Harrison County Railroad Ghost

Happy Throw Back Thursday!  Today’s vintage newspaper article is from the February 9, 1915 edition of the Clarksburg Daily Telegram.  The story takes place in the small oil boom town of Wallace, WV, located in Harrison County, about 18 miles northwest of Clarksburg, and close to the small town of Bristol, WV.

BRISTOL, Feb. 9–It has been authentically reported here that a real, sure-enough “ghost” has been seen at Wallace, a little town on the New Martinsville branch of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, 18 miles northwest of Clarksburg, during the last fortnight. The entire populace of the town is very much excited over the apparition. It has been declared by several who have seen the “ghost” that it resembles the wife of a resident of Wallace, who died two years ago.

The apparition, or whatever it is, appears along the railroad not far from the depot. A few of the most fearless men of the town–two of them armed with Winchesters–went one night to “see” the ghost and demand an explanation; thinking it to be a “ghost incarnate.”  They saw it alright. It was coming toward them. They commanded it to halt, but it did not. They fired at random, several times, again commanding it to halt.  It did not halt, but kept coming. Seeing that it gave no sign of obeying their command, they fired point blank at the “thing”, which was then quite near and still advancing despite the flying lead. Then the men showed their heels in fine style.

An engineer has stated firmly that he thought he ran over a woman at the same place one night.  He felt his engine strike something. He stopped and went back but could find nothing. An examination of the wheels and rails disclosed no sign that they had run over anything. The railroad crosses a creek near at hand and the engineer thought it might have been while crossing the bridge that he struck whatever it was—supposedly a woman—and he searched the creek but nothing could be found. A few nights ago, about fifty people congregated to see the apparition but nothing rewarded them for their trouble.