Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1942-06-11

tion were not all eradicated from
his body. Half way across the bot
| tom, at the lower end of a swamp
he had seen a Corpse Candle" Zig
mis- fatuus) and just above where he
had to cross the creek his brother
had lost. his life by drowning, and
| beyond the creek the path led up a
ravine where once man died un-
| der unusual circumstances and was
| buried on the spot. Furthermore,
his uncle had seen a ghost Cd in a
| hollow just east of this point.
So, in the face Of all this, he de-
| cided that the place for him was
either in, or under, the bed, and he
| acted accordingly. His trip to the
hilltop the next day revealed blood
stains between the barn and the
| we'll.
Following this mans sensational
discovery, whose reputation for
truthfulneSs and piety could not be
questioned, and living in an intel
lectual community, why an inyesti-
cation did not follow is not clear in
the mind of the writer. Such was
the case, however, and it was let go
at that, only to get a re-hash occas-
ionally around the neighboring fire
sides. Years passed with it's gener-
alton, and the old well became fill
ed with rubbish. But the incident
VIC hav
and gathered more damaging evil
dence as time went on, like roll
ing ball of snow, gathering dead
moss, withered leaves, and loose
sticks along it's pathway.
Joe was no longer around and
his whereabouts was a guess, un-
certain, no one seemed to know. At
length there came day when the
story reached the ears of the late
William G.. Nichols, who was then
editor of the Cumberland Echo.
Newspaper men are always anxious
for "scoop', SO he came out from
Cumberland and interviewed some
of the older residents living in the
CoM unity. lHciI tSoliihoHiCo COH~
flrmed his decision, viz: There is
the skeleton of man in that old
well, and it must come out of there.
The strange life that Joe had liv-
ed helped nightly to fasten sus-
picion on him that he might be
guilty of an atrocious crime. His
latter years in the community were
lived in little one-room house that
clung precariously to a steep bank
not far from Renrock. His inten-
tions were always a secret. He
would leave in the night and be
gone for weeks. He always silently
returned with not word about his
absence. There came last time
he never returned.
Following Mr. Nichols investiga
ton, day was set to clear out the
old well. A large crowd gathered.
some to help. Most through curl
osity. Everything went we'll for
a while, but as the depth increased,
and as only one could work at a
at a time in the hole, the laborers
became fearful of danger from poi
son gas. John Balm, the old we'll
digger, was present, but not dis
posed to take the risk for nothing
The late Easton Foster took up a :
collection and when the silver be-
gan to jingle in the hat Mr.. Balm
seized the windlass rope and the I
work went on Finally the bottom !
was reached and bones were found, |
but they were not human bones.
Thus after years of talk, the wild
gruesome story exploded like soap
bubble.
We wish to pause here long
enough to say that We have no de-
sire whatsoever to cast any refiec-
tion on the life and character of
our old friend Joe, whom we learn