The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1894-06-15
MYSTERY OF TUsCARoRA
STRANGE D1sAPPEARANcE OF
THREE BROTHERS.
A Thirsty Bear Gave the Clue to Their
Awful Death-one at Time They Dis
appeared and Close Search Failed to
Reveal Their Fate.

his name as Hapgood and his ma
tivity as England bought tract OF
| land on the Tuscarora mountain of
Pennsylvania, within thirty miles of
! the Southern state line. A month
| later two other men arrived, and it
/ was not only given out that the three
were brothers, but they resem bled
each other so closely that there
could be no doubt about it. Once
week one of the brothers, who came
to be known as Joseph, William and
Thomas, made his way down to the
hamlet of Mercersburg for supplies
/ They erected a small furnace, sunk
shafts in the ground in many places,
and did not deny that they were ex-
perimenting.
One day, after the Hapgood broth
ers had been on the mountain year
or so, Joseph appeared in MERGERS
burg and stated that William had
disappeared in a mysterious manner
and asked for assistance in trying to
unravel the mystery. The sheriff
and others visited the house and
were given all particulars The
missing man left the house after
breakfast with spade on his shout
! der to search for a certain kind of
clay desired in their experiments.
! He did not return at dark, but no
alarm was felt until he had been
absent Two days and a night. Then
the brothers began a search which
lasted three days before they asked
for outside assistance.
Hunters and others searched the
mountains for days, being paid in
English gold for their services, but
not the slightest tidings could be
learned. Joseph again entered
Mercersburg in a state of great eX-
| citement. and announced the mys-
ferrous disappearance OF his brother
| Thomas. The man had set out after
dinner two days before to gather
certain roots to make tonic, and,
as he did not return, Joseph made
search and also enlisted the services
of two hunters who happened to call
at his cabin. Thomas was traced in
the same direction as William and
! about as far.
When Joseph returned TIC Craig
Castle, as the place on the noun
tain had been named, he was accom-
panied by miner named Shores,
who was engaged by the month and
bound to secrecy.
Fifteen days later, Shores appeared
in Mercersburg and reported that
Joseph had disappeared two days
previously in the same mysterious
manner that had characterized the
taking off of his brother. He had
been roaming around in the after
noon in search of fireclay to replace
| L, 10
reported a discovery and brought q
sample. He set out next morning
with a sack, intending to bring home
about twenty-five pounds, but had
not returned. When he left the
house he went north over the same
path the others had taken. Shores
had searched tor half day and then
became frightened and given the
alarm.
People again turned out by skies
and dozens and scores to explore the
mountain. My father was elected
captain of a party OF eight, and L
went along with them We took
tents and supply of provisions and
! prepared for the most minute search.
! At least five other parties were sim
ilarly equipped. strung out on the
| crest of the mountain for distance
| of twenty-five miles. Other parties
searched the foothills and ravine
and the country to the east and west
of the mountain. The general search
! lasted for two weeks. but number
of people continued it for a full
month. Not the slightest trace or in
| formation was had, and it was gen
orally believed that the mystery
would never be cleared up
Two months after Joseph s disap-
pearance lawyer came from Eng
land to make determined effort to
unravel things. He came to Cham
bersburg first, and it so happened
| that my father, who was a county
| official, was about the first man to
learn his identity. 1t came about
that the lawyer, whose name was
Markham, decided to hire small
party of men to go on with the
search. There we're five in the par
ty besides father, and | was taken
! along at half pay to assist the cook.
At the end of three weeks one and
one half miles of ground had been
! gone over-that is, one and one half
miles in length but crossing the
mountain back and forth as we did
made the area ten times that. This
brought us to the spot where Joseph
had dug his freclay About forty
rods south of the clay pit was fine
spring. l had got within twenty
rods of the spring, and was intend
ing to turn aside and get a drink
when 1 caught sight of black bear
coming toward me.
1t was a hot day and I think he
must have been fired at by some hun
tel. or pursued by dogs, as his tongue
was hanging out like a dogs, and he
seemed to be very tired. As soon as |
got sight of him l leaped behind a
| bowlder to my left and was sure he
had not observed me. He had prob
ably visited the spring before. for as
he came opposite he turned sharply
to the left to reach it. The bushes
were not so thick but that l could
plainly follow his movements When
he had gone about fifteen feet he ut
tered ''whoofn of surprise aud
dropped out of sight l thought he
had dropped down from exhaustion,
and I waited a long quarter of an
hour before moving forward,