held some reputation as a devil-driver was called in and prepared a dish of cut fowl, flowers, and limes, which they consumed, and having faith in the treatment seemingly recovered. The elder of the two was married shortly after and went away to live with her husband.

Several days after this event there were curious happenings in the home of the unmarried girl, and this is where the ghostly doings come in. From 6 to 12 at night, showers of stones seemed to drop out of the sky into the house, smashing many panes of glass and breaking articles of furniture, but injuring none of the inmates. 

A police station is located near the house, and the matter was reported there as it was first presumed to the work of mischievous persons. A dozen constables and a number of unofficial watchers were accordingly detailed to surround the house and detect if possible the throwers of the stones.

This precaution had no effect whatever. Each night the stones crushed against the windows, splintering them to tiny pieces. The girl who was supposed to be possessed of devils seemed in her normal health except for the natural nervousness of living in a house subject to such queer attacks. But it was noticed that in whatever room she happened to be, the windows of that apartment suffered more than any of the others. What increased the mystery was that on the third night great panes of glass were splintered without being struck by stones. This happened several times and in portions of the house which could not be reached by stones thrown from the outside. 

Later on this same night, when the stones began to fly again, a large piece of granite after passing through a pane of glass fell at the girl’s feet while she was on her way to her bedroom. This seemed to unnerve her and while lying on her cot she fell into a deep swoon. The chief constable who was summoned found her breathless, speechless, and stiff. A physician who was also called succeeded in restoring her after much trouble but she fell into another faint soon after. She was again restored but fainted again and this happened several times during the night. 

It was noticed that while she was in a swoon not a glass was broken in the house, but that as soon as she was restored the smashing began again. 

The next morning she seemed to have recovered and was sitting in a chair conversing with several visitors when she again swooned. Then she became very restless and five men could barely hold her in the chair. Once she succeeded in throwing all five to the floor, but she was seized again and carried to her room where she was placed in her cot and held down. A couple of minutes later a broad pane of glass in the room door fell to the ground and was smashed to atoms. This glass was not facing the street or compound but was the centre glass of the room and the latter was the centre room of the house. 

The constables who were again called in decided to try the superstitious cure of the country and sent for a Malayali devil-driver. It was some time before he could be found, and in the meantime the girl kept crying out that she wanted to go to the graveyard. Finally the Malayali devil-driver came into the room, and as soon as he approached her cot the young lady who all the while had had her eyes closed opened them and made an attempt to pounce upon him. The Malayali spoke to her in a loud and angry tone in Malayalam and while he was speaking the girl had her eyes fixed on him. The Malayali, named Kunjini Gandhu, at once began writing something on a long slip of paper and then prepared with ghee, pepper, etc. a kind of cigarette. He first rolled the long slip of paper and placed it in her hair. She stretched out her hand to take it away, but the man quickly knotted it with her hair. The young lady then commenced to spit on him.  When the Malayali, with a malacca cane which he claimed had power, pointed it to her, and boldly going before her asked her in Malayalam to spit on him. She did not attempt this again. 

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After igniting the tip of the cigarette affair, the devil-driver gave it to her brother and told him to hold it under her nostrils so that she would inhale the smoke. Then he left and the girl became calm, probably from the effects of the narcotics used by the Malayali in making the mysterious cigarette.

At intervals after that, the glass breaking occurred and the girl became violent but the smoke of the cigarette invariably calmed her. Finally her father decided to move her to Goodalun, thirty miles from Ooty. After her departure the stone throwing and window smashing in the house ceased and nothing of the kind has happened in her new home in Goodalun. There is no doubt a psychological explanation of these queer occurrences but it is a mooted question whether the scientists can locate it.  R. CHEEVER HAMILTON.

Newspaper Clipping of the Day

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As I've mentioned before, a supernatural staple is “Person gets on a stranger’s bad side, weird things begin to happen.”  A perfect example is this story from the “Coshocton Daily Age,” September 7, 1906:

A remarkable story comes from just over the Tuscarawas county line, and it sounds spooky.  The people concerned can offer no explanation and it has mystified scores of people who have been witnesses to the strange occurrence.

Age readers will remember an item published about one year ago about a Mrs. Finton, dwelling in Tuscarawas county close to the line of Adams township, this county, shooting a tramp who tried to assault her.  She fired a shot gun point blank at him, and he beat a retreat.  Afterward he was tracked by copious blood stains to a big woods nearby and there all trace of him was lost.  He was never seen again and popular belief has it that he died in the woods and that his remains are still there.

The spooky part of the story now comes.  On three different occasions recently strange things have happened at the Finton home.  In brief, it is a shower of stones.

The last shower was only a few days ago and the Fintons called in several of their neighbors, all reputable people and all vouch for the accuracy of the story.  It is told that stones about the size of “river biscuits” drop on the roof of the house, seemingly from the sky.  Clods of earth and chunks of sod are likewise precipitated.  Related by one of the men, a Mr. Lockard, to the informant of The Age, the story is that several of the neighbors gathered in the yard at the last occurrence, and they could see the stones fall and hear them hit the roof, but no one could see from whence they came.  They seemed to drop straight down.  Stones and chunks of sod, dropped into the yard, some of them almost grazing the spectators but harming no one.

It is said that the stones do not at all resemble any native stone of that locality.

The neighborhood is mystified and an uncanny sensation has spread abroad.

Details of the shooting of the tramp were that the fellow approached the house and insolently asked for something to eat.  The woman ordered him away saying she would call her husband, who was in the house.  In fact the husband was away at his work.  The tramp went away and returned within half an hour and told the woman she had lied to him, that her husband was not there.  Then he said he’d kill her, and hurled a heavy bit of iron at her, which he had picked up about the barn, and it struck the house.  She then got the gun and fired at him.

Whether that occurrence and the present uncanny incidents have any connection is a matter of conjecture.  The neighborhood protests that it is not a practical joke, and all are extremely serious about it.

I was unable to find any follow-up stories.

Newspaper Clipping of the Day

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Tales of stone-throwing poltergeists are surprisingly common, but this one is a bit more unusual than most. The “Indianapolis News,” June 26, 1909:

Lafayette, Ind.. June 24. For miles around the little hamlet ot Pettit, seven miles east of Lafayette, the residents are in a state of great excitement over the strange happenings at the home of Rosanna Ritenour. A haunted house, dreary and desolate, infested by evil spirits, who hurl bricks and stones through solid walls without leaving a hole, throw chunks of dried clay about the rooms from invisible sources and pour water through ceilings upon the heads of unsuspecting persons beneath--these are the conditions reported at the Ritenour home that have caused all the excitement in the community and made the Ritenour farm such a point of interest as to attract hundreds of people to the scene every day. And while several investigating persons have made rigid inquiries they offer no other explanation than to accuse the old woman and her little granddaughter, who live alone In the house, of concocting the scheme to keep the old home from being sold by relatives who seek to remove Mrs. Ritenour from her dreary, dilapidated surroundings and dispose of the property.

It is only since the evening of Friday, June 18, that the Ritenour house has come into the limelight as the abode of ghosts. The house and its surroundings form an ideal setting for a ghost story and to the superstitious mind they appeal with great force as a fitting rendezvous of spirit forms. The house is a mile north of Pettit and sits back from the road in a clump of trees and shrubbery. It is an old log house, built in 1822, with weatherboards on two sides. Between the logs is a clay plastering that furnishes the ghost with one kind of ammunition that figures in the story.

For forty-nine years old Mrs. Ritenour has lived in the house. She is seventy-five years old and since the death of her husband, a civil war veteran, in May 1908, she has lived alone with little Rosie Julian, age eleven years. Rosie is the daughter of Mrs. Ritenour’s daughter, who has been missing for several years, leaving home and never returning. Five other daughters, all married, are living within a few miles of the so-called haunted house.

Since the memorable Friday night, on which the manifestation of material activity or unearthly power was first noted in the house, many remarkable things have come to pass. Mrs. Ritenour declares that large stones and bricks have been hurled at her and her granddaughter by unseen hands, coming through walls without leaving a mark to Indicate where they passed through the walls. She says the pelting with stones begins each evening at 5 o'clock and continues at intervals until midnight, when all is quiet. Both she and her granddaughter, she says, have been struck repeatedly with stones and pieces of dried clay, water has been poured on them from the kitchen ceiling, bricks have been hurled with great force from above the house, crashing into a stove and tearing it to pieces. In the yard, she says, she and the girl have been pelted with corn cobs without a person being visible but themselves. One brick covered with moss, she says, came Into the house the other night and landed on the bed of her granddaughter, striking on the pillow a few inches from the girl's head.

Every day since Mrs. Ritenour first reported that the house was haunted hundreds of curious people have visited the farm and the less timid or the visitors have remained through the evening. Many report that they saw the stones come crashing into the rooms and heard the water splash. Mrs. Emma Rauch. a neighbor, says she was with Mrs. Ritenour and the little girl the other night and a large piece of clay hit her on the neck and bruised her neck severely. She says at the time the aged woman and the girl were in front of her. There was nobody else in the house, she said. She also saw water come from the ceiling. There is nothing but an empty loft above the living rooms.

Mrs. Frances Meyers, another neighbor, was also struck on the hip with a stone and slightly injured. She says Mrs. Ritenour and the girl could not have thrown the stone. Both Mrs. Ritenour and her granddaughter have marks on their bodies to show that they have been struck by missiles.

For the purpose of solving the mystery and "laying" the ghost a party of Lafayette men headed by Noah T. Rogers, deputy-sheriff, and Perry Moon, treasurer of the Fairfield Lumber Company, made a trip to the Ritenour home yesterday afternoon and proceeded to investigate. They questioned the aged woman and the girl closely, but could get no admissions. They looked into the beds occupied by the woman and girl and found lumps of clay concealed beneath the covers. The investigating party remained at the house six hours, returning late last night to the city. They say nothing extraordinary occurred while they were there. The members of the party declared that the missiles and water must necessarily have been thrown by the woman and the girl. Mrs. Ritenour. they said, assured them the ghosts would not return and that there would be no stone throwing. Mrs. Rauch and Mrs. Meyers, however, are willing to make affidavits to the effect that neither Mrs. Ritenour nor her granddaughter threw the missiles and water.

The neighborhood is much excited today and hundreds of people visited the house. There is a theory to the effect that the daughters of old Mrs. Ritenour have been striving for some time to induce her to leave the old home and allow it to be sold. They have all invited her to come and live with them, but she has declined. She has become so deeply attached to the old horme she says she will remain there until she dies.

The newspapers don’t seem to have carried any more about the story, so I presume the disruptive activity--whether caused by spectral or human hands--did indeed cease.

Newspaper Clipping of the Day

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What do you get when you cross the "mysterious showers of stones" that form such a large part of Fortean lore with the modern-day "The Watcher" incidents?

This baby.  The "Maui News," October 4, 1921:

Puunene has a mystery which has roused the interest of not only that community, but of all central Maui as news of it spread about. Stones are being thrown, fairly showered up on and around a house and from unknown senders letters or notes are being delivered. Though the police officials have been working on the case for some time, they have not discovered the source of the annoyance. As many as 300 or 400 persons have gathered about the house of a night to witness the strange happenings. Though the stones appear to fall out of a clear sky and though the notes are delivered by some one unseen, there has been no hint of "ghosts" or of "discarnate spirits" in any of the numerous notes the family has received. There appears to be no occasion to refer the matter to the Society for Psychical Research, since the writer has said he will "stay with" the family he is annoying "until my death."

From police sources it is learned that the family which is suffering the annoyances is Portuguese and consists of a father, mother and daughter. Their troubles started when notes began to arrive shortly after it was announced that the daughter was to marry her cousin. Then and since, following a warning whistle, a note written in lead pencil, large letters on brown wrapping paper, would be found under the door or on the porch or some where about the house. In time the family came to expect and look for the letters after hearing the whistle, and they always found one. The language of the letters is fairly grammatical but it is evident that the writer disguises his handwriting. The writer says the family knows who he is and adds that he will never be caught. He makes fun of the police for failing to detect him and details happenings in the house and about the camp.

For months past, dating back as far as June, the family would be showered with gravel and broken stones when returning from the picture shows, on reaching the stone quarry or perhaps not until almost home, but none of the stones ever struck any of them. Recently the stones have fallen in the crowd around the house, not striking any one though one narrowly missed the sheriff. They appear to come from no particular direction nor do they bounce or roll along the ground from where they strike as a stone ordinarily would when thrown near the ground, but on the contrary, bounce or roll a very short distance, more as if they came from above. Larger stones and a piece of iron weighing six or seven pounds have struck upon the roof of the house.

It is not only at night and in the evening that the annoyances occur. In broad daylight stones and gravel have fallen on or about the house but no thrower of them has ever been seen. So also. in the day time the whistle has been heard and letters have been found at the door or under it.

The sheriff has quite a collection of such letters including one received Friday night in which references to his office are not couched in highly complimentary terms. Parties organized in Wailuku went up several nights last week and members of such parties came home mystified.

So persistent has been the annoyance that the members of the family have become extremely nervous and close by neighbors are becoming almost as much so. The section is very closely settled.

Saturday morning the family found one of the notes lying on the stove. It said the writer was sorry for all the annoyance caused and would cease the stone throwing and the letter writing. Since then there have been no repetitions of the troublesome and mysterious incidents and the police believe their activities have brought the end to the affair though investigations are still in progress.

I wasn't able to find if the mysterious letter-writer was ever found.

Newspaper Clipping of the Day

Yet another case of mystery stone-throwing--heated ones, this time!--appeared in the "New York World," January 12, 1890:

The people on the plantation of John W. Brooks, near Culpeper Court House [Brandy Station, Virginia] have been thrown into a state of terror by phenomenal occurrences in a house on the place which was until quite recent occupied by the family of Richard Moten. Moten and his neighbors allege that hot stones have been thrown into the house through closed windows without breaking the glass, and that the furniture could not be kept in any particular place by reason of some invisible influence that caused it to move about the rooms and even to travel up and down stairs. This peculiar state of things was developed last September and has continued uninterruptedly since.

The effect of sudden showers of hot stones and unexpected encounters with perambulating chairs and beds on Mrs. Moten's nervous system has been such that to save her life her husband considered it necessary to move from the neighborhood. The family came to Brandy Station and a World correspondent had an interview with the husband on the subject of the phenomena.

While protesting entire disbelief in the power of disembodied spirits to return to earth and assert their presence by impish pranks, Mr. Moten is unable to account for the strange occurrences at his former home. He contends that they cannot truly be accounted for on psychological grounds, and rather inclines to a belief that they are due to mineral magnetism, but in just what manner he is at a loss to explain. Ho continued to reside in the house despite the protests of his wife in the vain hope of discovering the source of the disturbances, and his investigations were conducted in such a manner, he says, as to leave no doubt in his mind that they were brought about, not by supernatural, but by other than human sources. Here is his version of the mysterious visitations :

"On returning from work one day near the end of September I was surprised to find my family huddled together outside the house, As soon as she saw me my wife cried out: 'Oh, Richard, the house is haunted! Stones have been dropping into the rooms all the afternoon.' Insisting that the stones had been thrown by neighbors' children, I succeeded in quieting her fears and induced her to re-enter the house with me. 

"Looking around on the floor of the north room I discovered stones as large as hen's eggs lying on the floor. I picked them up and threw them out into the yard, thinking some practical joker had been trying to frighten the children. As I had cause to remain home the next day I thought I would just keep an eye open to detect the joker. About ten o'clock in the day a scream from my wife caused me to run into the kitchen, my wife lay in a faint on the floor and near her were four large stones. Picking up one of those I found it the least bit warm, and on examining; the rest I found them of the same temperature. I then sent for Mr. Brooks to come and make an examination. I showed him the stones which were scattered hero and there over the floor. Taking a chair, he sat clown to examine them. While doing so a stone that seemed as if it came through the window-glass struck Mr. Brooks on the foot. On examining this stone we found it to be hot. Mr. Brooks, thinking some one was playing a joke on us, got a gun and commenced firing at random into the cornfield to see if the mischievous person was hiding there. As the shooting availed nothing we re-entered the house to see if we would be disturbed again by the mysterious stones. After waiting for an hour or so, and as no more stones fell, Mr. Brooks left for home feeling at a loss to account for this strange mystery.

"We lived in the house for five months, and during that time the stones fell frequently. On one occasion the children were hauling walnuts under a large tree. Coming into the house to answer a call of their mother, they left the walnuts under the tree until they could return. Not ten minutes after they entered the house the walnuts came flying through the open door and fell on the floor in a shower. People in the neighborhood became afraid to come near the house. The stones seamed to come through the window-glass and also through the door when standing open. How the stones came through the glass without breaking the panes is a mystery to me. My little girl once said she saw a hand against the window just as a stone came in the room. 

"While eating one evening a stone fell from the coiling over the table into my coffee. After taking the stone out of the cup I drank the coffee as if nothing had happened. My family objected to it, but I was not the least bit afraid. The same evening my little boy's spelling book was swept from his hand as if some one had snatched it from him, At this moment several stones, which seemed to come through the window-glass, fell on the floor. My brother threw one of the stones in the fire, and it immediately leaped out of the fire back into the room. He tried this twice, with the same result each time. Flat-irons would fly across the room, and articles downstairs would come upstairs on a fly over the banisters. My wife grow ill and could stand this no longer, so I moved. The house is still vacant."

As is the norm with these sort of incidents, I found no follow-up stories.

Lithobolia in New England; or Lapidary Salutations

Agostino Veneziano, "The Witches' Procession

This account of a "stone-throwing devil" was published in 1698 by Richard Chamberlain, the secretary of the colony of New Hampshire. It was reprinted in George Lincoln Burr's "Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases, 1648-1706." As you shall see, it shows that descriptions of poltergeist attacks have changed little over the centuries.

Such is the Sceptical Humour of this Age for Incredulity, (not to say Infidelity,) That I wonder they do not take up and profess, in terms, the Pyrrhonian Doctrine of disbelieving their very Senses. For that which I am going to relate hap­pening in the Province of New-Hampshire in America, just upon that Governour’s Arrival and Appearance at the Council there, who was informed by my self, and several other Gentlemen of the Council, and other considerable Persons, of the true and certain Reality hereof, yet he continued tenacious in the Opinion that we were all imposed upon by the waggery of some unlucky Boys; which, considering the Circumstances and Passages hereafter mentioned, was altogether impossible.

I have a Wonder to relate; for such (I take it) is so to be termed whatsoever is Praeternatural, and not assignable to, or the effect of, Natural Causes: It is a Lithobolia, or Stone-throwing, which happened by Witchcraft (as was supposed) and maliciously perpetrated by an Elderly Woman, a Neigh­bour suspected, and (I think) formerly detected for such kind of Diabolical Tricks and Practises; and the wicked Instiga­tion did arise upon the account of some small quantity of Land in her Field, which she pretended was unjustly taken into the Land of the Person where the Scene of this Matter lay, and was her Right; she having been often very clamor­ous about that Affair, and heard to say, with much Bitterness, that her Neighbour (innuendo the fore-mentioned Person, his Name George Walton) should never quietly injoy that piece of Ground. Which, as it has confirm’d my self and others in the Opinion that there are such things as Witches, and the Effects of Witchcraft, or at least of the mischievous Actions of Evil Spirits; which some do as little give Credit to, as in the Case of Witches, utterly rejecting both their Operations and their Beings, we having been Eye-Witnesses of this Matter almost every Day for a quarter of a Year together; so it may be a means to rectifie the depraved Judgment and Sentiments of other disbelieving Persons, and absolutely convince them of their Error, if they please to hear, without prejudice, the plain, but most true Narration of it; which was thus.

Some time ago being in America (in His then Majesty’s Service) I was lodg’d in the said George Walton’s House, a Planter there, and on a Sunday Night, about Ten a Clock, many Stones were heard by my self, and the rest of the Family, to be thrown, and (with Noise) hit against the top and all sides of the House, after he the said Walton had been at his Fence-Gate, which was between him and his Neighbour one John Amazeen an Italian, to view it; for it was again, as formerly it had been (the manner how being unknown) wrung off the Hinges, and cast upon the Ground; and in his being there, and return home with several Persons of (and frequent­ing) his family and House, about a flight shot distant from the Gate, they were all assaulted with a peal of Stones, (taken, we conceive, from the Rocks hard by the House) and this by unseen Hands or Agents. For by this time I was come down to them, having risen out of my Bed at this strange Alarm of all that were in the House, and do know that they all look’d out as narrowly as I did, or any Person could (it being a bright Moon-light Night), but cou’d make no Discovery. There­upon, and because there came many Stones, and those pretty great ones, some as big as my Fist, into the Entry or Porch of the House, we withdrew into the next Room to the Porch, no Person having receiv’d any Hurt, (praised be Almighty Providence, for certainly the infernal Agent, constant Enemy to Mankind, had he not been over-ruled, intended no less than Death or Maim) save only that two Youths were lightly hit, one on the Leg, the other on the Thigh, notwithstanding the Stones came so thick, and so forcibly against the sides of so narrow a Room. 

Whilst we stood amazed at this Accident, one of the Maidens imagined she saw them come from the Hall, next to that we were in, where searching, (and in the Cellar, down out of the Hall,) and finding no Body, another and my self observed two little Stones in a short space succes­sively to fall on the Floor, coming as from the Ceiling close by us, and we concluded it must necessarily be done by means extraordinary and praeternatural. 

Coming again into the Room where we first were (next the Porch), we had many of these lapidary Salutations, but unfriendly ones; for, shutting the door, it was no small Surprise to me to have a good big Stone come with great force and noise (just by my Head) against the Door on the inside; and then shutting the other Door, next the Hall, to have the like Accident; so going out again, upon a necessary Occasion, to have another very near my Body, clattering against the Board-wall of the House; but it was a much greater, to be so near the danger of having my Head broke with a Mall, or great Hammer brushing along the top or roof of the Room from the other end, as I was walk­ing in it, and lighting down by me; but it fell so, that my Landlord had the greatest damage, his Windows (especially those of the first mention’d Room) being with many Stones miserably and strangely batter’d, most of the Stones giving the Blow on the inside, and forcing the Bars, Lead, and hasps of the Casements outwards, and yet falling back (sometimes a Yard or two) into the Room; only one little Stone we took out of the glass of the Window, where it lodg’d its self in the breaking it, in a Hole exactly fit for the Stone. 

The Pewter and Brass were frequently pelted, and sometimes thrown down upon the Ground; for the Evil Spirit seemed then to affect variety of Mischief, and diverted himself at this end after he had done so much Execution at the other. So were two Candle­sticks, after many hittings, at last struck off the Table where they stood, and likewise a large Pewter Pot, with the force of these Stones. Some of them were taken up hot, and (it seems) immediately coming out of the Fire; and some (which is not unremarkable) having been laid by me upon the Table along by couples, and numbred, were found missing; that is, two of them, as we return’d immediately to the Table, having turn’d our backs only to visit and view some new Stone-charge or Window-breach; and this Experiment was four or five times repeated, and I still found one or two missing of the Number, which we all mark’d, when I did but just remove the Light from off the Table, and step to the Door, and back again.

After this had continued in all the parts and sides of the first Room (and down the Chimney) for above hours, I, weary of the Noise, and sleepy, went to Bed, and was no sooner fallen asleep, but was awakened with the unwelcome disturbance of another Battery of a different sort, it issuing with so prodigious a Noise against the thin Board-wall of my Chamber (which was within another) that I could not imagin it less than the fracture and downfall of great part of the Chamber, or at least of the Shelves, Books, Pictures, and other things, placed on that side, and on the Partition-Wall between the Anti-Chamber and the Door of mine. But the Noise immediately bringing up the Company below, they assured me no Mischief of that nature was done, and shewed me the biggest Stone that had as yet been made use of in this unac­countable Accident, weighing eight pound and an half, that had burst open my Chamber Door with a rebound from the Floor, as by the Dent and Bruise in it near the Door I found next Morning, done, probably, to make the greater Noise, and give the more Astonishment, which would sooner be effected by three Motions, and consequently three several Sounds, viz, one on the Ground, the next to and on the Door, and the last from it again to the Floor, then if it had been one single Blow upon the Door only; which (‘tis probable) wou’d have split the Door, which was not permitted, nor so much as a square of the Glass-Window broken or crack’d (at that time) in all the Chamber. Glad thereof, and desiring them to leave me, and the Door shut, as it was before, I endeavoured once more to take my Rest, and was once more prevented by the like passage, with another like offensive Weapon, it being a whole Brick that lay in the anti-Chamber Chimney, and used again to the same malicious purpose as before, and in the same manner too, as by the mark in the Floor, whereon was some of the dust of the Brick, broken a little at the end, apparant next Morning, the Brick it self lying just at the Door. How­ever, after I had lain a while, harkning to their Adventures below, I drop’d asleep again, and receiv’d no further Molestation that Night.

In the Morning (Monday Morning) I was inform’d by sev­eral of the Domesticks of more of the same kind of Trouble; among which the most signal was, the Vanishing of the Spit which stood in the Chimney Corner, and the sudden coming of it again down the same Chimney, sticking of it in a Log that lay in the Fireplace or Hearth; and then being by one of the Family set by on the other side of the Chimney, pres­ently cast out of the Window into the Back-side. Also a pressing-Iron lying on the ledge of the Chimney back, was convey’d invisibly into the Yard. I should think it (too) not unworthy the Relation, that, discoursing then with some of the Family, and others, about what had past, I said, I thought it necessary to take and keep the great Stone, as a Proof and Evidence, for they had taken it down from my Chambers; and so I carried it up, laid it on my Table in my Chamber, and lock’d my Door, and going out upon occasions, and soon returning, I was told by my Landlady that it was, a little while after my going forth, removed again, with a Noise, which they all below heard, and was thrown into the anti-­Chamber, and there I found it lying in the middle of it; there­upon I the second time carried it up, and laid it on the Table, and had it in my Custody a long time to show, for the Satisfaction of the Curious.

There were many more Stones thrown about in the House that Morning, and more in the Fields that Day, where the Master of the House was, and the Men at Work. Some more Mr. Woodbridge, a Minister, and my self, in the Afternoon did see (but could not any Hand throwing them) lighting near, and jumping and tumbling on the Grass: So did one Mrs. Clark, and her Son, and several others; and some of them felt them too. One Person would not be perswaded but that the Boys at Work might throw them, and strait her little Boy standing by her was struck with a Stone on the Back, which caused him to fall a crying, and her (being convinc’d) to carry him away forth-with.

In the Evening, as in the Evening, as soon as I had sup’d in the outer Room before mine, I took a little Musical-Instrument, and began to touch it (the Door indeed was then set open for Air), and a good big Stone came rumbling in, and as it were to lead the Dance, but upon a much different account than in the days of Old, and of old fabulous Inchantments, my Musick being none of the best. The Noise of this brought up the Deputy-President’s Wife, and many others of the Neighbourhood that were below, who wonder’d to see this Stone followed (as it were) by many others, and a Pewter Spoon among the rest, all which fell strangely into the Room in their Presence, and were taken up by the Company. And beside all this, there was seen by two Youths in the Orchard and Fields, as they said, a black Cat, at the time the Stones were toss’d about, and it was shot at, but missed, by its changing Places, and being immediately at some distance, and then out of sight, as they related: Agreeable to which, it may not be improper to insert, what was observed by two Maids, Grand-Children of Mr. Walton, on the Sunday Night, the beginning of this Lithoboly. They did affirm, that as they were standing in the Porch-Chamber Window, they saw, as it were, a Person putting out a Hand out of the Hall Window, as throwing Stones toward the Porch or Entry; and we all know no Person was in the Hall except, at that instant, my self and another, having search’d diligently there, and wondring whence those should come that were about the same time drop’d near us; so far we were from doing it our selves, or seeing any other there to do it.

On Monday Night, about the Hour it first began, there were more Stones thrown in the Kitchin, and down the Chim­ney, one Captain Barefoot, of the Council for that Province, being present, with others; and also (as I was going up to Bed) in an upper Chamber, and down those Stairs. 

Upon Tuesday Night, about Ten, some five or six Stones were severally thrown into the Maid’s Chamber near the Kitchin, and the Glass-Windows broke in three new places, and one of the Maids hit as she lay. At the same time was heard by them, and two young Men in the House, an odd, dismal sort ofWhistling, and thereupon the Youths ran out, with intent to take the suppos’d Thrower of Stones, if possi­ble; and on the back-side near the Window they heard the Noise (as they said) of something stepping a little way before them, as it were the trampling of a young Colt, as they fancied, but saw nothing; and going on, could discover nothing but that the Noise of the stepping or trampling was ceas’d, and then gone on a little before.

On Saturday Morning I found two Stones more on the Stairs; and so some were on Sunday Night convey’d into the Room next the Kitchin. 

Upon owing Mr. Walton going (with his Men) by Water to some other Land, in a place called the Great Bay, arid to a House where his Son was placed, they lay there that Night, and the next Morning had this Adventure. As the Men were all at work in the Woods, felling Wood, they were visited with another set of Stones, and they gathered up near upon a Hat-full, and put them between two Trees near adjoin­ing, and returning from carrying Wood, to the Boat, the Hat and its contents (the Stones) were gone, and the Stones were presently after thrown about again, as before; and after search, found the Hat press’d together, and lying under a square piece of Timber at some distance from thence. They had them again at young Walton’s House, and half a Brick thrown into a Cradle, out of which his young Child was newly taken up. 

Here it may seem most proper to inform the Reader of a parallel passage, (viz.) what happened what happened another time to my Landlord in his Boat; wherein going up to the same place (the Great Bay) and loading it with Hay for his use at his own House, about the mid-way in the River (Pascataqua) he found his Boat began to be in a sinking Condition, at which being much surpriz’d, upon search, he discover’d the cause to be the pulling out a Plug or Stopple in the bottom of the Boat, being fixed there for the more convenient letting out of the Rain-Water that might fall into it; a Contrivance and Com­bination of the old Serpent and the old Woman, or some other Witch or Wizard (in Revenge or innate Enmity) to have drown’d both my good Landlord and his Company.

On Wednesday, as they were at work again in the Woods, on a sudden they heard something gingle like Glass, or Metal, among the Trees, as it was falling, and being fallen to the Ground, they knew it to be a Stirrup which Mr. Walton had carried to the Boat, and laid under some Wood; and this being again laid by him in that very Boat, it was again thrown after him. The third time, he having put it upon his Girdle or Belt he wore about his Waste, buckled together before, but at that instant taken off because of the Heat of the Weather, and laid there again buckled, it was fetch’d away, and no more seen. Likewise the Graper, or little Anchor of the Boat, cast over-board, which caus’d the Boat to wind up; so staying and obstructing their Passage. Then the setting-Pole was divers times cast into the River, as they were coming back from the Great Bay, which put them to the trouble of Padling, that is, rowing about for it as often to retrieve it.

Being come to his own House, this Mr. Walton was charg’d again with a fresh Assault in the out-Houses; but we heard of none within doors until Friday after, when, in the Kitchin, were 4 or 5 Stones (one of them hot) taken out of the Fire, as I conceive, and so thrown about. I was then present, being newly come in with Mr. Walton from his middle Field (as he call’d it), where his Servants had been Mowing, and had six or seven of his old troublesome Companions, and I had one fall’n down by me there, and another thin flat stone hit me on the thigh with the flat side of it, so as to make me just feel, and to smart a little. In the same Day’s Evening, as I was walking out in the Lane by the Field before-mentioned, a great Stone made a rusling Noise in the Stone-Fence between the Field and the Lane, which seem’d to me (as it caus’d me to cast my Eye that way by the Noise) to come out of the Fence, as it were pull’d out from among those Stones loose, but orderly laid close together, as the manner of such Fences in that Country is, and so fell down upon the Ground. 

Some Persons of Note being then in the Field (whose Names are here under-written to visit Mr. Walton there, are substan­tial Witnesses of this same Stonery, both in the Field, and afterward in the House that Night, viz, one Mr. Hussey, Son of a Counsellour there. He took up one that having first alighted On the Ground, with rebound from thence hit him on the Heel; and he keeps it to show. And Captain Barefoot, mentioned above, has that which (among other Stones) flew into the Hall a little before Supper; which my self also saw as it first came in at the upper part of the Door into the middle of the Room; and then (tho’ a good flat Stone, yet) was seen to rowl over and over, as if trundled, under a Bed in the same Room. In short, these Persons, being wonderously affected with the Strangeness of these Passages, offer’d themselves (desiring me to take them) as Testimonies; I did so, and made a Memorandum, by way of Record, thereof, to this effect. Viz.

These Persons under-written do hereby Attest the Truth of their being Eye-Witnesses of at least half a score Stones that Evening thrown invisibly into the Field, and in the Entry of the House, Hall, and one of the Chambers of George Walton’s. Viz.

Samuel Jenings, Esq; Governour of West-Jarsey.
Walter Clark, Esq; Deputy-Governour of Road-Island.
Mr. Arthur Cook
Mr. Matt. Borden of Road-Island.
Mr. Oliver Hooton of Barbados, Merchant.
Mr. T. Maul of Salem in New-England, Merchant.
Captain Walter Barefoot
Mr. John Hussey
And the Wife of the said Mr. Hussey.

On Saturday, July 24, One of the Family, at the usual hour at Night, observ’d some few (not above half a dozen) of these natural (or rather unnatural) Weapons to fly into the Kitchin, as formerly; but some of them in an unusual manner lighting gently on him, or coming toward him so easily, as that he took them before they fell to the Ground. I think there was not any thing more that Night remarkable. But as if the malicious Daemon had laid up for Sunday and Monday, then it was that he began (more furiously than formerly) with a great Stone in the Kitchin, and so continued with throwing down the Pewter-Dishes, etc. great part of it all at once coming clattering down, without the stroke of a Stone, little or great, to move it. Then about Midnight this im­pious Operation not ceasing, but trespassing with a continu­ando 2 very great Stones, weighing above 30 pound a piece (that used to lye in the Kitchin, in or near the Chimny) were in the former, wonted, rebounding manner, let fly against my Door and Wall in the ante-Chamber, but with some little distance of time. 

This thundring Noise must needs bring up the Men from below, as before, (I need not say to wake me) to tell me the Effect, which was the beating down several Pictures, and displacing abundance of things about my Cham­ber: but the Repetition of this Cannon-Play by these great rumbling Engines, now ready at hand for the purpose, and the like additional disturbance by four Bricks that lay in the outer-Room Chimney (one of which having been so imploy’d the first Sunday Night, as has been said) made me despair of taking Rest, and so forced me to rise from my Bed. Then finding my Door burst open, I also found many Stones, and great pieces of Bricks, to fly in, breaking the Glass-Windows, and a Paper-Light, sometimes inwards, sometimes outwards: So hitting the Door of my Chamber as I came through from the ante-Chamber, lighting very near me as I was fetching the Candlestick, and afterward the Candle being struck out, as I was going to light it again. So a little after, coming up for another Candle, and being at the Stare-foot door, a wooden Mortar with great Noise struck against the Floor, and was just at my Feet, only not touching me, moving from the other end of the Kitchin where it used to lye. And when I came up my self, and two more of the same House, we heard a Whistling, as it were near us in the outer Room, several times. Among the rest of the Tools made use of to disturb us, I found an old Card for dressing Flax in my Chamber. 

Now for Monday Night, (June 26) one of the severest. The disturbance began in the Kitchin with Stones; then as I was at Supper above in the ante-Chamber, the Window near which I sate at Table was broke in 2 or 3 parts of it inwards, and one of the Stones that broke it flew in, and I took it up at the further end of the Room. The manner is observable; for one of the squares was broke into 9 or 10 small square pieces, as if it had been regularly mark’d out into such even squares by a Workman, to the end some of these little pieces might fly in my Face (as they did) and give me a surprize, but without any hurt. In the mean time it went on in the Kitchin, whither I went down, for Company, all or most of the Family, and a Neighbour, being there; where many Stones (some great ones) came thick and threefold among us, and an old howing Iron, from a Room hard by, where such Utensils lay. Then, as if I had been the design’d Object for that time, most of the Stones that came (the smaller I mean) hit me (sometimes pretty hard) to the number of above 20, near 30, as I remember, and whether I remov’d, sit, or walk’d, I had them, and great ones sometimes lighting gently on me, and in my Hand and Lap as I sate, and falling to the Ground, and sometimes thumping against the Wall, as near as could be to me, without touching me. Then was a Room over the Kitchin infested, that had not been so before, and many Stones greater than usual lumbring there over our Heads, not only to ours, but to the great Dis­turbance and Affrightment of some Children that lay there. And for Variety, there were sometimes three great, distinct Knocks, sometimes five such sounds as with a great Maul, reiterated divers times.

On Tuesday Night (June 28) we were quiet; but not so on Wednesday, when the Stones were play’d about in the House.And on Thursday Morning I found some things that hung on Nails on the ‘Wall in my Chamber, viz, a Spherical Sun-Dial, etc. lying on the Ground, as knock’d down by some Brick or Stone in the ante-Chamber. But my Landlord had the worst of that Day, tho’ he kept the Field, being there invisibly hit above 40 times, as he affirm’d to me, and he receiv’d some shrowd hurtful Blows on the Back, and other Parts, which he much complained of, and said he thought he should have reason to do, even to his dying day; and I observ’d that he did so, he being departed this Life since. 

Besides this, Plants of Indian Corn were struck up by the Roots almost, just as if they had been cut with some edged Instrument, whereas re vera  they were seen to be eradicated, or rooted up with nothing but the very Stones, altho’ the in­jurious Agent was altogether unseen.  And a sort of Noise, like that of Snorting and Whistling, was heard near the Men at Work in the Fields many times, many whereof I my self, going thither, and being there, was a Witness of; and parting thence I receiv’d a pretty hard Blow with a Stone on the Calf of my Leg. So it continued that day in two Fields, where they were severally at Work: and my Landlord told me, he often heard likewise a humming Noise in the Air by him, as of a Bullet discharg’d from a Gun; and so said a Servant of his that work’d with him.

Upon Saturday (July 1), as I was going to visit my Neigh­bour Capt. Barefoot, and just at his Door, his Man saw, as well as my self, 3 or 4 Stones fall just by us in the Field, or Close, where the House stands, and not any other Person near us. At Night a great Stone fell in the Kitchin, as I was going to Bed, andthe Pewter was thrown down; many Stones flew about, and the Candles by them put out 3 or 4 times, and the Snorting heard; a Negro Maid hit on the Head in the Entry between the Kitchin and Hall with a Porringer from the Kitchin: also the pressing-Iron clattered against the Partition Wall between the Hall and a Chamber beyond it, where I lay, and Mr. Randolph, His Majesty’s Officer for the Customs, etc. 

Some few Stones we had on Sunday Morning, (July 2) none at Night. But on Monday Morning (the 3d) both Mr. Walton, and 5 or 6 with him in the Field, were assaulted with them, and their Ears with the oldSnorting and Whistling. In the Afternoon Mr. Walton was hit on the Back with Stones very grievously, as he was in his Boat that lay at a Cove side by his House. It was a very odd prank that was prac­tis’d by the Devil a little while after this. One Night the Cocks of Hay, made the Day before in the Orchard, was spread all abroad, and some of the Hay thrown up into the Trees, and some of it brought into the House, and scatter’d. Two Logs that lay at the Door, laid, one of them by the Chimny in the Kitchin; the other set against the Door of the Room where Mr. Walton then lay, as on purpose to confine him therein: A Form that stood in the Entry (or Porch) was set along by the Fire side, and a joint Stool upon that, with a Napking spread thereon, with two Pewter Pots, and two Candlesticks: A Cheese-Press likewise having a Spit thrust into one of the holes of it, at one end; and at the other end of the Spit hung an Iron Kettle; and a Cheese was taken out, and broke to pieces. Another time, I full well remember ‘twas on a Sunday at Night, my Window was all broke with a violent shock of Stones and Brick-bats, which scarce miss’d my self: among these one huge one made its way through the great square or shash of a Casement, and broke a great hole in it, throwing down Books by the way, from the Window to a Picture over-against it, on the other side of the Chamber, and tore a hole quite through it about half a foot long, and the piece of the Cloth hung by a little part of it, on the back-side of the Picture. 

After this we were pretty quiet, saving now and then a few Stones march’d about for Exercise, and to keep (as it were) the Diabolical hand in use, till July 28, being Friday, when about 40 Stones flew about, abroad, and in the House and Orchard, and among the Trees therein, and a Window broke before, was broke again, and one Room where they never used before.

August 1. On Wednesday the Window in my ante-Chamber was broke again, and many Stones were plaid about, abroad, and in the House, in the Day-time, and at Night. The same Day in the Morning they tried this Experiment; they did set on the Fire a Pot with Urin, and crooked Pins in it, with design to have it boil, and by that means to give Punishment to the Witch, or Wizard (that might be the wicked Procurer or Contriver of this Stone Affliction) and take off their own as they had been advised. This was the Effect of it: As the Liquor begun to grow hot, a Stone came and broke the top or mouth of it, and threw it down, and spilt what was in it; which being made good again, another Stone, as the Pot grew hot again, broke the handle off; and being recruited and fill’d the third time, was then with a third Stone quite broke to pieces and split; and so the Operation became frustrate and fruitless.

On August 2, two Stones in the Afternoon I heard and saw my self in the House and Orchard; and another Window in the Hall was broke. And as I was entring my own Chamber a great square of a Casement, being a foot square, was broke with the Noise as of a big Stone, and pieces of the Glass flew into the Room, but no Stone came in then, or could be found within or without. At Night, as I, with others, were in the Kitchin, many more came in; and one great Stone that lay on a Spinning-Wheel to keep it steady, was thrown to the other side of the Room. Several Neighbours then present were ready to testifie this Matter. 

Upon August 3, On Thursday the Gate between my said Landlord and his Neighbour John Amazeen was taken off again, and thrown into Amazeen’s Field, who heard it fall and averr’d it then made a Noise like a great Gun.

On Friday the 4th, the Fence against Mr. Walton’s Neighbour’s Door, (the Woman of whom formerly there was great Suspicion, and thereupon Examination had, as appears upon Record;) this Fence being maliciously pull’d down to let in their Cattel into his Ground; he and his Servants were pelted with above 40 Stones as they went to put it up again; for she had often threatned that he should never injoy his House and Land. Mr. Walton was hit divers times, and all that Day in the Field, as they were Reaping, it ceas’d not, and their fell (by the Mens Computation) above an hundred Stones. A Woman helping to Reap (among the rest) was hit 9 or 10 times, and hurt to that degree, that her left Arm, Hip, Thigh, and Leg, were made black and blue therewith; which she showd to the Woman, Mrs. Walton, and others. Mr. Wood-bridge,a Divine, coming to give me a Visit, was hit about the Hip, and one Mr. Jefferys a Merchant, who was with him, on the Leg. A Window in the Kitchin that had been much batter’d before, was now quite broke out, and unwindow’d, no Glass or Lead at all being left: a Glass Bottle broke to pieces, and the Pewter Dishes (about 9 of them) thrown down, and bent.

On Saturday the 5th, as they were Reaping in the Field, three Sickles were crack’d and broke by the force of these lapidary Instruments of the Devil, as the Sickles were in the Reapers hands, on purpose (it seems) to obstruct their Labour, and do them Injury and Damage. And very many Stones were cast about that Day; insomuch, that some that assisted at that Harvest-Work, being struck with them, by reason of that Disturbance left the Field, but were follow’d by their invisible Adversaries to the next House. 

On Sunday, being the 6th, there fell nothing considerable, nor on Monday, (7th) save only one of the Children hit with a Stone on the Back. We were quiet to Tuesday the 8th. But on Wednesday (9th) above 100 Stones (as they verily thought) repeated the Reapers Disquiet in the Corn-Field, whereof some were affirm’d by Mr. Walton to be great ones indeed, near as big as a Man’s Head; and Mrs. Walton, his Wife being by Curiosity led thither, with intent also to make some Discovery by the most diligent and vigilant Observation she could use, to obviate the idle Incredulity some inconsiderate Persons might irrationally entertain concerning this veneficial Operation; or at least to confirm her own Sentiments and Belief of it. Which she did, but to her Cost; for she received an untoward Blow (with a Stone) on her Shoulder. There were likewise two Sickles bent, crack’d, and disabled with them, beating them violently out of their Hands that held them, and this reiterated three times successively. 

After this we injoy’d our former Peace and Quiet, unmolested by these stony Disturbances, that whole month of August, excepting some few times; and the last of all in the Month of September, (the beginning thereof) wherein Mr. Walton himself only (the Original perhaps of this strange Adventure, as has been declared) was the designed concluding Sufferer; and going in his Canoo (or Boat) from the Great Island, where he dwelt, to Portsmouth, to attend the Council, who had taken Cognizance of this Matter, he being Summoned thither, in order to his and the Suspect’s Examination, and the Courts taking Order thereabout, he was sadly hit with three pebble Stones as big as ones Fist; one of which broke his Head, which I saw him show to the President of the Council; the others gave him that Pain on the Back, of which (with other like Strokes) he complained then, and afterward to his Death.

Who, that peruses these praeternatural Occurences, can possibly be so much an Enemy to his own Soul, and irrefutable Reason, as obstinately to oppose himself to, or confusedly fluctuate in, the Opinion and Doctrine of Daemons, or Spirits, and Witches? Certainly he that does so, must do two things more: He must temariously unhinge, or undermine the Fundamentals of the best Religion in the World; and he must disingenuously quit and abandon that of the Three Theologick Virtues or Graces, to which the great Doctor of the Gentils gave the Precedence, Charity, through his Unchristian and Uncharitable Incredulity.

Newspaper Clipping of the Day

Mundy's Landing, via Library of Congress

This tale of murder and unwelcoming berry patches comes from the "Bronson Pilot," August 5, 1886:

Louisville, Ky., July 28. A [Louisville] Courier-Journal special gives the following, which was vouched for by reliable parties:

The inhabitants of Mundy's Landing, on the Kentucky river in Woodford county, are considerably nonplussed and worked up over the discharge of showers of stones descending in their midst. Several persons have been severely hurt and roofs of houses made to rattle like musketry. The scene and location of the mysterious visitations are at and near the house of Mrs. Lucretia Mundy, widow of Lowry Mundy. who died from the effects of poison administered, as charged, by his wife and [her son-in-law] Dr. Davis, the latter now serving a life sentence in the penitentiary for being guilty of the poisoning, and Mrs. Mundy now being under indictment as accessory to the murder.

The first notice taken of the falling stones was on Monday last when parties picking blackberries in a patch some distance from the Mundy mansion were surprised at the dropping of small stones in their midst. These continued to descend at intervals and their surprise changed to alarm and with buckets and berries they beat a hasty retreat from the patch. The next day Mrs. Dr. Davis, when about 100 yards from her house, was struck severely on the arm by a stone from some unknown direction. Miss Annie Mundy was also hurt severely by a stone descending upon her head. Miss Eva Mundy the next day was hit and slightly hurt. A negro man, Henry, was struck and knocked over a cliff Saturday and Sunday several negroes were struck; one or two of them were severely injured. The people of the neighborhood, of course, are stirred up. Some think it the work of some malicious individual or individuals who are creating the sensation. Others think it of the supernatural order. But from natural or unnatural causes all are of the opinion that it is a very strange affair. Several houses besides the Davis-Mundy mansions have been struck, and the stones descend perpendicularly and not horizontally as if thrown by the hand of an individual.

[Note: After no less than three trials, Lucretia Mundy was acquitted of murder--largely because one of the chief witnesses against her was found mysteriously shot to death.  I have not found any more reports about the strange missiles of Mundy's Landing, or if there was any evidence they were somehow linked to the then-notorious murder case. As an aside, this story is very similar to another stone-throwing-in-the-berry-patch report featured earlier on this blog.  Fortean berry fields may be an avenue worth exploring.]

Newspaper Clipping of the Day

Close-up of Trolls, by John Bauer, 1915

News of strange goings on in a Pennsylvania huckleberry patch--caused by what were variously described as "spirits" "elves," or "fairies"--appeared in a few newspapers during August 1873. Because I realize the blog has been short on berry-loving, stone-throwing elves lately, here's this account from the "Savannah Morning News," August 30, 1873:

All Cumru township, over in Berks county, is agitated from the fact that a spirit settlement has taken up its abode in a narrow strip of wood about five miles from the city of Reading, on the road leading out to Kohl's mill.

It was a raw, damp night when your correspondent alighted at the roadside inn, about a half mile from the above place. The wind howled, and the swaying of the heavy branches of sturdy oaks creaked and sighed, and gave echo to the croaking owl away over on the mountain side.

I need not describe one of these quaint old revolutionary relics--these Pennsylvania country wayside inns. In the barroom sat seven men, whose sun-browned features and shaggy whiskers told of long years of toil on the farm and wood-chopping on the hills. A coal-oil lamp swung from a pendant, and a faint light shone out from a greasy and smoked chimney. The landlord, a large-headed, quiet personage, sat smoking a pipe, and occasionally peering over his glasses toward the corner I occupied. These men were earnestly discussing the visitation of spirits in their neighborhood. They were men of fair average intelligence and were persons of good standing in the neighborhood. One of the men gave his name as J.M. white, and stated that he was constable of the township. The remaining men were Elias Snable, Samuel Zeigler, Henry Grimes, Abraham Miller, and Daniel White. They are all engaged in agricultural pursuits in this township.

I remarked to them that I had come a long distance to ascertain what truth there was in the report that spirit carnivals had been witnessed at night, and that stones and missiles had been heard to whiz and seem to whirl in all directions.

The constable turned in his chair, and with a look of deep earnestness told me that there was too much truth in it. "Have you heard anything definite about it?" he asked.

In answer to my negative reply, he delivered himself about as follows:

"We people here in this neighborhood are neither sceptics nor fools. I have not been constable of this town for six years without knowing and learning something. A ghost never trod shoe leather that would make me whistle. But the night that me and the rest of us went down past old Kohl's on to the huckleberry strip, and saw and heard what we did see and hear, has made me a better and wiser man, and a devilish perplexed one at that. There sits Abe Miller; he can tell you how the thing commenced."

It seemed an important matter to Mr. Miller, who emptied his mouth of a huge quid of masticated tobacco. He said: "Last Tuesday, Mrs. Daniel White, her daughter, Susan White, and Mary Hartz, three in number, went down to the huckleberry strip on Miller's farm for the purpose of gathering berries. They were there but a short time when they were startled by stones and clubs being thrown in the bushes. There was no person to be seen. After the first throwing everything was quiet. The women folks then heard strange screeching and unearthly noises resembling the hum of a steam engine. They were frightened almost to death, and stood riveted on the spot white with fear and trembling. Then of a sudden the air seemed filled with light and transparent shadows, that flitted about under the trees and above the heads of the frightened females. Then came slaps, quick and sharp, and the young ladies frequently received smacks on the sides of their faces, while Mrs. White received a hard blow on the back with a large piece of bark. The folks could not run, but were obliged to stand still and take it. They were with the spirits for nearly an hour before they could get out of the woods and hurry on towards home. They came back terribly alarmed and frightened. Miss White was considerably bruised about the sides, she having been struck several times."

I inquired whether the women had so stated the case. "Yes," answered several men in the bar-room, "this comes directly from Mrs. White, who would not tell a lie for the world."

A friend of Miss Hartz said: "I know Miss Hartz very well; she is a very sensible young lady. She returned from the berrying party very much frightened. She did not receive any injuries, but she saw spirits running about through the bushes, screaming and making other unearthly noises."

"What did she say a spirit resembled?" I inquired.

The young man continued: "She says that the objects she saw had human faces, white flowing gowns and wore long hair. They were comparatively small and very indistinct; so much so that she could not make out who they resembled. Certain she was, however, that they were spirits of human people. One kissed her on her left hand, which still bears the mark. It is red, and a dark streak is on the outside of it."

The landlord at this laid away his pipe, and with much consciousness of importance, nodded his head and remarked, "It's queerest case I ever heard of, and I know these people too well to think they would try to humbug anybody. Mrs. White is an honest and respectable woman, and her eyes are open; and when she tells of such a thing you can rely on it."

Mrs. White's husband owns the haunted huckleberry patch. He was a witness to the throwing of missiles. He is positively certain that no human hands did the throwing.

The constable at last said: "It's a good thing that you city people are never bothered with these strange affairs."

I asked him whether an investigation of the matter had been made, and he replied that there had. This was his story:

"The following day after the women had been so terribly frightened by the visitation, fourteen people were appointed to make an investigation. They were: J.M. White, Elias Snable, Samuel Zeigler, Samuel Sweitzer, John Marks, Henry Grieves, Daniel White, Abraham Miller, James Schaeffer, Priscilla Marks, Catherine Good, Mrs. Daniel White, Susan White, and Mary Hartz. The women folks were not afraid when the men went with them. I, as constable of the township, led the party. We marched in a body down to the patch, and stopped just before going in to examine the points around the haunted place.

"The spot is a very lonely one, and very few people go there unless it is to gather berries. When we got ready we took hold of hands, and formed a circle around the spot where the women saw the spirits. Four of the women were then in the circle. Before I knew what I was about I was struck about the face, on the cheeks, and my hat was knocked off. The missiles came from a heavy clump of bushes, and we could see them plainly shoot up and over towards where we were standing. Four of us men made a dash through the bushes, but when we arrived there was nothing to be found. As soon as we got to the place where the stuff was first thrown from stones and sticks came from another direction, and to save our lives we could not see who it was that was doing. By this time the females became terribly alarmed; and, when a singular humming noise was heard and a strange smell pervaded the atmosphere, they almost fainted away, their hearts beating and thumping fearfully. My wife was in my arms, which explains my last remark. We could discover no traces of the invisible hands that threw the stones, but saw them come, and knew where they came from--but that was all."

The constable's story was corroborated by the remainder of those present. But the hour hand had swung around, and the old clock in the corner had struck eleven; the rain was comparatively over, and the men pulled down their slouch hats, buttoned up their coats, and sallied out in the darkness for home.

I turned to the landlord and enquired whether he really believed those men.

"Young man," he replied, "they are earnest in every word they say, depend upon it."

The next morning I talked with Mrs. Daniel White on the subject. She corroborated all I had heard, and stated that her back was yet painful from the effects of a blow she had received.

Miss Hartz, upon whom I also called, was positive that she had seen spirits. "Why," she continued, "there were so many of them that I really imagined the very air was full of them." But she was excused from further conversation, as she stated that it was extremely distasteful to her. She seemed to tremble as she described the appearance of one of the alleged spirits.

Miss Hartz, by the way, is a very prepossessing young lady, and I ventured to remark that it was no wonder the spirits were attracted to her. This did not even cause her to smile.

I then visited the haunted huckleberry ground. It is situated on the right of the road, on a gentle declivity. There are some undergrowth, large trees, and thick clumps of bushes. When I arrived a jolly old crow flapped his black pinions and cawed as he flew over through the mist toward the hills beyond. Taking down the bars I jogged along through some bottom and, and entered the supposed spirit and fairy circle. All about lay sticks and stones, and the berry bushes were tramped down in many places. Upon a twig hung a calico shred that had been torn from the apron of one of the frightened females, while near by lay a gaiter that had been dropped in their hurry and flight. The rain soon came down, and I was obliged to turn back toward the hotel.

When I reported my visit to the landlord, he remarked, "Can't help it; those people are sensible people, and know what they talk about. They were there also and saw just exactly what they told you they did. I believe they saw spirits, and I would not go near that place at midnight for the best horse in the country."

So. Either this was a very nutty hoax on the part of the good people of Cumru township, or something mighty weird was going on in those huckleberry bushes. As is usual with this type of alleged incident, I have been unable to find any follow-up stories to the mystery. I can only add as a footnote that historically, Pennsylvania has been a particular hotbed for odd tales involving witchcraft, ghosts, and all manner of sinister folklore. Readers of David Paulides' "Missing 411" books may also recall that he has observed that berry fields are, for God knows what reason, associated with many particularly bizarre disappearances.

That's about all I can say on the matter.