The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1889-03-07
AN UNCANNY TALE
OF the Unseemly ACTIONS Of a
-! Stark County Spectre,
Az Light Which Assumes An
Kinds OF Fiendihh Forms
And IL Said to Have Worried the
Honest Farmers Of Long Ago VI
Harrisburg, Near This city

Some weeks ago au ex member OF the
| Plain Dealer stan Wbs in Canton aud
vicinity doing f0me newspaper pros
pe1iiut Ills visit did nut rt ull u
/ NflI Hs lH had expected ANA herrluiNfd
/ 10 his Cleveland hpmH, but Il appear.
that he took with hin an old legend
concerning thb farm OF Solomon l.,
! Wise, q Wrll'tu'dO tarmer residing one
audRhalf miles south OF Harrisburg,
on the left OF ihH old Harrisburg and
L0uiayllle road entering LOuayille,
Tho story goes that nearly forty years
ago tho farm, consisting Ot 100
acres OF timbefed aud farming land,
WAS owned by q German named
! KnGnlf and that while IN his pOaaeaalOn
an old mlaer who lived In that vicinity,
finding that he must die, buried IN u
TaYine on the land q huge pot OF gold,
| After his death stories became ClrCulatr
C3 iu whispers .u 'hNt vicinity that au
UucRuuy nyNeUow llghl, uf ball of
/ lllb MAS htoIi towering along that raylno
on dark nights,
Following these stories came others
| that were OF u nature 70 raise tho hair
upon the heads Of the aupemlltloua
like tho qullla upon the fretful porcu'
, Pine, aud they became the absorbing
| topic Of conversation about the ilreaide
Of the farm house, The light was de-
scrIbtd aA q yerltnble viii o the wlRp,
| ghOatly, supernatural aud fear Inspiring,
| 10 la said 10 wander 10 and fro on tho
farm rise high In the air, descend into
the bellows tIembllngly move down u
small stream OF water, auddGnly bright
ON, aa quickly fade away, aud, 80 " ~
aHld, tho "llght' pursued 0ud attacked
YentureeOmO travellers who attempted 20
| cnpture N IN order ~ dla,OyCrlta nhglu,
OuG story Ia thUt NuIll farmer rs The
name Of Blown yIG returning ig.ui
LluisYllle 10 Harrisburg u number Of
years ago In q sleigh with bis wife,
The tinkle OF the sleigh bells ls said %
have attracted the 'llght" for II moved
toward tho sleigh and pcrched Itself
upon q seat The horses were beaten
by the frantic farmer ana then tho
eight was said 20 have assumed The
shape of a fiery red dog, with garlng
/ eyes, red tongues and hlde0ua fanga,
| thence q blue Gol0rcd coffin, II re-
nnIncd In the sleigh until the StHa.
burg road was reached, and rs said %
have almost CraZed the couple.
George Bean, farmer boy ~ said 20
have been attracted by the light and
saw II change into a horrible shaped,
| c0lured dragon, when he attempted 10
MCz'a rot VI Ea'd fNtA z, 10 sid ,h.
/ eight had attracted him ,o. Then
another transformation Is said TO have
taken places. " changed from globe
form 10 that Of q star In color from
white % green, 10 appeared 10 have q
monopoly upon this Kind of business,
for IL changed rapidly from q green
star 10 q pink crescent, then 10 q yellow
egg, TO blue hendBt0nO, 10 IN iron kettle,
then into the form Of au old,
grayhalred and white rObed
man, Tho boy would not
! follow the spectre, II became dlscOur,
aged and quit business for q time,
ltis alleged that once upon time
% reckless per8Onngn by the name Of
Campbell wagered That he would seek
out the eight aud defy H. lle filled u
revolver with cartridges and himself
with liquor and when ho saw the
ought" waiting for him (hayiug prob.
! ably been notled) he shot at No. 'lis
! NAll lll u NlNlhtNt 10 NNft NNdllktN W "
hydra headed scorpion and 10 have
made q lerociOua dart at the white
face Of the terrified Campbell,
There was u kissing, sc0rchng sound
aud al the attributes TO a llrst class
horror but u "dull thud." Some days
after u wild, half cra2od being with a
sharp wind whistling through his
whlskers aud burned face, wandered
about the region muttering unintelli.
glbly, Legadn says II was Campbell but
mentions nothing about an extremely
probable case of snakes
Other startling stories Of q similar
kind are said TO be- allOat
upon the unseomly actions OF this un.
cOnny spectre which apparently had
the Art Of transformation down TO a
scleuce, 10 rs said that ON the Wilson
farm there was years ago q grave yard
and that the phosphorus from The bur
rigd bones was carried down to the
creek, Science would say the light was
an guis fOtus formed by tho water In
the creek having been charged with
phosphunted hydrogen gas and the
tales Of its d0ings the work OF an OK
| pert deceased or vivid imagination.