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Wizard Clip

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The legend of the Wizard Clip is a popular ghost story that relates an incident said to have occurred in Middleway, West Virginia in the 1790's. The story of the Wizard Clip is part of the oral history of the area, and was called by Rev. Alfred E. Smith, editor-in-chief of the Baltimore Catholic Review and secretary to the late Cardinal Gibbons, "The truest ghost story ever told".[1]

Legend

According to the story, around 1794, a traveling stranger boarded at the house of a former Pennsylvanian named Adam Livingston, where he took ill, and asked Livingston to bring a Catholic priest. The area was mostly devoid of Catholics and no priest could be found, and the Lutheran Livingston was not enthusiastic about finding one. Ultimately, the stranger died of his illness and was buried nearby without the benefit of a Catholic service.[2]

After the stranger died, it is said that candles would not stay lit in the room where his corpse was, sounds of horses galloping and crockery breaking were heard, and burning embers jumped from the fireplace hearth. Supposedly, sounds of heavy shears making clipping noises were heard in various parts of the house, and all sorts of materials - fabric, sheets, and boots were clipped with half-moon shapes and other figures. According to the legend, the manifestations continued over a period years, causing great distress to the Livingston family. One often repeated tale is of a visitor who wrapped her new silk cap in a handkerchief to keep it safe while in the Livingston house, but when she left, she found the cap had been cut to ribbons.[2]

Legend holds that after Livingston implored Father Dennis Cahill, an immigrant Irish priest, in Shepherdstown, WV, to visit his house to investigate, Cahill sprinkled holy water about the house, some of the manifestations changed, and a sum of money that had previously gone missing was deposited on the threshold of the house. Later, Father Cahill supposedly returned with Reverend Prince Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin, who had heard of the tale of the 'Clip' at his home on Conewago Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania and performed a mass at the house, after which the haunting ceased.[3][4]

Gift of Land

In 1802, Livingston deeded 35 acres of his land along the Opequon Creek to the Catholic Church as "A field to sustain a priest", allegedly "for favors granted".[5] This parcel has since been known as 'The Priest's Field'. In 1983, the Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston dedicated the Priest Field Pastoral Center on the site.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ Wood, Don C. (October 28, 2007). "The mystic of Priest's Field". The Martinsburg Journal. Martinsburg, WV. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  2. ^ a b Laidley, W.S. (January 1904). ""WIZZARD CLIP" (Wizard Clip)". West Virginia Historical Magazine Quarterly. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  3. ^ Dichtl, John (May 2008). Frontiers of Faith: Bringing Catholicism to the West in the Early Republic. University Press of Kentucky. p. 114,115. ISBN 978-0813124865.
  4. ^ Hayden, Thomas (1869). A Memoir on the Life and Character of the Rev. Prince Demetrius A. de Gallitzin: Founder of Loretto and Catholicity, in Cambria County, Pa., Apostle of the Alleghanies. J. Murphy & Company. pp. 190–200.
  5. ^ Barry, Joseph (1903). The Strange Story of Harper's Ferry, with Legends of the Surrounding Country. Project Gutenberg. pp. 207–219. Retrieved January 3, 2016.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ^ http://www.priestfield.org/ Priest Field Pastoral Center

Further reading

Bates, Robert L. The Story of Smithfield (Middleway), Jefferson County, West Virginia, 1729–1905, Endicott, New York, 1958.
Finotti, Joseph Maria. The Mystery of the Wizard Clip, Baltimore, Maryland, Piet and Company, 1879.
100 Year Old Story of Wizard Clip," WV Hillbilly, 8-28-1965.
Catholic Service Ends Contest Arising Over Haunted Farm," Baltimore Sun, 11-5- 1922.
Mystery Befuddles the Mind, Frustrates the Rational," Washington Star, 10-31- 1978.
Eerie Tale of 'The Wizard Clip, I, II, III," Beckley Post Herald, 1-14, 15, 16-1969.
Legend of Conspiracy? Were the Strange Happenings of Wizard Clip the Doings of Demons or Men?" Martinsburg Journal, 5-12-1984.
Sketch of Manifestations of Wizard Clip Recently Found in an Old Volume, Gazette, 10-21- 1922.
Wizard Clip: Historic Scene of Haunted Occurrences Researched by Sate Resident," Bluefield Daily Telegraph, 9-7-1980.

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