HAUNTED HAPPENINGS Discover Westmoreland 2016 | 49 PHOTOS: (Opposite page) THINKSTOCK. (This page) PATRICK CONNOLLY. PHOTO OF BONIFACE WIMMER: TRIB TOTAL MEDIA ARCHIVES SAMUEL WARDEN MANSION (MT. PLEASANT) This 125-year-old home on South Church Street is home to a ghostly young woman called Rebekah who appears as an adolescent female wearing a full-length black dress and a servant’s cap. The building is owned by the Braddock Trail Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and the group has even published a pamphlet based on member and guest experiences detailing the activities of Rebekah. Many claim to have not only seen the apparition, but also heard the sounds of whistling down the hall, shuffling up and down stairwells and even speaking in a muffled voice behind closed doors when no one else is present. The local DAR members first thought their haunt might be Margaret, the wife of the mansion’s original owner and builder, but a psychic who walked through the house later told them it was in fact a spirit named Rebekah, who they believe was a teenaged servant long ago. GEYER PERFORMING ARTS CENTER (SCOTTDALE) Brad Geyer, a member of the center’s board of directors, told the Trib of several of the stories connected to the theater. A technical director told of seeing the ghost of John Bixler, who was a former owner of the building, dressed in a white suit walking from the upstairs to the balcony, where he stood and stared at the stage. Another gentleman involved in production told the Trib that the ghost of a young girl likes to create mayhem in the lighting booth, and also said he was working late one night on a set when he heard a voice say, “Nice job, William.” He was the only one in the theater. Paranormal investigation groups have been to the locale and experienced everything from cold spots to uneasy feelings and reportedly heard voices in the basement. However, none have definitively claimed the theater to be haunted. ST. VINCENT’S COLLEGE (LATROBE) White said the school has “some of the best ghost stories out there.” One centers around the grist mill, built in 1854 just north of the campus. On Jan. 24, 1862, Brother Majolus Kreutinger was killed when his robes got caught in a belt and he was crushed. Today, people claim to see his ghost watching over operations. St. Vincent’s founder, Brother Boniface Wimmer, supposedly marks each Founder’s Day by strolling the campus and passing through every red door until he ends up in the crypt in the bottom of the basilica where he is buried. In the cemetery, one statue of Mary supposedly will cry tears of blood if approached by a suffering person coming to pray, and there’s also a Pieta statue that, supposedly, if you sit on a nearby bench long enough, Mary will raise her head and look at you. There’s also a young boy’s ghost in old style clothing strolling the grounds, possibly dating to the time when it was a community cemetery. He is said to disappear near a gravestone next to a large tree stump carved in the shape of a chair. LARIMER MANSION (NORTH HUNTINGDON) This bed and breakfast is a beautifully restored Victorian home that has a reputa-tion not only for hosting living guests but also some more otherworldly residents. Owner Lynne Moisey said of all the stories and results of numerous investigations by Western Pennsylvania paranormal research group Hauntings Research, her favor-ite remains the tale of Maggie. Twenty-five years ago, Moisey said, her friend was at an auction when she found and purchased the bible that once belonged to Margaret Ann Larimer, who was born in the home in 1802 and died in childbirth in the home in 1821. The bible has since been displayed in Moisey’s hallway. Shortly after Haunt-ings Research began to investigate the strange goings-on Moisey had noticed in the home ever since she and her husband purchased it in 1985, they captured an EVP — LOCAL HAUNTINGS See what you’ll scare up at these local sites! Be sure to visit online or call first for visitation hours. SAMUEL WARDEN MANSION 200 S Church St, Mt Pleasant, PA 15666; www.dar.org/national-society/historic-sites-and- properties/braddock-trail-chapter-house- warden-museum GEYER PERFORMING ARTS CENTER 111 Pittsburgh Street, Scottdale, PA 15683; geyerpac.com ST. VINCENT’S COLLEGE 300 Fraser Purchase Road Latrobe, PA 15650; www.stvincent.edu LARIMER MANSION 50 Maus Dr., North Huntingdon, PA 15642; www.larimermansion.com
SSM_X001XXC07312016_Discover Westmoreland
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