Recently in Hex murder Category

Carla Reinecker submitted this aerial view of the Cape Horn Road and East Prospect Road intersection in eastern York County. Longstown, that is, the intersection that can be located today as the crossroads between Heritage Hills Golf Resort and Wisehaven hall. She placed the photo at circa 1948. Viewers in increasing numbers are submitting historic photos to the Your Photos section of ydr.com. Other aerial photographs of interest: Just try to resist this memory-tugging photo of North York's White Oak Park and Just try to resist this memory-tugging aerial photograph of York Whitehull Airport and York Valley Inn and Playland and ... and So, can you find long-gone Springwood Park in this aerial photograph?

The York Daily Record/Sunday News' Buffy Andrews told about that special window with a special person behind it who would hand out warm candy at Manchester's Katharine Beecher Co.

It turns out Buffy wasn't the only youngster who knew about that special window.

York countian Ned Heikes sent this e-mail:

'It was necessity the mother of Inventions that brought the York Hospital into existence.' So read advertisement copy accompanying this photograph of old York Hospital along College Avenue in the hospital's Women's Auxiliary's 'Benefit' Cookbook, issued circa 1916. Today, the reprinted cookbook is sold for $10 in the hospital's and York County Heritage Trust's gift shops. The ad also states that noted York architect J.A. Dempwolf designed the hospital, incorporated in 1880. Crispus Attucks Community Center occupied the hospital after it moved to its current campus in 1930. Today, the old buildings stands as an apartment complex. Also of interest: Doctor wrote about oxygen use to aid 'average country practitioners' and Spanish flu epidemic in York: 'People died one right after the other' and Civil War hospital: A master's thesis waiting to be written and West Side Sanitarium, later West Side Osteopathic and later Memorial Hospital born in The Avenues in York.

Baseball in January?

In a farmers markethouse?

The Penn Street Farmers Market is zigging while others are zagging in a "Celebrate York Baseball" event set for 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 16.

(The market is urging members of the public to come to the celebration, where people can view a display of vintage photos of York baseball, presumably showing the White Roses... .

York (Pa.) Daily Record/Sunday News photographer Paul Kuehnel insightfully captures a mixed message facing motorists heading into York from the east. Consultant Roger Brooks is among those advocate a return to two-way traffic on East Market Street, in part, to avoid such confusion at this important gateway. Also of interest: York's one-way street pattern put in place to combat post-World War II traffic congestion and Web site filled with nostalgic Lincoln Highway photos, postcards and All Lincoln Highway posts from the start.

A mixed bag of neat stuff:

Those not able to stay up until midnight on Christmas Eve can hear a New York Wire's factory steam whistle rehearsal from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., Thursday, Dec. 24.

Those wide-eyed folks who can hear the whistle or travel to York's downtown to witness this rite of the holiday season will be entertained by a 30-minute concert, 10 to 15 minutes longer than usual.

That treat comes because the Susquehanna Gateway Heritage Area says the poor economy and the need for a new coordinator may bring an end to this popular holiday tradition... .

Jeannette Harvey is a 90-something former teacher in York County, Pa. The Hametown resident's long life reaches back to a night in 1928 when she observed three men heading toward Winterstown. They turned out to be the trio who slayed powwoww practitioner and suspect witch Nelson Rehmeyer in what became known as the Hex Murder Trial. Also of interest: Hames made in Shrewsbury Township's Hametown fueled early American horsepower and The Susquehanna Trail: 'Greatest highway in Eastern America' and Trees commemorate World War I vets.

At one time, powwow doctors were easily found in many York County town.

Some believe Nelson Rehmeyer, victim of the Hex Murder, was just such a practitioner. But others believe he was a witch and that led to his death at the hands of three young assailants.

Are powwow doctors around today?

The Nelson Rehmeyer's Hex murder house in North Hopewell Township, Pa., stands today in rural York County. A couple of years ago, township regulations thwarted efforts to convert the house into a museum. The famous 1928 murder of Nelson Rehmeyer was a case of the Pennsylvania Dutch healing practice of powwowing that went fatally amok. Other posts of interest: What happened to Hex Murder defendants, convicted in York County 80 years ago? Part I and Part II and Der Belsnickel of the Pennsylvania Dutch: 'He looked scary and carried a sack of presents' and What is the Pennsylvania German (Pennsylfaanisch Deitsch) dialect all about?

An often-forgotten piece of the Hex Murder case is that people alive today knew one or more of the three defendants who killed powwow practitioner and suspected witch Nelson Rehmeyer in his southeastern York County home.

Three defendants were convicted in the slaying of Rehmeyer, a farmer in remote North Hopewell Township, only eight decades ago.

As I wrote in my World War II book "In the Thick of the Fight," this case involving superstition and white magic and the casting of spells and the like occurred only a decade before York County manufacturing prowess reached its zenith in World War II. So, you had York countians serving as internationally known forward-thinkers on the military defense front at the same time that another set of residents were practicing medieval healing arts.

That's York County. So simple, but so complex.

The following York Daily Record/Sunday News story (6/20/07) explores one resident who had contact with one of the Hex Murder defendants:

This is Hex Murder defendant John Curry's portrait of 7-year-old York countian Buddy Marrese. Curry charged $50 for the painting that entailed five or six Saturday sittings in his Thomasville home in 1960, according to Springettsbury Township's Mary Jo Marrese, Buddy's mother. Curry became a painter of sorts after his release from prison after his conviction in the death of Nelson Rehmeyer in 1928. Also of interest: What happened to Hex Murder defendants, convicted in York County 80 years ago? Part I and Hex headache cure: 'Tame thou flesh and bone' and Relative: Evil in Hex murder came from outside.

The Hex Murder defendants received prison sentences 80 years ago.

How did they re-enter the world again?

Well, one of the trio and the youngest, John Curry, took up painting.

His legacy is the most prominent of the three defendants.

His artwork hangs in area homes, as the following story appearing in the following York Daily Record/Sunday News (6/20/07) attests:

Norma Grace Strawbridge is shown in this York (Pa.) Daily Record/Sunday News file photo with portraits of herself, bottom, and her sister Lois. John Curry, one of three defendants convicted in the 1929 Hex Murder trials, painted the portraits about 1946. Also of interest: Genealogical society speaker to provide tips for 'Finding Lydia's Bottom' and Descendant of powwow doctor: 'Powwowing was done for good' and Little-known facts about Hex murder trial emerge.

Yorkblogger June Lloyd tells a riveting story about a man who kept a hand-drawn charm copied from 'Long Lost Friend' for good luck when he hunting. It was found rolled up in the stock of a shotgun.

That reference to the book that was a text for the Pennsylvania Dutch custom of powwowing serves as a reminder that the highest-profile example of that white magic healing practice observed an anniversary this year.

The three defendants in York County's Hex Murder cases were convicted and sentenced 80 years ago.

Which leads to the question: What happened to those defendants who killed suspected witch Nelson Rehmeyer? ...

York, Pa., attorney Jeffrey C. Bortner is the author of the newly released "Commentaries For Lawyers and Ilk." The book is available at York County libraries. Background post: Essayist profiles champion for the blind and At the blind center: 'The bees have been enjoying this garden, too.' and York County census hike spawns more lawyers.

As the title "Commentaries For Lawyers and Ilk" suggests, longtime York County attorney Jeffrey C. Bortner's new book is filled with lively views and news about the local legal community.

For example, in commenting on how the quadrupling of the number of judges has outstripped population growth since 1950, Bortner opines:

"This grossly disparate growth reflects the unfortunate need for more arbiters to resolve the disputes, enforce the Statutes and clarify the regulations which increasingly characterize, if not paralyze, today's America."

In reviewing books, I like to look for information that an author brings forth that may not be widely known.

Such was the case in Bortner's presentation about Judge Ray P. Sherwood, who served on the local bench from 1928 to 1958... .

The South Central Pennsylvania Genealogical Society regularly schedules interesting programs. Here, J. Ross McGinnis, author of 'Trials of Hex,' talked with members of the society in November as they stand over the spot where three men murdered powwow doctor Nelson Rehmeyer. Jonathan Stayer, at right, holds a copy of a photo of the crime scene. It's now Stayer's turn to present at the April 6 meeting of the Society. Background posts: The Hessians of York County, Pa., more than mercenaries and Genealogists find mother lode in York County, Pa.

Jonathan Stayer, head of the reference section at the Pennsylvania State Archives, has developed a program about state land records with a colorful title: "Finding 'Lydia's Bottom' "

This comes in the aftermath of another Stayer presentation about the wealth of resources offered by the State Archives: "Peeking into Pa.'s attic" ... .

Powwow practitioner and murder victim Nelson Rehmeyer is seen here in this photograph from Ross McGinnis' 'Trials of Hex.' See photograph of his wife and daughters below. Background posts: 'We would 'hex' them if they ignored us' and How powwow doctors plied their craft.

Why is it that invaders of Nelson Rehmeyer's house come in threes?

At Thanksgiving time in 1928, Rehmeyer was murdered by two young men and a boy who were trying to break a spell they believe the victim, a suspected witch, had cast on them.

Now, Rick Ebaugh, descendant of the victim of the famous Hex murder, reports two men and a woman broke into the Rehmeyer house and wandered around... .

This 1927 Wurlitzer theater organ, upper left, can rise from a lower level to of the Capitol Theatre to stage level, just as in the old days. It is still used to provide music and dramatic sounds for silent movies. Movie theaters like the Captol operated in many towns in York County in the 20th century including Hanover, Stewartstown, New Freedom. Small theaters in Glen Rock and Dallastown still operate. Related posts: Black soldiers from York County served in 'Glory' unit - Part II, Little-known facts about Hex murder trial emerge and Miss Saigon's York County connection.

The Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center is celebrating the fifth anniversary of its most recent renovation this year.

That $17.3 million rehab project included a remake of both theaters that make up the complex, an addition of a balcony in the Strand and installation of a chandelier from a Hanover theater at the cost of $30,000.

This anniversary brings back memories of event marking the previous grand renovation of the complex - in April 1980... .

This was the first graphic or photograph to appear with a York Town Square post, accompanying York Market House No. 5 - Carlisle Avenue Market, revisited in April 2006. Incidentally, that the present-day Dreamwrights building was built as a farmers market still surprises folks. Background posts: There were 5, count 'em, 5 York markets and Don't know much about (York market) history?.

The year 2007 saw visitors to this blog increase exponentially over the previous two years we've been posting.

We hope you are enjoying each day's history lesson. The numbers, increased commenting and e-mails suggest you are.

A list of best, first and most popular posts at this blog follows:

Plantiffs' attorney Eric Rothschild addresses the media following closing statements in the Dover intelligent design trial in November 2005. The civil trial was one of the nationally prominent cases involving York County in decades. Background posts: County First Amendment list grows and Dover intelligent design trial not over yet.

Last post, Witman murder among York County's most notorious crimes cited a sampling of major criminal cases that hit York County Court in recent years.

The following is a short list of other civil and criminal actions of note involving York County or York County people: ...

Brothers Zachary and Gregory Witman are seen in this 1990s family photo. Zachary, serving a life imprisonment after a conviction in the murder of his younger brother in their New Freedom home, was granted a new trial this week. Background posts: 100th anniversary of drunken Pleasureville brawl, Relative: Evil in Hex murder came from outside and Ray Krone hopes book will open eyes about capital punishment and A list of traumatic, painful incidents that rocked York County.

The case of Zachary P. Witman, granted a new trial this week, is one of the most-watched criminal actions in more than four-score years in York County Court.

Zachary Witman was convicted in 2003 and later sentenced to life imprisonment for first degree murder in the death of his brother five years earlier.

Gregory Witman was 13 when he died. Zachary Witman was 15... .

The Civil War-era U.S. Army General Hospital became a major site for treatment because of its proximity to Virginia and Maryland, where many battles took place, and its location on a major rail line. Here, convalescents pose in one of the hospital wards at the Penn Park complex. The military hospital is an example of a York County history topic awaiting study. Background posts: Civil War nurse: 'Dogs of War in our midst' and Not all rebel wounded suffered after Gettysburg.

Many people use New Year's to kick off historical research projects.

My York Sunday News column Looking for a local history research project? probed several topics ripe for research focusing on York's Civil War-era military hospital.

The following is a sampling of topics from York County history awaiting further exploration or publication of existing research:

J. Ross McGinnis portrays Harvey A. Gross in the York County Bar Association's presentation "A Spell to Remember," based on the Hex Trial Background post: 'Powwowing was done for good'.

Jim Hubley, York Daily Record columnist, recently mused about the famous Hex Murder of Nelson Rehmeyer and the subsequent trial of his three assailants.

Hubley called for a repeat of the York County Bar Association's "A Spell to Remember," a 1999 re-enactment of the murder trial. The Daily Record will pick up his call in an upcoming editorial.

Almost in passing, Hubley revealed an interesting moment from that time: ...

Members of the South Central Pennsylvania Genealogical Society look on as J. Ross McGinnis gives a tour of the Nelson Rehmeyer house, where the famous Hex murder occurred in 1828. The group is standing over the spot where Rehmeyer was killed. McGinnis is referencing a copy of a photograph of the kitchen depicted after the murder. (See video tour of Hex house below.) Background post: Hex book: How powwow doctors plied their craft.

It was a perfect story.

The plot brought J. Ross McGinnis, the foremost authority on the Hex murder of 1928, to the site where it occurred, the Nelson Rehmeyer house in North Hopewell Township.

Not only did McGinnis write an authoritative and readable book on the murder, but he's a master story teller to boot.

"I feel like I'm walking here on hallowed ground," McGinnis told members of the South Central Pennsylvania Genealogical Society.

A wonderful fund-raiser for some group would bring McGinnis to the Strand-Capitol in York to tell a similar story before a showing of "Apprentice to Kill," the 1988 film inspired by the Hex murder.

On second thought, given McGinnis' storytelling ability, forget the film. The Strand would be filled.

The York Daily Record reported on McGinnis' visit to the house in a story headlined: "The scene of the crime:"

Arthur Lewis' "Hex," the first book on the famous York County Hex Murder of 1928 and subsequent trail is said to be out of print. But Ross McGinnis' "Trials of Hex" are still available at York County booksellers. Both paint an intriguing picture of the practice of powwowing in York County. Background post: 'Powwowing was done for good'

The casting of spells and witchcraft are themes behind the story of York County's famous Hex murder of 1928.

The murder of witch Nelson Rehmeyer by three young assailants is a case where the related practice of powwowing - the use of witchcraft for healing purposes - went amok.

But how did the widespread practice of powwowing really work?

It seems like a story from the Middle Ages, but here's how powwow doctors worked in 20th-century York County, as described by Arthur Lewis in his 1969 book "Hex":

The southern York County hex murder house is shown as investigators were on site collecting evidence in the murder of Nelson Rehmeyer. That led to a trial of the attackers that gained international attention in 1929. For more photographs of the house, see Sparking interest in site.

I took a tour of Rehmeyer's Hollow and its famous Hex house, where three assailants killed witch Nelson Rehmeyer in 1928 in their quest to break a spell cast on one of them.

This was the first time I've seen the house since a member of the Rehmeyer family declared plans to turn it into a museum - a plan that has drawn the wrath of township officials.

As usual, the top of the tall house was visible first as you drove out of a dip after leaving Line Road. It hits you almost by surprise. Why would such an odd-looking structure stand in this bucolic area? ...

The Hex murder case in 1928 was strange to begin with, involving witchcraft and faith healing and a world-wide audience and teenage defendants and so on.

So it shouldn't be surprising that government's denial of the murder site in spooky Rehmeyer's Hollow as a museum would be strangely disappointing.

Although one could wonder whether the museum site would have been presented with historical integrity, explaining powwowing and this famous case would have heightened interest in York County history. It was a project with merit.

Perhaps something could be salvaged - an exhibit at the York County Heritage Trust or Historic York's Architectural Warehouse, as two examples.

Or perhaps the historical society in Stewartstown could become involved at the Rehmeyer Hollow site.

Two others reacting to the North Hopewell Township action are worth repeating here.

First, Ross McGinnis, author of the "Trial of Hex":

This clock, which belonged to Nelson Rehmeyer, supposedly stopped at 12:01 a.m. on the night he was killed in 1928. The clock that stopped after Nelson Rehmeyer's death. (See video tour of Hex murder house below.)

With all the news stories about the Hex murder house opening as a museum and the release of the powwowers handbook "The Long Lost Friend" on CD , the white magic practice of powwowwing to cure maladies has been raised.

Some people believe Nelson Rehmeyer, the victim in the Hex murder case of 1928-29 was a witch. Others say he was merely a doctor practicing powwowing, popular in many York County towns in the 20th century.

The following York Daily Record story describes the practice:

This was Hex murder victim Nelson Rehmeyer's copy of "The Long Lost Friend," a target of his assailants.

Some enterprising bookshop owners are selling a CD-ROM of the book "The Long Lost Friend," that became part of the Hex murder in York County in 1928.

The assailants in the murder case of Nelson Rehmayer sought, among other things, the suspected witch's copy of the book.

That book contains such advice as:

York Daily Record/Sunday News photograph Jason Plotkin produced this still image of the laying of sod at Sovereign Bank Stadium. For Plotkin's slide show on the work, see below.

York Daily Record/Sunday News photographer Paul Kuehnel has provided two tours of the Hex murder house in East Hopewell Township. (See below)

A newpaper photographer taking video?

Our shooters are increasingly carrying their video cameras with their still cameras. Sometimes, we send two photographers to a scene, one to shoot videos and the other stills for the newspaper... .

Nelson Rehmeyer, victim in the Hex murder of 1928, is seen in this family photo on his East Hopewell Township farm.

On Thursday, the media was granted access to the house of Nelson Rehmeyer, victim in the Hex murder case.

York Daily Record/Sunday News photographer Paul Kuehnel was there with both video and still cameras.

Paul nicely captured the scene in his video (see below).

Caryl Clarke reported from the scene and came up with a message from victim Nelson Rehmeyer's great-grandson: "Whatever befell this small, turn-of-the-century German farmhouse came from the outside, not from within."

We wish those behind the effort to showcase the house the best of everything.

But we will put up this precaution in our Sunday Viewpoints section in Scott Fisher's opinion piece "Hex house to offer tours":

Nelson Rehmeyer, victim in the Hex murder case, is seen in an inset to this photo of his house where the crime took place. Courtesy of Ross McGinnis.

J. Ross McGinnis, long-time attorney with York's Stock & Leader firm, simply did a wonderful job in his "Trials of Hex" of telling the story of the Hex murder.

The story line is simple: A trio set out to remove a hex on one of them cast by a practitioner of powwow, later described as a witch. In the process, the practitioner, Nelson Rehmeyer, was killed. The three assailants were convicted in York County Court in 1929.

To give some flavor for McGinnis' admirable work, I've excerpted the opening lines of his 454-page book:

J. Ross McGinnis, a lawyer and York County native, wrote the book on the Hex murder trial.

His "Trials of Hex," is a readable compendium of primary source documents and analysis. His book, published in 2000, is out of print, but available at York County libraries.

McGinnis, who has been speaking on the Hex murder for years, provides this insight in his foreword:

Five quick notes about the Hex murder of 1928, back in the news because of the proposed opening of the site of the notorious York County powwow killing: ...

The Nelson Rehmeyer's Hex murder house in North Hopewell Township will regain its 1928 appearance with plans for tours this summer. For developments on the plan to open the Hex murder house for tours, see 'Hex plans surprise officials'.

The southern York County house where the world-famous Hex murder occurred in 1928 will soon be open for tours.

That was the house where an assailant, seeking to end a spell cast by a powwow doctor, and two other men killed the practioner of white magic.

The burn spot where the trio set Nelson Rehmeyer's body ablaze remains on the floor of the house.

The promoter's Rehmeyer's Hollow Web site breathlessly states:

This was the site of the infamous murder of the "Witch of Rehmeyers Hollow" also known as the Hex murder. After years of whispers, mis-information and ghost stories, the home of Nelson Rehmeyer will be opened as an historical exhibit in the summer of 2007. The exhibit will tell the true and complete story of local legend and Pow Wow doctor Nelson Rehmeyer known as the Witch of Rehmeyer's Hollow. His murder in 1928 was a media sensation much like that of O.J. Simpson or Anna Nicole Smith is in our time. The exhibit will show actual items owned by Rehmeyer on the night of his death. Visitors can take the tour and turn back the clock to the night when 3 men came for a book and left with blood on their hands thus sparking the trial of the century here in York County. The exhibit will be open to the public by scheduled tours and special appointments only. An admission fee will be charged.

Equivalent to Simpson's and Smith's proceedings? Not so sure. Newspapers and occasional radio stations were the only media of that day. But the trial is referred to locally as the most noticed before the circa 2000 York race riot proceedings.

Anyway, in a story titled "Infamous home to open", the York Daily Record provided other details about the planned museum: