The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1879-03-13
THE SPECTER.

Seventy years ago the country sur
rounding the worlds most beautiful
sheet OF water, Lake Seneca, in New
York, was beginning to be inhabited by
the whites.
Scarcely half century before Gen.
Sullivan made his immortal march
through the fair valleys of the Genesee
regions. Indians, though friendly, were
frequent visitors still to their former
haunts.
There are traditiors vi there being a
lead mine near Watkins, and a salt
spring pear Havana but the red>men
have well kept their secrets, for the
whites have never unearthed these treas
ures. Havana and Watkins are now
universally known as the locations OF
two OF the finest glens in the world they
have their tens of thousands of visitors
annually from all parts of the civilized
world.
Among the first settlers in this region
were my grandparents. Some off>shoots
of their family tree still remain on the
spot of it's first painting. Many incidents
I have heard told at the Preside upon
winters eve. The following "yarn" is
merely thread of one of these ravelings
from the web of lie in a by>gone and
" heroic" age.
About sixty years ago the jewellers
upon the shores OF the lake and its few
mariners had frequent sights OF a strange
apparition. 1t seemed to be tall, sim,
dark,skinned man, with hesd looking
down, arms folded tightly over q large
cloak, and he appeared 10 walk upon the
water.
The urcanDy thing, whatever it WAS,
seemed to be at the mercy of the winds
and waves. 1t would be down at Geneva,
at the foot of the lake, one evening, and
before next morning at Watkins, forty
miles away, at the head of the lake.
From the TACT that it was never twice
found in the same place, it was called
the Wandering Jew"
Some of the more poeticsl, or the
more ignorant, of the whites started a
story that it was the ghost Of one Jabez
LYON. a ssilor who had been Knocked
overheard duringa midnight tempest the
preceding winter. By the way, Seneca
lake has two remarkable properties; one
is. it never freezes in winter 1.-TWO seasons
ago, however, was the only exception
known to that indispensable person in a
community, the "oldest inhsbitsnt ;")
the other is, whoever is drowned in the
: middle of the lake, after once sinking,
never comes to the surface. Thus, though
LYONS body was lost, his friends thought
his spirit had become somehow changed,
perhaps, we might say, petrifed. and SC
was still roaming over the lake.
The Indians, who ence in while
visited the lake, declared thst it Wa
none but the spparition of their srcient
ehiet, Col6lgo, who was distant relative
of Brandt, or Thayendenags, the Mo
hawk warrior, well-known, execrsble in
the wars. Ooltlgo had been mortslly
wounded in the battle ef Newtown,
fought between the Indians and Sulli'
vans troops, upon the right bank of the
Chemung river, near where now is the
Hourishing city of Elmirs. Col6lgo
travelled with his retresting and dis
heartened warriors as far as his strength
would possibly allow; then, rather than
be taken prisoner by the victorious pale
faces, he chanted his desth-song, and
threw himself over high ledge of rocks,
into the lake, near Hector falls.
One summer afternoon four hunters
came to a settlers cabin, on the eastern
side of the lake. After while, two OF
them went after deer. An hour later
the others also started for the hunt. In
s narrow inlet near the house they saw
this sort of Recter floating, bufeted
by the waves. he hunters cried:
ooh, there's the Wandering Jew =
Let's put him out of his misery; he'll
make good target"
Some one raised his rife, took delibe.
rate aim, fred, and hit the mysterious
object. His companion fred, but his
shot was quite unfortunate. Over in
the underbrush opposite to them a man
jumped into the air and fell dead. The
hunters stray bullet had killed one of
his friends who chspoed to be there, cons
oesled, watching for deer not lar away
Just around point of land. The deer
was coming down to the beach TO drink.
The first shot of the marksman had
startled il. IT stood with head uprsised,
ears turned forward, eyes wide open,
nostrils dilsting and shutting, and its
right tore-fOOt impatiently stamping the
grassy sod. When the second rife
cracked, the deer, like lightning, gath