This location has been shrouded in mystery despite it's history being well documented by historians. It is located on Rancocas Road in Westampton, New Jersey, right off of exit 45 near 295, but for years it had the infamous name of "The 1754 Mount Holly Farmhouse Massacre", but of course it resides in Westhampton and not Mount Holly. Some say this was to fool and mislead vandals and teens away from the location so they do not turn it into a party spot and further destroy this historical landmark.
The location was on the 1681 Woolman tract and was built in 1754 by Asher Woolman, the younger brother of Quaker abolitionist John Woolman. It has not been confirmed, but according to locals they state that the last farmer to reside here was Ed Friend.
Interior view of one of the bedrooms
According to the Courier Post article by Carol Comegno dated July 6, 2014:
"The Asher Woolman farmhouse was the only tri-county site listed in this year's (2014) annual Preservation New Jersey endangered list.
Woolman House in better times, date unknown
"Our goal is to bring awareness to cherished sites that have been a vital part of a community that, without intervention, would fade from existence," said PNJ President Michael Hanrahan.
The Woolman site, vacant since the 1970s, is owned by a real estate developer who declined to sell it years ago to the Rancocas Historical Society. Now the building is enveloped by vegetation; its windows are broken and its roof leaks.
The house, on a hill surrounded by fields along a I-295 ramp at Rancocas Road, replaced an earlier Woolman home built in 1754. A dated stone commemorating the earlier house was incorporated into the present structure.
John Woolman's book
Asher's brother, John, was an influential Quaker preacher and antislavery advocate in Burlington County. "The plight of the Asher Woolman homestead is a reminder that many absentee owners allow valuable historic properties in New Jersey to deteriorate," Hanrahan said."
The legend and lore portion of this location is as follows: Many years ago a family lived here at this location. One of the children was mentally deficient and was the bane of the area. Then one day when the disturbed youth was a teen, he snapped pre-Columbine style and bludgeoned his family to death. He even took his infant brother and bashed him against the bricks of the chimney. When the townsfolk discovered what he had done they ransacked the house and beat the teen to death in the backyard. Legend has it that the ghosts of this family still haunt the grounds.
We traveled to this location on two separate occasions and acquired video and photos to document the house before it falls into decay and Nature reclaims it. The house apparently has been used by squatters over the winter since we found some blankets, bottles, trash and other artifacts to indicate this. While venturing through the house I was unsure if we were alone and I had the feeling that behind one of the doors awaited a homeless person or a junkie. We carefully proceeded to enter all the rooms and even venturing into the dirty, dark, dank basement proved that we were alone. Maybe it was the disturbed spirits of the family that lived here all those years ago?
Despite all the stories that center around this location, our end conclusion is that we did not come across any ghosts, we didn’t hear any screams nor did we acquire any EVPs; also all the photos were free from orbs.
(1) source Courier Post Carol Comegno July 6, 2014
(Chris Chaos is a long time resident of South Jersey who once again resides in and writes from Gloucester City, New Jersey. He is a filmmaker, a business owner, writer, urban explorer and investigator of the odd and weird, a proud parent, happily taken and a connoisseur of hot wings. Chris can be reached at AxisVideo@aol.com)
Cursed Revisited is the 2nd in the series featuring various locations on the east coast in an attempt to preserve and investigate the paranormal, the unexplained, local lore and uphold the preservation of history, culture and architectural landmarks. This book is a result of years of research, documenting and exploring. Using a combination of the internet to find as much information that we could concerning the locations/topics, neighbors of the locations, eyewitness interviews, news reports, logic, skepticism and commonsense, we present to you, the legends, the lore, the facts and the science that is associated with all the locations that we have investigated and researched.
About the author:
Chris Chaos: The founder of Axis Video and Pine Barren Films.He is a filmmaker, writer, business owner, urban explorer, investigator of the odd and a connoisseur of hot wings. As the owner of Axis Video/Pine Barren Films he has produced and has been involved with some ground breaking projects in the world of music and documentaries on the east coast. Gradually he switched his focus from making films to authoring books on various hot button topics.
In the vein of paranormal and the preservation of history and lore he has created the series "Cursed: An Explanation of the Unknown" and the documentary "The Search for the Jersey Devil" along with its companion book of the same title.
For his contribution to music he produced countless music videos for many international, national and even local bands. Some can be viewed on his "Dynasty of Darkness" compilations.
Concerning his horror writings many wondered what inspired him to pen the stories that he did and here is an excerpt of what he had to say: "Horror is all around us, just turn on the news or look out your window. The demons and monsters are inside of your fellow man. From the meth mom that sells her infant to a film producer of stomping videos in exchange for drugs to the parent that kills her child so they can have more time to play Farmville. Inspiration comes from those around you, turn the bad, the horrible into something good." "When I was a child I would borrow my father's movies..he thought I was watching child friendly movies but I was taking his Faces of Death video tapes and going into my room to take it all in."
Publication Date: Oct 19 2014
ISBN/EAN13: 1502830507 / 9781502830500
Page Count: 158
Binding Type: US Trade Paper
Trim Size: 6" x 9"
Language: English
(Chris Chaos is a long time resident of South Jersey who once again resides in and writes from Gloucester City, New Jersey. He is a filmmaker, a business owner, writer, urban explorer and investigator of the odd and weird, a proud parent, happily taken and a connoisseur of hot wings. Chris can be reached at AxisVideo@aol.com)
by Chris Chaos (This is an older article from 2014)
The Jersey Devil originally referred to as The Leeds Devil, a cryptid that is believed to inhabit the Pinelands in New Jersey, has been haunting the surrounding areas since about 1735. Over these years, the creature has been reportedly witnesses by more than 2,000 individuals.
The Jersey Devil has terrorized and amused N.J. towns throughout this time and has even caused schools to close and people to fear venturing outside their own homes. Is good ole' J.D. a creation of Piney folklore, a left over dinosaur, an undiscovered species, a hybrid, a ghost or The 13th Child?
The legendary creature of Southern New Jersey is described as a biped that flies and has cloven hooves. There are several description of the Jersey Devil, the most popular one is that it is a kangaroo-like creature that has a horse’s face, a dog’s head, leathery wings (resembling that of a bat), small arms and clawed hands, horns, a forked tail and cloven hooves. It reportedly moves fast so as to keep away from human contact and emits “blood-curdling scream.”
There are several different versions of the story of how the Jersey Devil has become to exist. The earliest dates back to the Lenape tribe where they called the Pine Barrens "Popuessing", which translates to "Place of the Dragon". Later the Swedes referred to this area as "Drake Kill". Drake meaning dragon and Kill referring to a channel of a river.
The most popular and widely accepted origin story is of Mother Leeds having 12 kids and cursing her 13th born, who was to become the Jersey Devil. On a dark stormy night Mrs Leeds gave birth to her seemingly normal baby but shortly afterwards it grew wings, hooves, a horses head and a forked tail. It screamed, killed the midwife and then flew up the chimney and into the Pine Barrens where it currently lives. Supposedly in 1740 a member of the religious community exorcised the Jersey Devil for 100 years. There were not any reported sightings of JD until 1890.
Based on real history Deborah Leeds and Japhet Leeds (of Leeds Point, NJ) were married and records indicate they did have 12 children. While visiting Hanover Mill Works to inspect the forging of cannonballs Commodore Stephen Decatur claims he sighted the Jersey Devil and fired a cannonball at the winged creature, but it had no effect on it.
In 1820 Napoleon's brother Joseph Bonaparte also claimed to see the Jersey Devil while at his Bordentown home.
From January 16th to the 23rd in 1909 was the busiest period for sightings of the Jersey Devil. Newspapers were bustling with headlines stating encounters with the Jersey Devil. Widespread panic ensued when the Jersey Devil supposedly attacked a trolley car in Camden and Haddonfield, a social club and unexplained footprints were found in the snow. January seems to be the most likely month to spot the Jersey Devil.
The Philadelphia Zoo offered a reward of $10,000 to whomever could capture the Jersey Devil. News coverage created pandemonium and schools were closed and factories shutdown.
An unidentified animal was shot and killed in December 1925 as it tried to kill chickens. The man from Greenwich showed the body to all that came to see it but no one could determine what the animal was.
On July 27th 1937 in Downingtown PA residents saw an animal with red eyes that they could not identified.
Back in 1960 in Mays Landing tracks were found and noises were heard and were assumed to be those of the Jersey Devil. Also merchants in the Camden area offered up $10,000 to anyone that could bring them the Jersey Devil.
It has been said that when the Jersey Devil is spotted usually it is followed by some sort of bad historic occurrence such as war or ships sinking.
Many skeptics that do not believe in the Jersey Devil believe it is simply just the product of an over active imagination or just a story to scare the children. Others feel that the legend may have been created for political gains. The earliest recollections and referrals to the Jersey Devil called it The Leeds Devil and may have been to discredit a Daniel Leeds who was a local politician.
Out of all the cryptoid the Jersey Devil has the least amount of photos, videos and physical evidence collected against him. Some common explanations of what the Jersey Devil might be are: ghost, inbred, birth defect, mentally disabled, Sand Hill Crane, Hammerhead Bat, Dinosaur (specifically a dimorphodon), undiscovered species and a figment of an overactive imagination.
To follow along with the progress of the film, go here:
(Chris Chaos is a long time resident of South Jersey. He is a filmmaker, a business owner, writer, urban explorer and investigator of the odd and weird, has a black cat named Jynx and Friskie, two Guinea pigs, Heather and Carol, a proud parent, happily taken and a connoisseur of hot wings. )
