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Author Topic: "The Wayward Bones" and Other True Halloween Stories Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 09-25-2004 11:20 PM                     It's getting close to Halloween time again. My wife works for the County Historical Society. She is the official keeper of local ghost stories and legends. About this time of the year she gets warmed up for Halloween by dusting off her records of true stories and practicing up for her annual "Ghost Tour". She takes people on walks or carriage rides through our city and tells the tales. Only true stories or stories with a reasonable level of documentation count. Here is a true story that happened to me: In 1871 the Erie County Almshouse was built on 100 acres of farmland on the outskirts of town. "Almshouse" is an old fashioned euphamism for "Poor Farm". Old, out of luck, and/or down-and-out people would go or be "sent" there to live out their last days before being laid to rest in "Potter's Field"... A Pauper's Grave. The Almshouse stood until 1918 when the city began to encroach upon the land and the "unsightly poor folks" had to be moved even farther to the outskirts to Fairview Township. This place still stands and is now in use as the county nursing home. However, the burial ground was abandoned when the Almshouse was moved. The headstones were destroyed and disappeared. In 1977, the land was cleared for redevelopment and the graves were "rediscovered". If you've ever heard of the "American Sterilizer Corporation", the company headquarters is what was built on the land where the graves were found. The County Coroner was called in to investigate. A search of old county records proved the existence of the abandoned Potter's Field. Under normal circumstances, the coroner would have ordered the graves be moved to the new cemetary at the current County Home. However, there was a problem: According to the old maps, 23rd Street and Pittsburgh Avenue had already been built over many of the graves. Court hearings ensued. The judge ordered that only the graves which were NOT lying under 23rd street or the rights-of-way could be moved. 70 bodies were dug up and moved to Fairview where they now lie in a mass grave. Approximately 185 bodies still lie buried under the streets. Fast forward another 20 years or so. Water and sewer lines need to be replaced along 23rd street. Construction crews were called in and began digging as normal... Until... They started hitting graves! The Coroner's office was called in again. More research. More graves were exhumed. Much time lost on the job. Finally, the Coroner gives the "All Clear". Work begins again. It wasn't long before even MORE graves were discovered! Appearently, there were some unmarked graves mixed in for good measure. Yet another call was placed to the Coroner's office. He came to the site, and looked around. His official response was, "I don't see any graves." Then he turned to the backhoe operator and said, "YOU don't see any graves, either!" (I happen to know the backhoe operator personally. This is first hand information.) The "spoil" from the construction site was trucked away, never to be heard from again... Or WAS it?!... Some time after, my Stepfather started to build a garage out in back of the house to use as a workshop. The land needed to be leveled and fill dirt needed to be trucked in. Now, guess where that fill dirt came from. Yep!! The spoil from the old Potter's Field! Before the concrete was poured the ground was leveled and compacted. During that process a few bones turned up. A tibia, some other small, unidentifiable bones which were assumed to be metatarsals and some fragments of a casket to be exact. Those bones were discreetly taken to another location and respectfully buried. I do happen to know where they are but I'm not telling! Don't ask! I can assure you that the remains were buied in a tasteful, respectful manner. Proper words were said over the new gravesite. However, the question still remains: Did we find ALL of the bones?! I parked my car in that garage for almost 10 years before I found out that I MIGHT be parking on top of somebody's mortal remains! True story! Documentation in the county records proves it... or MOST of it. I have several other stories if you want them. What kind of true Halloween stories do YOU have? Let's hear 'em!  |  IP: Logged

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