WASHINGTON'S CREEPIEST PLACES

WASHINGTON'S CREEPIEST PLACES

October 19, 2007

MILLERS BLOCKHOUSE

In the early days of Washington county Indians were a constant worry. Millers Blockhouse was the only place to be safe from Indian attack in the Dutch Fork Lake area.

In September 1871, Francis Hupp, Jacob Fisher and Captain Jacob Miller left the blockhouse to scout the area and hunt for stray horses.

Stopping at the home of Jonathan Link, Shawnee Indians attacked and killed Jacobb Fisher and mortally wounded Francis Hupp.

Francis made his way back to the cabin and Miller and Link were taken prisoners by the Indians. Link was later killed by Indians, but Miller escaped only to die in the famous March 31, 1782 attack by upwards of 70 Shawnee warriors.

In that attack, John Hupp and Jacob Miller were attacked while out looking for a stray colt (maybe they should have kept better track of the horses). Ann Hupp, John’s wife defended the Blockhouse along with Frederick Miller, 11, Edward Gaither and his family and the elderly Mathias Ault.

Ann fired guns from each of the loopholes in a desperate attempt to save the lives of the young children.

She fired so many times that the Indians believed they were facing a large force of men. Frederick Miller was injured when he attempted to run for Rice’s Fort but was shot and chased by two indians back into the blockhouse.

They survived throughout the day until three young men, including Hupp’s 16 year old brotherJacob Rowe worked their way into the blockhouse from Rice’s Fort.

The question is whether the ghosts of the Indians and the settlers killed still haunt the area.

Though we were only able to stand near the road, each time I have been there I have have felt odd. Now after researching the story, I think that I can finally understand the reason for the uneasy feeling that surrounds an area that was the center of so many deaths on the early Washington County frontier.

W&J

A website devoted to ghosts in Pennsylvania claims that Washington Jefferson College’s President’s House is haunted. The website claims that a confederate officer haunts the site and the original owners were confederate sympathizers.

A wounded confederate officer was claimed to have been captured here and later hung. The ghost walks the upstairs hallway pacing between the top of the stairs and the front window looking for union soliders.

Another story that my fellow traveler told me was of a automobile accident near the gates on East Maiden. The driver crashed into the wall by the gates and was instantly killed.

DAVID BRADFORD'S STRANGE CONNECTION AND GHOSTS

David Bradford’s home after fleeing Washington during the Whiskey Rebellion is believed to be one the most haunted places in America.

The Myrtles Plantation in Louisiana was built in 1794 by Bradford and has been claimed to be the site of over 20 murders.

There have been claims of handprints in the mirrors, strange smells, vanishing objects, death by poison, gunfire, footsteps on the stairs and more.

There is allegedly a mirror where the many murder victims can be seen and the site has been the subject of many television shows and specials.

Whether our own Bradford house in Washington County is haunted is not known, but the connection to the haunted Myrtles Plantation is fascinating.

CLAYSVILLE CEMETARY

Our delivery driver George Murin recently saw a ghostly woman with her head covered on the road near the cemetary. She was completely white and he had to swerve to avoid her, but then she was gone.

Do the ghosts wandered the cemetary in Claysville? Being one of the older cemetaries it is quite possible.

RAILROAD TRACKS

The old railroad tracks in Washington were the scene of a nearly forgotten death. A middle aged man that few remember with a history of drugs and alcohol died here and laid for days. His bloated and rotting corpse was found in this very spot.

We visited it this year for the story and the eerie feeling is undeniable.