Amelia Cotter - Maryland Ghosts: Paranormal Encounters in the Free State

Maryland

Ghosts

Paranormal Encounters

in the Free State

Amelia Cotter

2012 and 2015 by Amelia Cotter

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publishers, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a newspaper, magazine or journal.

Second Edition:

First printing

First edition published by Black Oak Media, Inc. in 2012

Front cover photo and art:

Point Lookout Lighthouse, Copyright 2010, 2015 by Mike Ricksecker

Back cover photo:

Jericho Covered Bridge, Copyright 2012 by Jarid Kranz

Poem her empty chair Copyright 2012 by Amelia Cotter

1. Paranormal. 2. GhostsMaryland. 3. Haunted housesMaryland.

4. Regional/travelMaryland. 5. MarylandHistory and folklore.

PUBLISHED BY HAUNTED ROAD MEDIA, LLC

www.hauntedroadmedia.com

United States of America

Praise for Maryland Ghosts: Paranormal Encounters in the Free State :

Get ready for a haunted road trip through Maryland! The walls of those old buildings as well as the battlefields and other great landmarks can talkand Amelia Cotter is listening. Maryland Ghosts: Paranormal Encounters in the Free State offers the history, the paranormal details, and the first-hand accounts that make us care deeply about these ghostly treasures. A great read throughout!

Jeff Belanger, author of The Worlds Most Haunted Places , Founder of Ghostvillage.com, and host of 30 Odd Minutes

Amelia does a fantastic job of telling the stories in such a way that you do not want to put the book down. Pour a glass of wine, crack the book open, and have a very enjoyable evening.

Cotter does an excellent job of combining folklore, history, and personal accounts...Its a fun quick read that provides the opportunity to learn more. This book is great for anyone who lives in or plans to visit Maryland who would like to learn about the history in a fun and relatable way.

This work makes a compelling read. Cotter includes images, dialogue, and real-time descriptions of investigations. The resources section at the book's end, full of websites with links that work, is a treasure for other ghost hunters who want more. The coffin factory chapter is especially spine-tingling, well-drawn, and disturbing!

THIS is the anthology of Maryland ghost stories that I've been looking for! All of the stories told are of personal experiences...this means you aren't getting the same old stories, rewritten and reworked from other print sources. I will keep my eye out for more books by her.

Amazon reviews

Other titles by Amelia Cotter:

This House: The True Story of a Girl and a Ghost

Breakfast with Bigfoot (ages 3-6)

For Jen Kranz, Tif Smith, and all of my amazing friends in, from, and around Bel Air, Maryland

Our wild adventures started it all!

her empty chair

still telling

old ghost stories

Acknowledgments

I would like to extend a special thank you to Mike Ricksecker of Haunted Road Media, Michael Kleen of Black Oak Media, Jeff Belanger, and my editor, Michelle Jacksier. A big thank you and hug are owed to my friends Jen and Jarid Kranz, for all of the work youve done to make this book possible! Maryland Ghosts is truly the product of a collaborative effort, so I would also like to extend my deepest appreciation to all of its contributors, for your incredible stories and pictures, invaluable input, and patience. Thanks to: Aunt Patty, Dad, Dani, Dina, Greg, Gwen, Kim, Kierstin, Melissa, Mom, Sarah, Susan, Terri, Tina, Uncle Bernie, Brenda Wilder Antlitz of G-Force Paranormal, Jenn Shape of Cecil & Beyond Paranormal, Margaret Perry Ehrlich and Ronda Dixon of Inspired Ghost Tracking, Samantha Kelley of K.R.I.P., and those of you whove chosen to remain anonymous. Much love goes to the rest of my friends and family, especially to my partner in life and crime, Jonathan, and my readers and fans for supporting me throughout this project. Last but certainly not least, I would like to honor the memories of my cousin, Eric Joneckis, and my favorite high school history teacher, Michael J. McAvoy, who were tireless supporters of my work and true inspirations in my life. May you both rock on in the great beyond.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Hauntings in Historic and Public Places

Point Lookout State Park

Hell House

The Inn at Deep Creek Lake

Jericho Covered Bridge

The Schifferstadt Museum

The Boy on St. Marys Church Road

Interview with Jennifer Shape of Cecil and

Beyond Paranormal

The Dr. Samuel A. Mudd House

The Pry House Field Hospital Museum

The National Civil War Medicine Museum

Haunted Houses and Private Residences

A Haunting on South Mountain

The Old Yellow House

Mrs. Quwee

A House on Satyr Hill Road

The German House at Hood College

The Devil in Hagerstown

The Log Cabin

Mrs. Harmons House

A House Along the Miles River

Beyond Ghosts: Other Encounters of the Paranormal Variety

Doppelgngers

UFOs in the Skies

A Flying Saucer on Lottsford Vista Road

Gnomes?

The Coffin Factory

Glimpses of the Supernatural: Brief Accounts and Memorable Moments

A Service Road in Bel Air

Cunningham Falls State Park

East Medical Hall Road

A Lodge at Deep Creek Lake

Private Home in Elkridge

Judges Bench Pub

House on Mountain Road

The Admiral Fell Inn

Private Home in Hagerstown

Concord Point Lighthouse

Private Home in Mt. Airy

Perryman Mansion

Stevenson A.M.E. Church Cemetery

Resources and References

Recommended Reading

Recommended Websites and Blogs

Featured Historic and Public Places

Featured Ghost Hunting Teams

Paranormal Connections: Make It Personal

Note From The Author

About The Author

Introduction

Long before I was writing or doing any kind of serious ghost hunting, I was a nerdy kid growing up in the Maryland suburb of Bel Air in Harford County, avoiding getting into real teenage trouble by snooping around in the abandoned and allegedly haunted locales around the county and beyond. My late night expeditions with friends took me all over Maryland, and I began to see my home state in a whole new way.

Then, during and after college, I had the privilege of working at various haunted locations in Frederick and Washington Counties, where I would eat up the opportunity to ask around about ghost stories and learn about the history of each unique place.

While I consider myself a healthy skeptic, at least in most situations, I cant deny that after all the years of putting myself in places where paranormal encounters were possible, I have had quite a few incredible experiences.

Two of my favorite things in the world are sharing my stories with other people and listening to them share theirs. I also love Marylandevery one of its five regions, 24 counties, its history, people, and diverse landscapes. I have very warm and fuzzy feelings not only about Maryland being my home state, but also about the numerous stories and experiences I have shared here with others.

Maryland Ghosts has been, above all, a personal endeavor to gather and record the best of these stories that Ive heard over the years from friends, family, fellow ghost hunters, and former coworkers around the state, as well as to research new stories and leads, making new friends along the way. I told perhaps my most powerful story in my first book , This House: The True Story of a Girl and a Ghost , and now in this one I will share a few more of mine as well.

As I was writing this book, I tried to channel a simpler time in the world of ghost hunting, a time before I could turn on the television or do an internet search and have a world of paranormal shows, websites, products, and information at my fingertips. This was a time before I was part of a fancy ghost hunting team and owned my own EMF detector.