Lou’s View

When you’re investigating ghosts, you want to go where they are plentiful. It’s always more efficient if you can explore several at once, as opposed to one small haunting at a time. It’s the kind of thing I get asked about a lot—Where some of the more haunted spots are.

The most haunted building in Lock Haven, in my opinion, is the old jail on Church Street, where Luther Shaffer was hung in 1888. The most haunted road in Clinton County is the Pine-Loganton Road, which has more stories and legends along it than anyplace else. And, if I had to go for the most haunted body of water, I’d suggest Kettle Creek.

Kettle Creek has a lot of old legends associated with it. Even the name is a mystery—There are several theories as to how Kettle Creek came to be named, but none that have officially been proven. It’s been suggested that the name came from the shape of the creek, a kettle found or dumped in the creek, or a stone depression that was used as a kettle by the Native Americans. But nobody knows for sure.

Robert Lyman, in his book “Forbidden Land,” suggests that the Kettle Creek area is within what he calls a “psychic triangle,” an area that is especially susceptible to paranormal activity. He points out that all the land that drains into Kettle Creek is in this area.

“Go there alone on a moonlit night,” Lyman writes. “Wander up a lonely hollow. Rest upon a moss-covered log….Endure the creepy sensation as long as you can. Primitive fear and forebodings will seep into your mind.

When you run away to escape it all, you will know that this land is incomprehensible.”

(LEGAL NOTE: Do not actually do this.)

Kettle Creek and the surrounding area is home to a lot of fascinating stories. This is where the Susquehanna Seal has been spotted. In the 1890s, the local newspapers ran articles about a creepy, strange monster in the area, bumping up against lumber rafts and overturning them.

The ghost of a horse and rider has been spotted along this area. A man named David Summerson was buried with his horse, Fanny, and the two of them have been reported riding along the road.

The county’s first recorded murder took place near Kettle Creek. Jake Hall was shot by a neighbor, groaned, fell out of his chair, and died. According to the legend, if you’re in the area where Hall was shot, you can still hear it happen every day.

A lot of these stories were told by Hiram Cranmer, the local postmaster up there. He was a big fan of the paranormal, and he was happy to sit down with just about anyone and tell them stories of ghosts.

Cranmer started an investigation by two men from the Express, which led to an actual ghost sighting. Reporter Pete Stevenson and photographer Jim Patterson heard the stories. They went up and interviewed Cranmer in August of 1950, who told them the story of a Frenchman beheaded in the area, whose ghost still roamed about, looking for its lost head.

Patterson and Stevenson went a step further, going out to investigate the ghost themselves. They staked out Kettle Creek, and spotted a glowing headless figure drifting along. After running back into town to have a drink, they returned and tried again. This time, they came back with a photo, which ran in the Express the next day.

To make the area even weirder, when the Kettle Creek Dam was built in 1960, and no fewer than eleven cemeteries were moved for the project. Most of them were smaller family cemeteries, and not all of the bodies were found. Some of the bodies were moved as far away as McEhattan, but most were moved to the New Maple Grove Cemetery. And some weren’t found at all—A book by the Clinton County Genealogical Society stated,”If no remains were found, one-half cubic foot of earth was excavated from the bottom of the grave and reburied as the remains.”

Which means that part of Kettle Creek probably covers lost bodies, and I can’t imagine that the ghosts are exactly happy about this.

One of the bodies that was moved was David Summerson, the ghost said to be riding the horse. He was moved to the New Maple Grove Cemetery, which is where Hiram Cranmer also lies. So it’s another interesting thing about Kettle Creek—The body of a man who became a ghost, buried near the man who told the stories.