Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1925-10-30
TRAGEDY'S ECHO
OF INDIAN DAYS
Old Bible Owned BY HI. b. Chapman
Tells Narrowing Story-Trans-
lated BY Cayerns Visitor

~ S%0SAS AAASSo~G0 PCAACA OA luS
fy-leaf of Martin Luther Bible or
July %, 1764, has caused H. B
Chapman. of Shenandoah Caverns
to search for relatives of Joannes
Cans, who, to judge by the message
was killed by the Indians in or near
Wildwood, in Clarke County, 161
years ago.
The message was written in old
style German script and remained
untranslated until few DAYS ago.
when Dr. w. Steffen, of 352 First
Avenue, College Point, N. Y, a Wis
itor to the eaverns, succeeded in de-
ciphering it.
The message said:
Fate has reached us. Johannes
Kans was killed and his wife ana
two children and Jacob and
his by the Indians. Moth
er is also dead. All at once"
1t was unsigned, but was dated
July 2, 1854.
Learns the Story
Translation of the message natur-
ally caused Mr.. Chapman to wish TO
learn the rest of the story. Who
ever wrote the pathetic news is be-
lieyed TO have written it under the
stress of discovering the tragedy.
since the handwriting shows great
haste and mental agitation. If any
descendant of the German settler,
Johannes Cans, can finish the story,
he would confer a favor upon Mr..
Chapman and many others who have
visited the caverns, if he will write.
The great Bible was published in
171S at Frankfort-on-the-M Main, and
probably was brought to America by
Cans or some of his kin. Mr.. Chap
mar first saw it at Rosney farm near
Wildwood, in Clarke County, about
80 years ago. 1t had then been for
many years in the possession of the
family of Miss Carrie Lee Slime, now
Mrs. Chapman.
Book Lay In Attic
The book lay in the Chapman at
tic at Woodstock for 80 years. Then
Mr.. and Mrs. Chapman brought it
to Shenandoah Caverns when they
opened the inn over the mouth of
the big grotto. Mr.. Chapman sought
many tourists to help him translate
the jumbled German writing on the
fiyleaf, and finally DIR. Steffen came
by and succeeded in doing so.
The ancient German Bible took on
a new significance then, and now
shares interest with the caverns and
with other legends.
Shenandoah Caverns are located
between Mt. Jackson and New Mar
ket, within sight of two battlefields
of the War Between tn States, but
its legends date back before the war
Samuel Kercheval in his history
of the Valley, published in 1888, re-
fers to the caverns as Skaters
Cave" and tells the story of a head
less giant who terrified the surround
ing country for years. The skeleton
of the giant was found in one en-
trance to the cave by settler short
ly after the Revolutionary War, and
the settler, marveling at the size of
the bones, took the skull home.
Tradition of Cove
He did not keep it long, according
to Mr.. Kercheval. The giant came
after it, besieged the house, finally
broke in, and after doing sundry
damage, reeaptured his head and car
ried it back to the cave with. him.
Years later, another explorer of the
cave rediscovered the giants skele-
ton. He was afraid to take the skull
but took one of the arm bones-just
to see if the ghost of the giant would
come for it. The giant apparently
did not value humerus as much as
his occiput, for he did not haunt the
robber
A short time after these strange
events, the mouth of Skaters Cave
caved in and was lost for leo years.
Whether the giant became disguised
with human vandals and closed his
habitation to them has not been de-
termined In any event the cavern
was almost forgotten until 1884,
when Charles Neff, owner of the hill
over the grotto, noticed while hunt
ing for water on a cold winter day
that vapor was issuing from the
earth and condensing upon fruit
tree on the hillside.
One day Dr. Neffs young sons and
a boy companion found an entrance
then and reexplored the cave.
Heard Wagon Rumble
One day, when several hundred
feet underground. they heard a wa
gon rumbling overhead on the high
way, and this resulted in the open
ing of the present mouth of the cav
erns.
1t was found to be unique in
number of ways. since it not onl
was limestone palace such as ar
many of the older exhibition caverns
but it contained colored clay, man
calcite crystals. and had arches a
high as "a feet.
Mr.. Chapman bought the caverns
explored the larger passages, install
ed a power plant to light it. and
was opened to the public three year