The
Swamp Road Chronicles®
"Jacob's Ladder"
Dear
Friends,
Per our conversation at the Pataskala
Street Fair last August, I am sending this story to you. I call it 'Jacob's
Ladder'.
Though I can't prove any of it, this story
comes from a very reliable source. My cousin was an historian for Licking
County for many years and recounted this tale to me more than once. He knew a
lot about the county's past, but this incident really stuck with him.
A couple of miles from Swamp Road is
Cherry Lane. In 1865 a man named Jacob Linville purchased 120 acres of land there and
built a small house and a very large barn. Jacob had come from Pennsylvania
with his wife Melanie and his son Josef. Jacob had intended to make a life for
his family by growing apples. Licking County is remarkably well-suited for
apple growing.
Jacob's father had been a successful
farmer and had funded Jacob's venture. There was little doubt that the
hard-working Jacob would be successful.
Four years after settling on Cherry
Lane, Jacob enjoyed his first harvest. He had thousands and thousands of the
sweetest, most delicious apples you could ask for. He shipped them back east to
merchants and sold them locally as well. The bruised apples, or ones that had
even the smallest blemish went straight to the cider mill. Jacob sold several
hundred gallons of apple cider that year as well.
Jacob's barn was very large; a large
barn was a sign of prosperity back then and Jacob's barn was impressive. It was
100 feet long and 40 feet wide and had 3 floors. Unfortunately, Jacob's barn would
be his undoing. During a severe winter storm in January of 1870 a large section
of the barn's roof was
blown off by the wind. Jacob and his hired man were inside the barn repairing
it. Jacob had climbed up a 40 foot ladder to reach the highest part that needed
repaired. While the hired man had stepped away to get more nails, Jacob lost
his footing and fell nearly forty feet to the hardwood floor. The hired man was
on the first floor when he heard a huge "thump" overhead, he hurried
back up to the second floor where he found Jacob lying on his back, his
lifeless eyes staring upward, with a large amount of blood pooling around his
head.
Jacob's wife Melanie took her son and
moved back to Pennsylvania. The farm was sold to a local family. The little
home is gone now, but the barn remains. You can still see where the blood
stains the oaken floorboards and the new owners often tell their friends and
family of going up to the barn in the middle of the day and hearing a loud
"thump" overhead. Upon searching, no cause for the sound can ever be
found. They believe that it's just the barn itself replaying its memory of the
tragedy that cut short the life of a promising young farmer. Structures like
barns and homes do have memories, and
that explains many, but not all, tales of haunted homes and haunted barns as
well. What memories does your home
have? Hmmm?
As submitted by James Franklin 6-6-23 Hebron, Ohio
© Copyright 1992-2023, Randal Lenn Hall, All Rights Reserved.