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- Feb 5, 2017
Okay, I found this cool story by someone who wrote it going by "Winchester Tales" July 21, 2021. However, the story of this haunting has been around a long time. I'm hoping @Stone in the wall can give us some insight or maybe even @CivilWarTalk himself will know something about this place. It does sound really creepy. There is a lot out there about "Wizard Clip."
"THE WIZARD CLIP"
Smithfield, VA –
(Now Middleway, WV)
October of 1794
.
.
The middle-aged man knocked harder on the door as he turned his collar up to protect his face from the pelting rain. His black slouched hat funneled the ice cold rain water down his back which caused his teeth to chatter. It was now dark and the weary traveler could go no further. He knocked again. This time a faint orange glow could be seen through the bluish bubbled window glass. "Who's there?"...a voice boomed from inside the house. "A weary traveler seeking a room for the night" was the stranger's reply. The sound of a skeleton key working the rim lock was heard as the door creaked open and the man was invited in.
Adam Livingston and his wife had come to Smithfield, Virginia from Pennsylvania in 1790 after Adam inherited his father's 70-acre farm. By 1794, Adam was known as a quiet and trustworthy farmer and he was extremely devoted to the Lutheran faith. As Mrs. Livingston took the stranger's coat, she offered him a seat by the fire. She left to prepare the stranger's room. Adam and the man discussed the weather that evening and then they each retired for the evening. Later in the night, the stranger fell ill with a fever and he began to call out for help. Adam rushed to the man's side. The stranger, in his delirium, declared he is Catholic and kept asking Adam for a priest. Adam told the man that there is no priest in Smithfield and he was not going out into the cold rainy night to find one as the nearest priest was in Charles Town or Shepherdstown.
The next morning, Adam and his wife entered the room and found that the stranger had died. As custom in those days, a neighbor sat with the body until the burial party came to retrieve the remains, this was Jacob Foster. That evening, Foster lit six candles to illuminate the room. As he lit the last candle, each candle went out. As soon as they were relit, they would go out again. Foster left the house immediately. The next day, the stranger would be buried near the old churchyard in Smithfield. The Livingstons believed this was now over...they were wrong.
Over the next few days, the Livingston family would encounter strange noises outside the home. Late at night, the sound of horses galloping around the house were heard. Inside the home, the sound of scissors clipping something would be heard and clothing and blankets would be found with crescent shaped holes taken out of them. The sound of the shears would continue for three months. Then, the incidents escalated as cattle began to die, chickens would be found without heads, the barn burned to the ground, money disappeared, and crockery would be found smashed on the floor. Adam Livingston would have recurring dreams of a man in a black robe saying that he was here to help. The citizens of Smithfield were terrified as some who had visited the Livingston home found crescent shaped holes in their clothing. Some disbelievers even stayed in the home only to be convinced with paranormal phenomenon.
Adam finally relented and sought out the Catholic priest in Shepherdstown. When he arrived after the Sunday service, he was astounded that the priest (Rev. Dennis Cahill) was the same man he had been seeing in his dreams. The priest initially told Livingston it must be his neighbors joking with him. Yet, Adam was adamant about the experiences. Reverend Cahill went to the home and sprinkled holy water, but to no avail…the events continued. Another priest, Reverend Dimitri Gallitzin, also visited the Livingston residence around 1797. In a letter written in 1839, just a year before his death, Gallitzin declared that after three months of witnessing the disturbances at the Livingston home, "I was soon converted to a full belief of them." Gallitzin had Cahill come back to the Livingstons' and together they performed an exorcism that allegedly caused the house to shake with "the rattling and rumbling as of innumerable wagons." Finally, after Cahill performed a mass in the house, the hauntings stopped.
The home is no longer standing but when you drive through Middleway, you can still see markers on the homes that show scissors and a crescent shaped mark which is a reminder of a time when the town was under the curse of the Wizard's Clip!
"THE WIZARD CLIP"
Smithfield, VA –
(Now Middleway, WV)
October of 1794
.
.
The middle-aged man knocked harder on the door as he turned his collar up to protect his face from the pelting rain. His black slouched hat funneled the ice cold rain water down his back which caused his teeth to chatter. It was now dark and the weary traveler could go no further. He knocked again. This time a faint orange glow could be seen through the bluish bubbled window glass. "Who's there?"...a voice boomed from inside the house. "A weary traveler seeking a room for the night" was the stranger's reply. The sound of a skeleton key working the rim lock was heard as the door creaked open and the man was invited in.
Adam Livingston and his wife had come to Smithfield, Virginia from Pennsylvania in 1790 after Adam inherited his father's 70-acre farm. By 1794, Adam was known as a quiet and trustworthy farmer and he was extremely devoted to the Lutheran faith. As Mrs. Livingston took the stranger's coat, she offered him a seat by the fire. She left to prepare the stranger's room. Adam and the man discussed the weather that evening and then they each retired for the evening. Later in the night, the stranger fell ill with a fever and he began to call out for help. Adam rushed to the man's side. The stranger, in his delirium, declared he is Catholic and kept asking Adam for a priest. Adam told the man that there is no priest in Smithfield and he was not going out into the cold rainy night to find one as the nearest priest was in Charles Town or Shepherdstown.
The next morning, Adam and his wife entered the room and found that the stranger had died. As custom in those days, a neighbor sat with the body until the burial party came to retrieve the remains, this was Jacob Foster. That evening, Foster lit six candles to illuminate the room. As he lit the last candle, each candle went out. As soon as they were relit, they would go out again. Foster left the house immediately. The next day, the stranger would be buried near the old churchyard in Smithfield. The Livingstons believed this was now over...they were wrong.
Over the next few days, the Livingston family would encounter strange noises outside the home. Late at night, the sound of horses galloping around the house were heard. Inside the home, the sound of scissors clipping something would be heard and clothing and blankets would be found with crescent shaped holes taken out of them. The sound of the shears would continue for three months. Then, the incidents escalated as cattle began to die, chickens would be found without heads, the barn burned to the ground, money disappeared, and crockery would be found smashed on the floor. Adam Livingston would have recurring dreams of a man in a black robe saying that he was here to help. The citizens of Smithfield were terrified as some who had visited the Livingston home found crescent shaped holes in their clothing. Some disbelievers even stayed in the home only to be convinced with paranormal phenomenon.
Adam finally relented and sought out the Catholic priest in Shepherdstown. When he arrived after the Sunday service, he was astounded that the priest (Rev. Dennis Cahill) was the same man he had been seeing in his dreams. The priest initially told Livingston it must be his neighbors joking with him. Yet, Adam was adamant about the experiences. Reverend Cahill went to the home and sprinkled holy water, but to no avail…the events continued. Another priest, Reverend Dimitri Gallitzin, also visited the Livingston residence around 1797. In a letter written in 1839, just a year before his death, Gallitzin declared that after three months of witnessing the disturbances at the Livingston home, "I was soon converted to a full belief of them." Gallitzin had Cahill come back to the Livingstons' and together they performed an exorcism that allegedly caused the house to shake with "the rattling and rumbling as of innumerable wagons." Finally, after Cahill performed a mass in the house, the hauntings stopped.
The home is no longer standing but when you drive through Middleway, you can still see markers on the homes that show scissors and a crescent shaped mark which is a reminder of a time when the town was under the curse of the Wizard's Clip!
Bringing the