Haunted history
This reproduction of an article from the Sept. 3, 1910, edition of the Washington Reporter details the tragic events in the death of Benjamin Pittman.
A view looking south on Main Street, Washington, sometime between 1910 and 1919, shows a trolley car near the intersection of Main and Chestnut streets, close to where Benjamin Pittman was killed in 1910.
From left, Clay Kilgore, Bryan Cunning and Pete Stefansky, founders of the Bassettown Paranormal Society, meet at the David Bradford House Wednesday to read over an article from the Washington Reporter about a local blacksmith killed by a trolley car in 1910. The men say this century-old incident could be the key to explaining paranormal occurrences reported in the area of the accident.
This photo shows a trolley car that crashed onto the sidewalk at 419 E. Maiden Street, Washington, in the early 1900s.
If you feel a sudden chill or hear something odd while walking along West Chestnut Street in Washington, you may not be alone.
More than a century ago, after a local blacksmith met his horrific demise under the wheels of a trolley car on that street, some modern-day passersby have reported hearing a screeching sound and the ringing of a bell, as well as feeling a cool breeze in the area of the accident.
Clay Kilgore, executive director of Washington County Historical Society, said he heard about these eerie observations from a few patrons attending the first “Ghosts of Washington: Haunted History Walking Tour” he held in October 2010.
“We really didn’t know what to make of any of it,” said Kilgore, who also is a founding member of the Bassettown Paranormal Society, a Washington-based paranormal investigation team.
Nearly two years later, Bryan Cunning, a fellow founding member of the group, stumbled across an article detailing the trolley car accident. According to Kilgore and Cunning, the details of this grisly incident could be the key to explaining the paranormal disturbances reported along West Chestnut Street, or at the very least, provide them with the framework for a fantastic ghost story with well-documented historical roots.
According to a Washington Reporter article, 38-year-old Benjamin Pittman of 147 North Franklin St. was ground to death when he stepped in front of a trolley car on West Chestnut Street, between Main and North Franklin streets, shortly before 10:30 p.m. Sept. 2, 1910.
The article goes on to describe the incident in gruesome detail, explaining how the trolley drug Pittman for quite some distance, mangling the upper part of his body beyond recognition.
“It appears that the wheels had literally ground off the man’s face,” the article reads. “Pieces of flesh were strewn along the track for a considerable distance.”
A deputy coroner had to use a membership card for the Order of Owls fraternal organization found on the body to identify Pittman as the victim.
Pittman’s wife, Lydia, was reportedly close by on West Chestnut Street and learned of her husband’s death by overhearing a bystander talking about the accident.
“The woman screamed as the awful realization came to her that her husband had been ground to pieces less than 50 feet from where she was standing with several of her friends,” reported the Charleroi Mail newspaper.
Witnesses said the trolley operator spotted Pittman and rang the car’s gong continually while applying the brakes in an effort to stop. Kilgore said these actions may explain the screeching sound and the ringing bell reportedly heard in recent times.
Earlier this weekend, the story of Pittman’s demise became the newest tale of terror told during Kilgore and company’s third annual haunted walking tour, showing that the tragedies of yore give rise to today’s ghost lore.
“That’s the whole idea of the ghost tours, not only to tell the myth, but tell the history behind it,” said Kilgore.
Cunning, a professional archaeologist, said the group aims to tell stories in such a way that people don’t realize they’re learning about history.
“I think we’re passing on history with a whole new flair,” he said.
The men said they plan on conducting a paranormal investigation in the area of the trolley accident in the near future. The group has already carried out investigations at the LeMoyne House, David Bradford House, George Washington Hotel and at the home of Washington & Jefferson College’s president.
Through this process, they say they’ve uncovered some unnerving evidence of paranormal activity, including a particularly creepy recording taken in the basement of the LeMoyne House in which a voice mutters, “You walked over me.”
Charlotte Davidson, administrative assistant at Washington County Historical Society, said she and her co-workers jokingly blame any spooky happenings at the house on Francis Julius LeMoyne’s wife, Madelaine, who died nearly 140 years ago.
Looking beyond the legends, the members of the Bassettown Paranormal Society recognize that a healthy dose of skepticism is required for each investigation.
“You have to go in and try to figure out what might be an actual cause for something versus a paranormal cause,” said Pete Stefansky, who also helped found the group with Kilgore and Cunning. “You have to approach every story or every finding with the mind of a skeptic.”
The group, which holds it meeting at “The Sign of the Seven Stars” tavern in the David Bradford House, also does extensive historical research before each investigation.
For these history buffs turned paranormal investigators, it’s more than just chasing after the things that go bump in the night. It’s about tracking down what happened in the past and passing those stories on — one ghastly tale at a time.