It was overcast and windy as I walked up the hill at Saint Agnes Cemetery. I was wearing my blue shirt that showed Bigfoot being abducted by a UFO, and I was looking for a grave.
Vincent Sesto had been shot to death along the railroad tracks in January of 1905. During his funeral, strange things had begun to happen. Items had begun to fall over for no reason near a specific pallbearer, and when they got to the cemetery, one of the straps had wound around the pallbearer's leg, almost pulling him into the grave.
The pallbearer had been Frank Dominick, friend of Sesto's. The ghostly events at the funeral had been enough for the cops to focus on Dominick as a suspect, and place him under arrest. He'd been released, however, when a local attorney tore the case apart in the courtroom.
I was looking for Sesto's grave. Part of the job.
There's not really a word for my job. I'm a paranormal investigator, historian, librarian, and writer in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. My name is Lou.
Saint Agnes is a mostly Italian cemetery, established by the Catholics. I looked at the map and the list I'd brought along, copied out of the records at the library.
Wow. Look at all the vowels. Let's see....Row nine, about here....Caprio, Scaglione....There. Sesto.
It was a small, unassuming headstone, set down into the ground under a tree. I knelt beside it and took a photo. Then I looked up.
Right over in the next row, about ten feet away, was another stone. It had the name of a man who had been murdered with an axe in 2007.
Two brutal murder victims, buried practically next to each other? No wonder I've been getting reports about this place.
I took photos and readings, then packed my stuff back into my pack. Right across the street was Beth Yehuda, the Jewish cemetery. But that was an adventure for another day.
I've always loved autumn.
It's my favorite time of year. My mother was a teacher, so I grew up around the school system. To some people, autumn seems like the last gasp of summer, the dying before winter, but I've never seen it that way. When the leaves turn colors and the air chills, it feels good, like new beginnings. The start of a new time, with endless possibilities.
I was just between the radio station and the Piper Museum. I handle the artifacts and archives at Piper, and I go on the radio every two weeks to promote local programs. I was walking toward my bike on Main Street when a guy caught up with me.
"You're Lou, aren't you?"
"Yeah, that's me." I get recognized as a local writer about once a day, which is usually positive. Not always. I'd recently had one guy insist I be held responsible for mistakes in a history book I hadn't written, and another guy insist that I'd made a mistake in my column because he personally had been in a building as a child, in 1901. People are weird.
"How come you haven't written about John Wilbanks?"
"Well. Who is John Wilbanks?"
"He was a bell maker from Philadelphia. He had a hand in dealing with the Liberty Bell when it was moved back in the 1800s," the guy said. "He made the bell that replaced the Liberty Bell in the tower, and was supposed to take away the Liberty Bell, but he refused."
"Well, I tend to deal mostly with Clinton County history, sir."
"Ah, that's where the local connection comes in," he said. "You know the bell sitting outside the Robb Elementary School? That one was made by Wilbanks. It has his name right on the side."
"Wait....Seriously? We have a bell in town made by the guy who helped with the Liberty Bell?"
He nodded. "There are only three known Wilbanks bells. As far as I know, nobody's aware of this one."
"I'll check that out, sir. Thanks. I'll see if I can find out more."
"Sorry to interrupt your morning, but...."
"No, it's okay," I said. "For something this good, you can interrupt me anytime you want."
On my way over to the Piper Museum, I deviated just a bit, taking Church Street instead of Bald Eagle Street. I passed in front of Robb Elementary School, and spotted the bell. It was sitting out front, right on display. I'd been past it a million times, and never really noticed it.
I got off my bike and approached it. I was being somewhat cautious; strolling right up to an elementary school isn't always the best plan. Nobody seemed to notice me, so I took out my camera and took photos of it.
I examined the bell. Right along the top, there it was: CAST BY J. WILBANKS. PHILA. 1840.
"Oh....my....god."
My predecessor had told me that most days, she started by checking her e-mail. I have yet to have a day anywhere near that organized, but I got to the e-mail around nine-thirty over a cup of coffee. I was rolling my eyes and reaching for an event form when Zach came back to my desk.
"What's up?" he asked.
"Got an e-mail from an author who wants to promote his book at the library," I said. "The title of his book refers to a prank he played as a child. It's called Muddy Balls."
Zach laughed, and I started laughing, too. He said,"We should be more mature about this."
"We should, but we won't." I said. "I really don't want to have to promote Muddy Balls* on the morning radio."
We both laughed again. I said,"I just hope I don't get in trouble over my handling....of....Muddy Balls."
When we calmed down, which took a while, he said,"You working on anything else as good as that?"
"I'd rather be working on Teen Paranormal," I said. "I have a meeting coming up in a few days. Gonna teach the kids to ghost hunt. In other news, the bell in front of the Robb Elementary School may have a connection to the Liberty Bell. But I can't document that yet. I'm working on it."
I went to work in the Pennsylvania Room, looking in the index for information. Nothing under Wilbanks or Bell---That would be too easy. There were a few things under Robb School, but nothing helpful. Previously, it had been known as the First Ward School, and I checked on that, too.
Painstakingly, I began working up a timeline on that property. It had begun as the courthouse in 1840. A new courthouse had been built in 1867, and the old one turned into the First Ward School. In 1883, that building had been replaced with a newer one. I found an article in 1957 when the school had been entirely rebuilt, and it stated that the bell had been saved from the previous school.
So I could trace the bell back to 1883, so far. Chances are that the bell had been purchased for the new courthouse in 1840, but I couldn't prove that yet.
When I'd exhausted every source I could think of, I went back to planning my program. I began advertising for Muddy Balls.
*Title changed for legal reasons. Shockingly, the real one is even worse.
Monday was September 11. It's been a while since I had to explain to anyone why September 11 is important.
I was at the Piper Museum all day. Every year, I open up for a veterans' group that keeps a flag running through the community all day. Their base for the past couple of years had been the Piper Museum. I got some work done and made some phone calls. When you're in at six AM, you have plenty of time to get stuff done. I didn't even have to go sit in the Cheyenne for some privacy.
Around noon, I walked out to check on the runners. As I was in the parking lot in front of the museum, a guy arrived---Greying hair, dressed in a businesslike way, glasses.
"Joby!" I grinned. Joby is the director of the Lock Haven University library, and a friend of mine. It's always good to see the guy.
"Hi, Lou," said Joby. "I figured I'd stop by and see if I can help out."
"Well, glad you came in. I'm working on a neat one that you might be interested in."
"Tell me about it."
"The bell out in front of Robb Elementary School? It seems to be a Wilbanks bell. John Wilbanks was involved with the Liberty Bell, and I think the Robb bell goes back to the old courthouse. I'm working on proving that."
"That's really interesting. I've gone by that bell plenty of times, and never...."
"Yeah, I never really looked at it, either. But it does have his name on it; I checked."
"So we can assume the bell itself is accurate," mused Joby. "I wonder how you'd go about proving that?"
"I've got a call in to Maria, over at Voter Registration," I said. "She has a lot of the old county documents. I'll be looking through them later."
Joby nodded. "I've never doubted you."
I was in my office that evening when Katelynn and TJ walked in. Both of them are graduates of my Teen Paranormal program, a couple of the brightest kids I've ever taught to be ghost hunters.
"Hi, Lou," said Katelynn. Katelynn has purple hair; she and I had gotten close during the first year I'd run Teen Paranormal. TJ is her younger brother.
"Hey, guys," I said. "Grab a seat. We'll hang out."
"You doing Teen Paranormal again this year?" asked Katelynn.
"We have our first meeting of the season in Thursday," I said. "Hopefully we're getting a bunch of new kids. Feel free to come to a meeting and visit."
Katelynn looked over my shoulder at the computer screen. "What're you working on?"
"These are scans of old county records from the 1840s. Meetings and decisions from when the county was first founded. My friend Maria sent them to me. I'm trying to find mentions to buying a bell for the courthouse."
"Okay, that sounds fun. How come?"
"Work with me here. The courthouse started on Church Street, and then in 1867 a new one was built on Water Street. The old courthouse became the first Robb Elementary School. I'm trying to track down references to the bell out front, because it may have been made by John Wilbanks, a guy who had connections to the Liberty Bell."
"You know, my life's gotten a little more interesting since I met you," she said.
"My working theory is that the bell was purchased by the county commissioners in 1840, when the courthouse was built," I said. "Or maybe John Moorhead; he was the guy they hired to build it, and he may have bought a Wilbanks bell."
"I forget....Have you taught me about John Moorhead?"
"Maybe. Moorhead was, essentially, Clinton County's first big loser. He ran for office several times, and never got the votes. He built a courthouse when the county was founded, and offered it to the commissioners. They turned him down, saying they wanted to build a new courthouse on land donated by town founder Jerry Church. And then they hired Moorhead to design and build the new one. You find an 1833 dictionary, look up Loser, and there's Moorhead's lithograph beside it."
"You've been busy."
"I'm looking at these records, and I've even contacted the American Bell Association, which is apparently a thing."
"What are you going to do when you can prove it?"
"I don't know. I haven't thought that far ahead yet."
I looked at my e-mail. I had a message.
"Ah, here's a message from Joby. Seems he's looked into this a little since I talked to him today. He says to check the Lock Haven Express from April 30, 1960."
Katelynn nodded. "You gonna do it?"
"As soon as I can."
When I got back to the library in the morning, the first thing I did was have a cup of coffee. I sent in an article about a 1911 fight between neighbors to the Express, entitled The First Ward War. Then I printed up an event poster and hung it on the bulletin board.
Zach saw me hanging the poster in the lobby.
"Muddy balls?" he asked.
I nodded. "Muddy Balls."
With all that done, I went to the microfilm. The nice thing about what I do is that I can write pretty much anything off as work product. If I feel like looking at the old newspapers out of sheer personal curiosity, nobody ever thinks twice about it. I put in the roll for 1960 and ran through it.
I found it on the front page---A photo of the bell.The article detailed that the bell had been saved from the old courthouse, which proved my theory.
I got my cell phone out of my pack and called Katelynn. "Hey, kid. I think I found the proof on that bell. The Robb bell is from the old courthouse."
"Oh, yeah?"
"Yep. Got a newspaper article documenting it. The going price for a Wilbanks bell seems to be four hundred dollars---That's what he was paid for the Liberty Bell job---And the old records show a courthouse construction payment to Moorhead for four hundred exactly. I can make a good case that was the bell."
"Well, cool," said Katelynn. "What're you going to do now? Write an article about it?"
"Probably. It'll make a good one."
My name is Lou. I live in Lock Haven, and I'm a historian, freelance writer, and paranormal investigator. I've gotten pretty lucky....Mainly, my career is being me.
I stood in front of the Sloan Room in the library, facing the kids. Five of them. Meridian, Seth, Skylar, Olivia, and Brayden. The newest formation of Teen Paranormal.
"Thanks for being here, guys," I said. "Welcome to Teen Paranormal. My name is Lou, and I'm the guy who will teach you how to investigate."
Seth raised his hand. "If we're good at this, do we get to join the Lock Haven Paranormal Seekers?"
I smiled. "LHPS members have to be over eighteen, but when we need somebody new, we do draw from the graduates of Teen Paranormal, yes. I'll be teaching you how to investigate ghosts, monsters, and UFOs over the next year. For right now, we're going to start with property research---How to find the history of a haunted house."
I passed the kids their handouts. "I'm going to teach you how to find out who lived in the house, who died there, when it was built. And then, how to investigate it. And by the time I'm done, you'll be as good at this as I am." I looked around the room, and smiled. "Welcome to paranormal investigation."
