The 1754 Woolman Farmhouse: Westampton, New Jersey

by Chris Chaos

Close up of the 1754 dating

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."

A video concerning the farmhouse

More info concerning John Woolman
http://www.woolmanhomestead.org/

Stairway

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)

THE WITCHES WELL AND HOLY HOLY HOLY ALTAR (Updated July 4th, 2014)

by Chris Chaos

July 4th, 2014

This trip was a long time coming, for about 2 months we kept making plans to go back for the update but weather and circumstance kept getting in the way. But on this 4th of July during Hurricane Arthur we experienced a cool down with the temperature so we decided to go.

We pulled up the Prospect street, a hidden little road nestled next to THE MOUNT in Mount Holly, New Jersey. All looked the same at the onset, but we did notice quite a few of the larger older trees have collapsed. We entered the trail and we see they did make it a bit more accessible by adding wood beams every few feet to help with footing. Some of the trails were a bit more wide also.

 

The WITCHES WELL was to the left of us and up a hill, it appeared that they put up a more heavy duty fence along with more security cameras. More on this shortly.

We continued up the path a few more feet and saw more trees that fell over. The main path that leads to the HOLY HOLY HOLY ALTAR also had a few wooden beams inserted to help in the climb. About halfway up I saw what appeared to be a white dog laying off to the side..upon approach I saw that it was actually a goat....about 20 of them behind an electrified fence! Bonus! They were there to clean up some of the rogue vegetation that is

present on THE MOUNT. The coolest one was the solid black horned goat.

Passing the goats a few more feet we came upon The Altar where in previous times many supposed witches met their doom by hanging. The Judgment Table is still there but the only the base of the pole that was used to hang the witches remains. On my 1st visit here most of the pole still stood. About a year ago they added the benches here in an attempt to make the location a little more family friendly and to take away some of the mystic that has been associated with these grounds. I noted that sex magik rituals still take place here due to the paraphernalia behind the Altar along with condom wrappers.

 

Proceeding up THE MOUNT we came across the 2 Geodetic survey sites on top that are positioned all across the USA to measure earth quakes and tectonic plate movement. One of the 1st settlers of Mount Holly also used to have a house up here. Many of the bricks and masonry rubble can still be found spread out across the land here.

Venturing down THE MOUNT we passed The Holy Holy Holy Altar again and preceded to the Mount Holly Cemetery which has a tribute site to a witch that could not be buried within the property of the cemetery. Sadly many vandals destroyed the gifts left here and they could be found smashed and scattered all over the grounds.

After visiting the Witch Tribute site we headed back to the beginning and ventured up the huge hill to the left of THE MOUNT. At the top of the hill is a big barb wired fence with several security cameras that take photos of anyone attempting to vandalize or trespass onto the property were THE WITCHES WELL is. There are quite a few legends associated with this location, but 2 stand out. The 1st is that a witch was thrown down the well but did not die, instead she lived for a few days and cursed the land. The townspeople then built the brick building over the well in an attempt to seal her in. Legend states that if you knock on the huge metal door you will hear 3 knocks come right back at you from the witch. The 2nd legend is that a witch summoned the Jersey Devil and then he killed her, then the Jersey Devil was cast in the well and the brick structure built over him.

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(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)

The Witches Well: Jersey Devil Mount Holly NJ

by Chris Chaos

Does the Witches Well hold the Jersey Devil? There was a legend that the Jersey Devil is sealed inside a stone altar on top of a mountain. This mountain is known as THE MOUNT in Mount Holly New Jersey.

Legend has it that the Jersey Devil was chained up here and if you put your ear up to the metal door you can hear him thrashing around. Another legend was that this site was the capstone that went all the way to Hell.

Yet another legend goes that one of the 1st (suspected) witches in the area was thrown down this well and she survived the drop and clawed and screamed for help and cursed all those that threw her into the well. Later on the shed was built over the Well to stop the haunting that was occurring. Recently the township put up a barbwire fence with stop motion cameras that actually yell at you when triggered. "Stop! You have been caught on camera and this will be used in your prosecution, turn around now!" it states when you venture too close. Why would they spend all this money for this security? What is really here? Without breaking the law and jumping the fence you currently cannot reach The Witches Well, but you can see it through the fence that was erected. If you go in the warm months be aware of the mosquitoes, they are plentiful and very hungry.

There is also a gravestone located in the cemetery right near this area and a woman is buried there. The grave reads: "Thus is the fate of all who turn from God, you are here because God hates you." This lady, who was a suspected witch, supposedly summoned the Jersey Devil and he killed her. Afterwards JD was caught and chained up and cast into the Well.

The Witches Well Video

(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)

HOLY HOLY HOLY: The Altar of Judgment and THE WITCHES' WELL

This week we will explore 2 mystical locations, both based in Mount Holly, NJ

HOLY HOLY HOLY: The Altar of Judgment and THE WITCHES' WELL
Mount Holly, New Jersey

by Chris Chaos

 Does Holy Holy Holy hold the Jersey Devil? The Witches Well: There was a legend that the Jersey Devil is sealed inside a stone altar on top of a mountain. This mountain is known as THE MOUNT in Mount Holly New Jersey. We went to this location several times, the 1st time we scouted it out and took many photographs, the 2nd time we went back and filmed some video.

Legend has it that the New Jersey Devil was chained up here and if you put your ear up to the metal door you can hear him thrashing around. Another legend was that this site was the capstone that went all the way to Hell.

Yet another legend goes that one of the 1st (suspected) witches in the area was thrown down this well and she survived the drop and clawed and screamed for help and cursed all those that threw her into the well. Later on the shed was built over the Well to stop the haunting that was occurring. Recently the township put up a barbwire fence with stop motion cameras that actually yell at you when triggered. "Stop! You have been caught on camera and this will be used in your prosecution, turn around now!" it states when you venture too close. Why would they spend all this money for this security? What is really here? Without breaking the law and jumping the fence you currently cannot reach The Witches Well, but you can see it through the fence that was erected. If you go in the warm months be aware of the mosquitoes, they are plentiful and very hungry.

There is also a gravestone located in the cemetery right near this area and a woman is buried there. The grave reads: “Thus is the fate of all who turn from God, you are here because God hates you.” This lady, who was a suspected witch, supposedly summoned the Jersey Devil and he killed her. Afterwards JD was caught and chained up and cast into the Well.

The Holy Holy Holy Altar of Judgment
Mt. Holly, NJ

A few hundred feet from the Witches Well and up a somewhat steep hill is the Altar that was used to judge the witches many years ago. The altar is a white (painted grey) concrete table (4 feet by 8 feet by 4 feet), It has the words “Holy Holy Holy” inscribed across it. In front of the slab are old wooden benches, set in a square. Much graffiti has been marked onto the altar and tales of modern day sex magic and animal sacrifices have taken place here. Right next to the altar is the gallow that they used to hang the witches with, but it has been long knocked down and only the stump remains.

On October 22, 1730 over 300 people had gathered to witness the trial of two people, a man and a woman, who had been accused of witchcraft. The charges included "making their neighbors sheep dance in an uncommon manner, and with causing hogs to speak, and sing Psalms, to the great terror and amazement of the King's good and peaceable subjects in this province." This took place 40 years after the famous witch trials in Salem, Mass.

We took video and photos of both locations, but nothing out of the ordinary occurred while we were there. We hope to go back at night and see if we obtain different results.

UPDATE: May 2013

We went back to this location in May 2013 and it really has changed. Someone redid the path leading from the street up to the HOLY HOLY HOLY ALTAR and it is now smooth and mulched and there are now park benches in front of the altar. The witch (that was buried outside of the cemetery) along with her grave and markers are still there. It seems that the community is tired of the kids going up there and “doing things they should not be”, so they are trying to make it a bit more touristy and to demystify the legends that surround this location. The area appears friendlier to the average person but is still mostly only known to the locals and those whom seek out and research these types of locations. In the Fall we plan to go back and gain more video and investigate a bit more to provide more updates. There are several trails spread out around The Mount that lead from The Mount itself, The Witches Well, The Holy Altar and the cemetery that we will also be investigating a bit deeper in depth.

(Chris Chaos is a long time resident of South Jersey who once again resides in and writes from Gloucester City, New Jersey. Chris can be reached at AxisVideo@aol.com)

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