Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1901-09-13
GREEN'S UNEASY GHOST
THE FITTING SPooK THAT BROKE
UP AN INDIANA SCHOOL.

A special correspondent of the Chi
cago Inter-Ocean writes from Flora,
Ind, as follows: There is one COM
munity in this State where there is
no dissent on the question as to
whether there are such things as
ghosts. Walnut Grove, a village two
miles west of here, is the place, and
SO firm is the faith of the residents
there in spooks that they have forced
the school trustees of the township to
abandon the schoolhouse that for
years has answered for their needs,
and construct another that will be
free from the taint of being haunted.
For some years the story that ghosts
were common visitors in the vicinity
of the Walnut Grove schoolhouse have
been current, but the trustees, who
are hard-headed types Of Hoosiers,
have always refused to give any Gre
dence to the reports. They have lived
in hope that the stories would be for
gotten, and have done all that was in
their power to cast ridicule upon the
rumors. Their course was dictated by
did not believe in ghosts, and In the
second, they had an investment in the
schoolhouse and resented the circula-
tion of stories that were liable to i'm
pair its value and usefulness.
From the standpoint of the trustees.
this action on their part was all right,
but it did not meet with the approval
Df DC - {1,o oh ,,y1,A ho1
to attend the school. When little
Johnny Jones and his sister Sue, for
instance, came screaming home to
their mother and told her of seeing n
man swinging by the neck to tree in
the immediate vicinity of the school
house, and that the hanging man
amused himself by making ugly faces
at them, it became matter Of mo-
ment to the parents, especially as lit
tie Johnny and his sister Sue almost
went into spasms when told to go to
school as usual the next day. The
story of Johnny and his sister had cor
roboration from other children who at
tended the school, and finally the par
ents began to withdraw their children
from the place and send them to this
city or to some other place to get an
education.
Sometimes the ghost varied his ap-
pearance, and instead Of hanging from
the tree, would be seen strolling along
the road, his head very much on one
side, his tongue hanging out of his
mouth, and an expression of indescrib-
able agony on his face. The children
said that they would no more than get
glimpse of him when he would disap-
pear in the most unaccountable man
ner. The ghost would be walking on
the road where there was not an OBJ
ject to afford him concealment, when,
presto! he would be gone.
The children and the parents said
that it was Amer Green's ghost. The
school trustees said "fddlesticks," but
the parents stuck to their belief and
pccentuated it by withdrawing their
children from the school. At the last
term of the school, the one that has
just closed, there We're only two schol-
ars, and at its termination the teacher
told the trustees that she could not en-
dure the life at the school for another
term, and must leave. The trustees
tried to get a teacher to take the
school for the fall term, but its fame
as ghost-haunted place had become
noised abroad, and the quest of the
trustees was unsuccessful. In view
of this fact. and in Difference to the
wishes Of the taxpayers the trustees
have awarded the contracts for the
erection of another schoolhouse in lieu
of the old one. 1t will have another
site, and the hope is that the ghost Of
Amer Green will not in future bother
the children and interrupt their edu-
cation.
The slim attendance at the school the
last term, as well as the change oe
heart on the part of the trustees, was
largely due to the apparition that ap-
peared to DR.. Budford Harms of this
city one night last fall. DR.. Karns Is
not an emotional man, and his repu-
tation for truth and veracity are un-
questioned. The doctor had been
making professional call in the Wal
nut Grove neighborhood on the night
of November 80, and had to pass the
vicinity Of the schoolhouse ON his way
home. While passing a grove of
trees near the schoolhouse he saw the
body of man hanging from limb
and swaying back and forth. When
the doctor told of what he had seen
the next day 1t settled the matter and
the fate of the old schoolhouse was
assured.
While there has not been anything
new discovered to account for the ap-
pearance of the ghost or the unearthly
noises that have terrified the children
at school, there is only one belief on
the subject, and that is that the un-
canny object is the ghost of Amer
Green. On a walnut tree in the vi
cinity of the schoolhouse some years
ago Amer Green was strung up by
lynch law and his body left hanging
there. In view of the appearance of
the ghost SO frequently and its appar-
ent inability to rest, the community is
now beginning to take some stock in
Apar'c dvinO dacInrotioD that ba xyac