Newspaper Clipping of the Day

Via Newspapers.com

This tale of what we would call a “poltergeist event” has enough unusual touches to make it worthy of notice.  The “Hagerstown Exponent,” July 28, 1880 (a reprint from the “Cincinnati Enquirer”):

Belle Center, Ohio, July 23. About three miles north-west of town there is a farm known as the Zahller Place, one of the oldest in the State, and owned by the heirs, one of whom occupies it. On last Friday afternoon the folks went blackberrying and two of the children went to a picnic nearby. About five o’clock the children returned, and they say as they came into the yard a man of small stature, bow-legged and very ragged, came out of the kitchen, walked past them, opened the garden gate and went in. He then jumped over the picket-fence into the barn-yard and disappeared in the barn. The children becoming frightened at his strange actions, went to a neighbor’s house about half a mile distant and returned home in the evening. When their parents returned, they related their story. Mr. Zahller tracked the man through the garden and barn-yard by noticing three large-headed nails in the impression of his boot-heel. At the barn all traces were lost.

Now comes the mystery: Mrs. Zahller went to the barn-yard to milk; corn-cobs commenced falling near like someone was throwing at her. Mr. Zahller was standing nearby but didn’t notice them. She asked him if he saw that. He answered no. Just then a large one hit near him, but he could not see where it came from. During Saturday the children were hit with corn-cobs, pieces of bark and small stones every time they attempted to go into the barn yard. Two of the family—one a boy of seven, and the other a young lady of eighteen—seemed to attract the most. When they came near the missiles were sure to fly. The boy, especially, was hurt about the face with small stones.

One of the neighbors, coming to witness the shower, was hit in the back by a wooden pin that had been used to fasten a large gate. A trace-chain that had been plowed up  and was hung on a corner of the corn-crib, near the barn, also went sailing in the air in search of something to light on. Hundreds of people have been to see this sight since Saturday and all came away satisfied that they saw chips, small stones, corn-cobs, &c., falling near them, but unable to explain where they came from. One man says he saw corn-cobs start from the ground and soar over his head and light on the ground without the least noise. Another one says he was standing near a chicken house, the door of which was open, when some half dozen cobs came flying out. The house was searched, but nothing found.  Some say the flying pieces are not noticed until they either strike them or fall on the ground nearby. The strangest thing is that they light as easy as a feather, no matter how large the article is. One man brought home a piece of an old walnut rail about a foot long and two by four inches thick. That, he says, he tried to aggravate the spirits, and said in a loud voice, “Don’t throw anymore corn-cobs; throw a club this time.” Just then this piece lit on his shoulder as easy as a feather and rolled to the ground. The whole neighborhood is excited, and watch the barn from morning until night, trying not to believe it, but at the same time convinced that they saw something, they know not what.

On September 16, the “Wilson World” carried a follow-up story, indicating that the strange manifestations were continuing to plague the farm.  They added one new detail:

This is not the only mystery that affects the good people of Belle Centre. They have been reveling in the luxury of a bona fide ghost, a ghost that walks in a lane, and rides sometimes, as the sequel will show; a ghost that appears in the form of a beautiful woman, and whom many people in this county say that they have seen.

The strange part of the story is that this apparition was heard on one occasion to speak. No one ever got their hand on the spook, although many attempted it, as when they would approach and attempt to grasp it, their hands only felt space, and would go right through the form. Many reputable witnesses, among them an old, staid citizen of Bellefontaine, testified that this form has appeared to them, and even by their side in their vehicles, always in the form of a handsome female, clad in fleecy or cloudy white, with a halo around her head, but that on attempting to touch her they would only grasp space, and the ghostly visitant would vanish. This apparition invariably appears in the road leading from Belle Centre to Lisle's Mill, and has been dubbed the ghost of Lisle's lane.

It has appeared to certain persons so often that they have got used to it, at it has always been friendly, and they therefore pay no attention to it. The time it was heard to speak was when a party of eight or ten coon-hunters were returning down the lane for home. As they emerged from a cornfield they came upon a belated traveler in a buggy, and at the same time were aware of the approach of the well known appearance. It immediately seemed to float in the buggy, where it seated itself on the vacant seat, paused a moment, and, as they rushed up, ejaculated "Keno,” and instantly vanished. leaving the traveler half dead from terror.

These are strange facts, but are vouched for by unimpeachable witnesses.