Unidentified Photography: Group Photo, Apparently in the City

 

Acton Historical Society is looking to identify the people or place where this photo was taken. This photograph had no label or date and the place is unknown. The photographer George Hastings was at 147 Tremont St in Boston Massachusetts in the mid-1880s to late 1890s. It's believed that this photo was not taken in Acton, but it may involve someone from Acton. It's possible it was a stock photo.

SOURCES:
Acton Historical Society

GHOSTS: Maggie's Bridge

             Facebook / Haunted Eastern Shore

In the late 1800s, Maggie Bloxom was going down Woodland Church Rd around a mile south of Woodland Ferry landing in Delaware. She was traveling by horse and buggy. Some say that she was pregnant at the time and was planning to marry her lover. She was leaving because she did not want to be judged by her parents let alone people she knew as she was not married yet.

When the carriage was crossing the bridge that went over a small branch on the Nanticoke River the horse was spooked. This would cause the horse to rear up and bring tragedy. Maggie and her carriage would go over the side of the bridge into the water. The accident was so bad she was decapitated.

It is said that if you go to the bridge and follow a ritual you can meet the spirit of Maggie. Most say that between midnight and 1 am, you should start the ritual. You will call out "Maggie, Maggie, Maggie" and you might hear a horse coming towards you. You will call again "Maggie, Maggie, Maggie" and you might see a woman-shaped shadow. A third and last time you will call "Maggie, Maggie, Maggie" and Maggie will come out of the woods holding her head asking to be put together again and be alive.

Sometimes people chant "Maggie Maggie we have your baby!" instead of "Maggie, Maggie, Maggie"

Some say that Maggie can be seen best on the night of the blue moon. A breeze will come and little flashes of firefly-like lights can be seen. These lights are known as ghost pits. The lights come closer and closer with each flash.

Sometimes it stated that Maggie can also mess with cars on the bridge. It's stated that cars have been known to stall on it.

Did Maggie actually exist? Maybe. There is a grave nearby with her name on it. I couldn't find anything about her death in newspapers, and could not find any information on her.

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

Chesapeake Ghosts

Only In Your State

The Headless Woman of Iroquois Park

At Iroquois Park in Louisville, Kentucky it's said that a headless woman wearing 1800's clothes and carrying her head could be seen in the park. It's said that at night she wanders through the woods holding her head. You can see sometimes see her walking through a cloud of fog or smoke.

It's said that she was the wife of an old farmer. One night when she was home alone Native Americans would raid the home. When they found the poor woman inside they beheaded her and burned the house down.

SOURCES:
Louisville Ghost Hunters Society
Nolan Group Media
DJX
Manual Red Eye

Unknown Artist: Ehre Vater Artist

The Ehre Vater Artist was an American fraktur artist active between 1782 to 1828, It was found that the artist could be traced in every county in Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, and Ontario that saw the settlement of German immigrants. The name given to this artist is a german phrase meaning "honor father and mother", which is frequently found in the artist's art. It's believed that the artist lived among the Moravians of Salem, North Carolina. He however did accept patrons from other religious groups for example Roman Catholics. 

The artist included aspects of Moravian Hymnody and had a particular skill in their cursive. It is also drawn on special paper with engraved scenes, which was unique in the works of known fraktur artists. Other common symbols in their art are pilasters used as portions of borers, large geometric balls that are sometimes surrounded by a piece of verse, and snakes twined with texts such as hymn lyrics. 

Four known artists of this artist are in the collection of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, and other works are owned by the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, and Winterthur Museum.

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Mutual Arts

Christies

Ghosts: El Silbón

Effigy of El Silbón at a Venezualan theme park

The legend of El Silbón started in the middle of the 19th century in Columbia and Venezuela. He is most known in the Los Llanos region. He was described as a lost soul cursed to wander. There are a couple of versions of the story but both state that he was the son of a farmer. He would then kill his father and soon after tortured and killed. He was cursed to carry the bag of bones of his father.

It's known when he's around as he whistles. The whistle notes are C,D,E,F,G,A,B in that order. It rises in tone to F and lowers to B. When you hear the whistles close do not worry, but when it's in a distance that is when you're in danger. It's said his whistle foretells your death. The only thing to save the soon-to-be victim is the bark of the dog, a chili, or a whip. He typically preys on womanizers and drunks.

One version of how he became a spirit was that he was a spoiled brat who demanded that his father hunts for a deer. It was his favorite typed of meat and when his father returned empty-handed he became furious. He would then kill his father cut out his heart and liver and have his mother unknowingly cook it for dinner.

His mother found that the meal was strange and tough. She begins to suspect that something was wrong. She would then find out that they were her husband's remains. His other would curse her son and his grandfather would order him to be tortured. In a long painful process first, his back was whipped, and salt was put into the wounds. After he was satisfied with the wounds two large monstrous dogs were on him biting his ankles. He would run into the woods and never be seen again. His grandfather would curse him to carry his father's bones.

In the other version, he was a married young man who worked on his father's farm in Venezuela. One day his father berated his wife and called her a whore. She would tell El Silbón what happened and this infuriated him. He would then confront his father and killed him. His fate is the same where he is tortured for a long time with whips and salt, eventually being chased into the forest by dogs.

SOURCES:
Wikipedia

Scary For Kids

Myths and Folklore

Villians Wiki

The Clarendon Dry Pile

 

The Clarendon Dry Pile is also known as the Oxford Electric Bell has the longest-lasting battery to date. The experimental electric bell was built by instrument makers Watkins and Hills in 1840. The electric bell have continuously rung since it was built, but it is currently inaudible due to two layers of glass protecting it. There have been short interruptions due to high humidity, but the bell still rings regardless. 

The experiment consists of two brass bells both positioned beneath a dry pile. The pair of piles connect in series giving the bells opposite electric charges. The clapper is a 4mm metal sphere suspended between the bells ringing them. When the clapper touches one bell it is then charged by the pile and repelled due to the same charge and attracted to the other bell. This process repeats and continues. The use of electrostatic forces means that even though it's a high voltage little charge is carried between the bells producing 2 Hertz being the oscillation frequency. This leads the drainage of the battery to drain slowly and may be the reason the bells still ring to this day.

The bell was purchased by clergyman and physicist Robert Walker and resides in the corridor adjacent to the foyer of the Clarendon Laboratory at the University of Oxford in England. Until the bell stops working either by the batteries not working or the clapper breaking the dry pile won't be looked at to see why it's still going. 

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Atlas Obscura

Department of Physics

Unknown Artists: Cross Legged Angel Artist

The Cross-Legged Angel Artists is the notname of an American fraktur artist. The name is derived from the repeated use of an Angel with crossed legs as a decorative element in their works. Other elements in the paintings include birds that sit upon the shoulder of the figures. This artist created a number of birth and baptismal certificates between 1790 to 1815 in northeastern Lancaster County and Berks County in Pennsylvania. Their handwriting on the documents was poor, but some were printed before being completed. 

Work by the Cross-Legged Angel Artist may be found in the collections of the Reading Public Museum and Franklin and Marshall College. 

SOURCES:

Wikipedia 

Worth Point

May 24, 1893 Hampton, Minnesota Unknown Man

 On May 24, 1893, the body of a man was found in a building in Hampton, Minnesota. It was believed that he was a tram that went into the building for shelter but ended up dying from exposure inside. He was buried in the Potters Field of Lakeside Cemetary in Hastings, Minnesota. 

SOURCES:

Find A Grave

December 23, 1892 Door County Norwegian Railroad Worker Unknown

 In, 1892 a Norwegian man was working on the railroad in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. He was diagnosed with Typhoid in December. He would die from typhoid fever on December 23, 1892. His funeral was paid for by the city, but his name was unknown. His age is unstated but can be assumed to be an adult.

SOURCES:

Find A Grave

Unidentified Wiki

Murder of Annie Yates

In 1884, 23/24-years-old Annie Yates was living at No. 12, Burton-Crescent St. (now knowns as Cartwright Gardens) in London, England. It was a home that rented out furnished apartments to women. Annie's room was on the first floor in the back. At the time Annie was working as a prostitute. Annie's past is a bit mysterious. It's believed that Annie Yates was an alias as a friend said that her name was Mary Anne Marshall, and her friends were in Reading. One article refers to her as Mary Anne Yates. 

On the night of 8 March 1884 Annie Yates and another lodger Annie Ellis this was not unusual for the pair. Around 1 a.m. The two would part at Euston road as Annie Yates had gotten into a conversation with a well-dressed man. It wouldn't be until around 2 a.m. that Annie was heard coming home with a man who is assumed to be the same man she was seen with earlier. 

Around 3 a.m. screams were heard from Annie's room, but it wasn't unusual. The other lodgers said that she would go into bouts of hysteria and those sounded similar to her screaming that night. A considerable time after the screaming sounds of a man going downstairs and leaving the house was heard. This was also not an uncommon sound in the place so nobody went to check.

Annie would not end up coming down for breakfast. Between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. Annie Ellis went upstairs to check on her friend. The door was already open a crack so Annie E. went inside. What she saw was the bedding piled up on something. Seeing Annie's foot sticking out from underneath Annie E. pulled them off. 

Annie was laying on her stomach. She was partially dressed and was laying in a pool of her blood. She had a serious gash on the left side of her head above her ear and had a towel tightly tied around her mouth with the knot on the back of her head. Annie E. noted that there were bruises on the back of her legs. It was found that there was blood on the wall bed and towel. 

The alarm was raised to Mrs. Apex the landlady of the house. Mrs. Apex would send for medical help and notified the police station. Unfortunately, Annie had been dead for hours and it was believed the towel wrapped around her mouth had led to her suffocating.

Police searched for the weapon used to hit Annie, but it was not found. It's likely the wound on her head knocked her out and then the towel was tied around her mouth while she was unconscious It's unknown if he did intend to kill Annie or to silence her in case she woke up.

The room had also seemed to have been ransacked. It was found that the killer had possibly stolen a dark leather purse with a clamp and a gold ring Annie was wearing that night/morning was gone. Annies ring was described as 9-carat gold with three gems, a turquoise gem in the middle with two pearls on either side of it. 

The man last seen with Annie was around 25-years-old. He was described as being fair, with a medium height. He was wearing a black felt hat, brown cutaway coat, he seemed to have a respectable appearance.

According to Wikipedia, this murder was never solved.

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

The Times 9 March 1884

The Bristol Mercury and Daily Post, Western Countries and South Wales Advertiser 15 March 1884

The Preston Chronicle and Lancashire Advertiser 22 March 1884

March 15, 1891 Bolinas , California Adult Male Unknown

 On March 15, 1891, the body of an adult male was found on the beach of Bolinas Bay in Bolinas, California. The body was found by James Wilson and was badly decomposed. His cause of death is undetermined.

His race is unknown or unstated, but it was believed he was in his 40's. He was 5'10" with a stoat build. He had a purse contains $1.25 and several foreign coins (Unstated from where). He had papers with him, but they were unintelligible. 

SOURCES:

Unidentified Wiki

Find A Grave

1866 Lincoln County, New Mexico John Does

 In 1866 two unknown men were buried in The Casey Ranch Cemetary in Picacho, New Mexico. The two were listed as being killed by Indians. There is little information in this case. 

SOURCES:

Find A Grave (Unknown Man 1)

Find A Grave (Unknown Man 2)

Lincoln County New Mexico Genealogy and History

Unidentified Wiki (Man 1)

Unidentified Wiki (Man 2)

Murder of Jeff Curry

African American man Jeff Curry had a verbal argument with Frank Powell and Frank's son about a job he's done with them. During the argument, it was said he swore to kill Frank. Near the Blue Creek, Alabama mines he concealed himself and waited by a road that he knew Frank would pass. He was caught and arrested before he could try to kill Frank.

On the night of March 19, 1888,  Constables David Rainey and Sam Redden were going to bring him to Birmingham jail. They claimed that 12 disguised white men overtook the guards and took Jeff from them. The mob of men then tied Jeff to a large tree. They then shot him to death. It was said that his body was riddled with bullets. The men then disappeared into the woods.

In the newer article, it's stated that Frank and Jeff pulled revolvers out at each other, and this was why he was arrested. The older articles indicated that this did not happen. It's also suspected that Frank and his friends may have killed Jeff.

This case has never been solved.

SOURCES:
News and Observer- March 21, 1888
The Tuskaloosa Gazette- March 22, 1888
The Times and News- March 22, 1888
The Troy Messenger- March 29, 1888
The Columbia Recorder- March 29, 1888
Birmingham Watch- Feb. 29, 2019

The 1897 Aurora, Texas UFO

On April 17, 1897, around 6 a.m. early risers in Aurora, Texas were surprised by the sight of something crashing from the sky. The UFO was seen flying over the town and was only going twelve or ten miles per hour. It slowly started descending as if there was something was wrong with the machinery. It eventually hit Judge Proctors windmill in the north of town.

There were pieces of destruction for several acres. The windmill was demolished, the UFO was also demolished, and the judge's flower garden and water tank were destroyed from the crash.  

The only casualty was the lonely pilot of the ship. Even though he was badly mutilated it was obvious that he was not of this world. There were also papers from the wreckage in an unknown language that was similar to hieroglyphics. 

The next day they gave the spaceman they assumed to have been from Mars an Earthly funeral.

In the Aurora Cemetery the body of the "pilot" they then named Ned. In 1972 scientists wanted to dig up the body and investigate. The cemetery association blocked their requests because only the next of kin are allowed to give permission to exhumations. Even though there was no known next of kin or if Ned was a spaceman or even a poor animal casualty of the supposed crash. At this same time, the grave marker was stolen.

It's believed that the whole event may have been a hoax by the townspeople. They had previously had many tragedies happen in the town. The cotton fields were destroyed by a boll weevil infestation, a fire on the west side destroyed some building and killing some people, and a spotted fever that caused some to be quarantined. It didn't help that the railroad was 27 miles from Aurora. So it's possible that in threat of dying out caused the townspeople to create a hoax that would attract many to their small town.

SOURCES:
Wikipedia
Texas Hill Country
Roadside America
Mutual UFO Network
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Aurora Texas

April 21, 1877 Ellis, Missouri Jane Doe

On April 21, 1877, Mr. Fudge was looking after his stock that was near the railroad tracks in Ellis, Missouri. This was when he would come across the badly decomposed body of a woman. She had been covered with prairie grass that the killer had cut to conceal her body. He notified neighbors and they used pitchforks to retrieve to the body and bury her.

She would be dug back up by the corner and looked at. She had her left temple broken and she had been shot through her right eye and the bullet came out the back of her head. In the pocket of her dress was a map for the Missouri Pacific Railroad.

Before her body was found a woman's shawl, and a carpetbag with a pocket mirror, a broken ear-bob (earring) was found on the railroad tracks. It's possible these items belonged to the murdered woman.

Apparently, the area where she was killed was in view of 12 houses and could have happened during the night where the killer could sneak away unnoticed.


It is possible that the woman's name could have been Lulu King, but that couldn't be confirmed.

SOURCES:
Unsolved Mysteries Wiki
Unidentified Wiki
The State Journal May 4, 1877

1854, Whitevale, Ontario

In 1854 a young man stayed at the Whitevale Inn, in Whitevale, Ontario, Canada. He had died during his sleep and had no identifying papers on him. No one also came looking for the young man, and he was buried with a headstone saying "An Unknown Stranger 1854".

I couldn't find any other sources on An Unknown Stranger.

SOURCES:
Find a Grave

Murder of Hannah Latham

18-year-old Hannah was an orphan who lost both of her parents when she was young. She was taken in by William Blenkinsopp and his wife. When she was old enough she worked for Nellie Jackson and her family in Brignall.

Hannah spent New Year's Eve of 1812 in Barnard Castle, England. She had saved some money to buy little presents for the family and was carrying the money in her purse.

She spent some of the evenings at the Ship Hotel on The Bank. She had left before 10 p.m. to walk four miles home through the snow to Brignall. She was able to travel two miles past the Holy Trinity Church in Startforth and up to a narrow road towards Cross Lanes. This is where she met her killer.

There was evidence she fled from her killer escaping into a field before returning to the road. He had caught up to her though. Unfortunately, she had been raped and her throat was slit. One article stated that her head was nearly cut off.  She was found on New Years morning.

Crowds came and trampled the scene destroying any evidence that may have been there. Many wondered if the killer had attended the funeral and if they knew the killer. It was never found out who had ended the young girl's life so viciously.

SOURCES:
The Times
The Northern Echo

The Gatton Tragedy: Murder of the Murphy Siblings

Norah              Michael                Ellen

On the night of  Boxing Day on December 26, 1898, around 8 p.m. 27-year-old Norah, 18-year-old Ellen, and 29-year-old Michael Murphy left their home at Black Fellow's Creek outside of Gatton, Australia in a two-wheeled cart.  Michael was driving his sisters to a dance held at the Gatton Divisional Hall and hoped to arrive by 9.  They were looking forward to the dance.

Unfortunately, they didn't know until they arrived at the dance hall that it had been canceled. It was canceled due to the lack of females that were going to arrive. So the trio had to return back home. But they were never to arrive back home.

When they didn't return their mother knew something was off and asked her son-in-law William McNeil to go look for them. He found them that morning after following his Sulky's recognizable tracks due to a wobbly wheel. 

He found them in a horrifying sight. All three of them were dead and the horse had also been killed. William shocked went to a hotel that was close by and told them of the news and contacted the police. Due to him telling people at the hotel people flocked to the scene and this caused evidence to be contaminated by the onlookers. 

At the scene, Ellen and Michael were laying back to back while Norah lay a few yards away on a neatly spread rug. The girls had them hands tied behind their backs with handkerchiefs Micheal may have had his hands tied at one point. Micheal had been both beaten and shot to death. The girls had been sexually assaulted and then they were beaten to death. Norah may have also been strangled with the hames strap that was tightly wrapped around her neck. Their horse had been shot and killed and 15 shillings were missing from Michaels purse. His purse was in his hand and a breeching strap nearby. 

Some suspected maybe they were killed by family members or they had been killed by a local priest as someone heard a woman screaming "father" that night. But the police believed that it may have been a transient who was in the area who killed the three. 

They had two main suspects one was man name Richard Burgess, but he had a solid alibi and the other was a man named Thomas Day. Thomas's hut was near the scene and someone claimed to see him wash the blood from a pullover days later. But there was no clear evidence of who the murderer or murders were. No one was charged with this case and will remain unsolved. 

SOURCES:
Wikipedia
Gatton Murders
Western Mail
Daily News
Huff Post

The Strange Case of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas B Cumpston

In early December of 1873, a couple Mrs. Martha Ann and Thomas B. Cumpston experienced a strange occurrence at the Victoria Hotel in Bristol, England. They were staying at Clifton but wanted to proceed to Weston-super-mare in the morning.

They never expected to experience something terrifying that night.

When they settled down around midnight they began hearing strange noises. They let the landlady know and reassured them that it was nothing and not to worry about it.

About 4 in the morning they heard noises again. When they spoke the words they said echoed back to them.  Thomas seemed to more affected by the noises than Martha. The floor felt like it was giving away and then bed opened up beneath them and they fell in a pit. They believed that they were in a den of rogues and thieves and were in fear of their lives.

Thomas fired his revolver at the ceiling when Martha asked him to. To scare off whoever was there.  They were so terrified for their lives they jumped from the window that was twelve feet from the ground. Martha had stated she didn't even remember how they were able to out the window. The two rushed to the railway station finding somewhere away from the room.

The couple was charged with disorderly conduct and firing a firearm. When they spoke in front of the magistrate the charges were dropped. The way they spoke made it seem like they both believed what they were saying. The Magistrate believed that the young couple was suffering from a shared hallucination.

SOURCES:
Cool Interesting Stuff
Scary Carries
Phantoms and Monsters 
Strange Company
The Bradford  Observer 
The Morning Post
Birmingham Daily Post
The Times

Murder of Martha Halliday

On the night of June 10, 1861, 55-year-old Martha Halliday in Kingsworth, England slept alone at the Rectory. The owner Rev. Samuel Benard Taylor and family went to stay with his father-in-law. Martha looked after the rectory that night. Her husband had left the place to go home as she slept there. The next morning he went to go get her so she could do some household chores at their home. He was alarmed to see the shutters were not opened yet and the back door was still locked.

He then went around to the front of the house and found that door ajar which scared him more. He rushed to the kitchen but found nothing strange there. He then rushed to the room that he believed she was sleeping in and found his poor wife.

Martha was found bound on the floor in her nightdress. Her dress seemed to have been lifted over her head as if from being dragged out of bed.  Her hands and legs were bound in a cord. A colored silk handkerchief was found around her mouth and tied to the top of her head. She was dead. She had suffocated from the gag.

It's believed that the murderers first tried to enter the house through the kitchen windows, but because the shutters were secured there was no way in through there. They then climbed on the small roof that was in front of Martha's window. They broke the window and climbed in. The murderer must have cut themselves doing this as blood was found at the scene.

A pocketbook not belonging to anyone in the Rectory was found at the scene. It was believed to have fallen out of their coat pocket. Things in the place were ransacked and stolen.

They found a 25-year-old German suspect by the name of Johann Carl Franz. He initially gave his name as August Saltzman. He lied about his name, but it was found it was false. He then said that a man named Adolphe Khron stole his personal belongings at Leeds and said he was going to rob a priest.

They put Johann Carl Franz on trial.   Inside Martha's room, one of Johann's books were found. Everything was circumstantial though and the evidence was not strong. The Jurors came back with a not guilty for the crime.


SOURCES:
Unsolved Murders
Lloyds Weekly Newspaper
The Hull Packet East Riding Times
Rivals of The Ripper (Chapter 1)
The Bristol Mercury and Daily Post, Western Countries and South Wales Advertiser