Mysterious History: Lincoln’s Ghost Train

 

Mysterious History: 

Lincoln’s Ghost Train

Every April The Train Ghosts Through Albany

Following Abraham Lincoln’s 1865 assassination, two coffins—one containing the president’s body and the other bearing the exhumed remains of his young son, Willie, who had died in the White House—were placed on a train pulled by a steam locomotive for transport back to the Lincolns’ home state of Illinois, where they would be buried. All along the route from Washington to Illinois, people lined the tracks to bid farewell to the president who had fought and won the Civil War.

The funeral train was made up of nine cars. The ninth car, which had been built to take the living president and his family on rail trips, was the one in which Lincoln and Willie were carried.

The train’s route passed through Albany, New York, and for a number of years afterward, around the anniversary of Lincoln’s final journey, Albany-area railroad men reported seeing a phantom version of the funeral train traveling on the rails. After a time, on the evening of each April 27, people began making their way to the railroad line in hopes of seeing the ghost train as it passed.

Some paranormal enthusiasts believe Lincoln’s ghost train still rolls through Albany—perhaps even making the entire journey from Washington to Illinois. An additional bit of folklore concerning the train is that as it goes by, it stops clocks and watches in the surrounding area.

Ghost trains in general are a paranormal phenomenon experienced in several other places, including in Europe and Canada. In some ways they are similar to tales of ghost ships on the high seas.

Almost certainly the most famous ghost train in America is the one that took President Abraham Lincoln home after he was assassinated in 1865. (The exhumed body of this son Willie, was also on the train).

Against his wife’s wishes it was decided that Lincoln’s body would be displayed on a funeral train that would stop at various towns throughout the northern part of the United States on its way to Springfield, Illinois.Although the body was embalmed, some funeral employees were enlisted to travel with the deceased president, as was the embalmer himself, in order to keep his body looking as presentable as possible. They used fresh flowers to mask the smell, which meant the train had to make frequent stops to collect fresh flowers.

The train traveled in a zigzag pattern so that it could stop in all the major cities in the area as well as several smaller communities, and all along the path of the train, men, women and children lined up along the tracks to pay their respects to a man who had become a hero to most of the people in the north.

The train left Washington DC on April 21, 1865, and on April 29, the train arrived in Columbus where Lincoln’s body was displayed in the statehouse rotunda for about twelve hours. Over fifty thousand people came to the statehouse to pay their respects. The train left around 8 pm, heading west. This was unusual, as the way west was one of the steepest grades in Ohio, and it would require two engines to make the trip. Normally trains would head south to Cincinnati, but there was a concern that Copperheads (anti-civil war protesters) would potentially make trouble for the train if it went through the Queen City.

Instead, the train took the western tracks and late that night passed into Urbana. Many people assume it stopped at the Miami Street depot, the only train station still in town, but it actually stopped at the North Main Street station, which no longer exists. The train was met by a large flower archway over the tracks and several hundred mourners who brought wreaths of flowers.

The train was only in town for about twenty minutes and to the contrary of some urban legends, it did not break down there. The train then left Urbana, heading west to Piqua where it stopped again for a short time just after midnight. The train eventually made it to Springfield, Illinois on schedule where the president was interred.Even before the first anniversary of Lincoln’s death reports of the Ghost Train began to trickle in. The original stories were reported in the Hudson River Valley.

Every year since, at the end of April during the anniversary of the first funeral trip, people along the train’s original route report seeing a strange sight, an eerie spectral train passing silently along the tracks, sometimes on existing tracks and sometimes on a route where tracks once were.

The ghost train, it was said, was crewed by skeletons and a similar skeleton honor guard stood watch over the casket. The sound of the train’s whistle, (quite different from the trains of today), could sometimes be heard, or a puff of smoke from the invisible passing train might be seen, and reports of clocks that would stop for anywhere from six minutes to twenty (the length of the actual stay).

Lincoln’s Phantom Train

Lincoln's Funeral Train

In the spring of the year, you might hear whisperings about a phantom train seen traveling through seven U.S. states.  Legend has it this is the Funeral Train of President Abraham Lincoln, still running its designated route from Washington to Springfield – and still on time.

Abraham Lincoln

Mary Todd Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States, was surrounded by odd occurrences and paranormal experiences all of his life.  His wife, Mary Todd Lincoln dabbled in spiritualism, believed in omens, and held séances trying to establish contact with her dead son Willie.

Lincoln's Dream

Lincoln’s death also held mystery. About two weeks before he was killed, Lincoln had a dream that foretold his death.  In the dream, he heard sobbing and followed it to the East Room where he saw soldiers guarding a body.  When Lincoln asked, “Who is dead in the White House?”, a solider answered, “The President.  He was killed by an assassin.”

At Ford's Theatre

Three days after relating his dream to his wife, Mary, and a few close friends, Lincoln was assassinated. It was during the evening of April 14, 1865 at Ford’s Theater in Washington D.C.  Actor John Wilkes Booth burst into the Presidential box and shot the president at point-blank range before escaping.  Lincoln lived only a few hours before dying at 7:22 A.M. on April 15^th.  Flags were immediately lowered to half-mast, bells across the city began to toll, and a shocked nation went into mourning.

Oak Hill Chapel

William (Willie) Lincoln

It had been planned that Lincoln’s young son Willie was eventually to be interred back home in Springfield, Illinois. When Lincoln died, both he and Willie would make the final journey home together.  Willie had died in 1862 at the age of 11 from what was apparently typhoid fever.  Willie’s body was removed from a borrowed vault at Oak Hill Cemetery in Georgetown so that he could be buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois.

Edwin Stanton

Funeral Train Route

Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton was in charge of overseeing the arrangements for the funeral train.  An order to commandeer the use of the railroads from Washington to Springfield, Illinois was issued. The funeral train would travel 1,654 miles along the same route Lincoln had taken as president-elect in 1861. The only difference was the train would not go through Pittsburgh or Cincinnati.

Funeral Train

Schedule of Route

The train left Washington on April 21^st  and arrived in Springfield, Illinois on May 3^rd , having traveled through seven states, and past 440 communities. The actual funeral route went through Baltimore, Philadelphia, Harrisburg, New York City, Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, and Chicago, before arriving at Springfield.

Guard of Honor

The Nine Car Train

The funeral train was called The Lincoln Special. The engine was the known as the Nashville. The train consisted of nine cars with the funeral car being the eighth in line. A Guard of Honor accompanied Lincoln’s body, and his son Robert also rode on the train.

Mourners Line Tracks

Thousands lined the tracks during the 13-day trip.  Regardless of the time of day, or night, entire towns and communities turned out to pay their respects and watch silently as the train bearing their president glided past.

Depot at Springfield, Illinois

Lincoln Home Draped in Mourning

The Lincoln Special reached its destination of Springfield on May 3^rd, 1865.  But, it
apparently still runs the same route each year during the last part of April. At least, a phantom funeral train does...

Hundreds have reported seeing the ghost train traveling through the countryside with the President’s casket aboard.  It has been rumored that clocks and watches stop running when the train passes by. The air on the tracks becomes cool and sharp, while just off to the side, the air remains warm but still. Clouds cover the moon, and a ghostly headlight pierces the night. Suddenly, with a rush of wind, the train passes by, noiselessly, as if running on a carpet.

There are reports that mournful music may be heard coming from the train, while others say that the train goes past without a sound.  Some see smoke belch from the stack, others hear an eerie whistle as the train approaches. There are reports of skeletons dressed in blue, standing at attention by Lincoln’s flag-draped casket.  Flags and streamers attached to the train whip in the wind, but no sound is heard as the train fades from view

Albany, New York

If the phantom train encounters a real train, the sounds are suddenly hushed as the ghost train passes through it and continues on its spectral journey.

Getting Ready in Urbana, Ohio

Communities throughout the seven states still hold watches for the phantom funeral train.  The best known are in Albany, New York on the nights of April 26 and 27, and in Urbana, Ohio, on the night of April 29^th.

To see if a community near you is on the list of places the train passed through, visit the Lincoln Highway National Museum & Archives @ http://www.lincoln-highway-museum.org/WHMC/WHMC-LFTR-01.html

Legend has it that the phantom train never reaches its destination but simply disappears some where along the tracks out on the Illinois prairie.

Lincoln's Funeral Car

The Lincoln funeral car changed hands several times after fulfilling its duty. Unfortunately, in March 1911, the car was destroyed when a fire swept through an area near Minneapolis, Minnesota where it was being stored.

Regardless, you might want to grab a blanket and take a friend with you tonight to a lonely set of tracks where, if you’re lucky, you might get to see Lincoln’s Funeral Train solemnly pass by…yet again.

ACTOR SERUKALATHOOR SAAMA ( ACT AS GHOST IN MARMAYOGI ) BORN 1904 JUNE 26

ACTOR SERUKALATHOOR SAAMA 

( ACT AS GHOST IN MARMAYOGI )

BORN 1904 JUNE 26

செருக்களத்தூர் சாமா (Serukalathur Sama, பிறப்பு: சூன் 26, 1904 - ) அல்லது செருகுளத்தூர் சாமா என்பவர் ஒரு தமிழ்த் திரைப்பட நடிகரும், பாடகரும் ஆவார். இவர் பொதுவாகவே புராணக் கதைகளுடன் சம்பந்தப்பட்ட திரைப்படங்களில் நடித்துள்ளார். அதிலும் இவர் கிருஷ்ணர் வேடத்தில் அதிக முறை நடித்துள்ளார். இவர் 1930 ஆம் 40 ஆம் ஆண்டுக் காலங்களில் திரைப்படங்களில் நடித்தார்.[1].

இளமைக் காலம்[தொகு]

சாமாவின் இயற்பெயர் சுவாமிநாதன் என்பதாகும். தஞ்சாவூரில் செருக்களத்தூர் என்ற ஊரில் மிராசுதாரராக இருந்த வைத்தியநாதய்யர் என்பவருக்குப் பிறந்தார்.[2] சாமாவின் ஐந்தாவது வயதில் தாயார் இறந்து விடவே, தந்தையார் மறுமணம் செய்து கொண்டார். இதனால் தாய்மாமன் இவரை தஞ்சைக்கு அழைத்துச் சென்று அங்குள்ள கல்யாணசுந்தரம் உயர்நிலைப் பள்ளியில் சேர்த்தார். அத்துடன் கருநாடக இசையையும் கற்றுக் கொண்டார். எஸ்.எஸ்.எல்.சி சோதனையில் சித்தி பெற்ற பின்னர் திருமணம் புரிந்து கொண்டார். இவருக்கு மூன்று பெண் பிள்ளைகள். திருமணம் முடித்த பின்னர் வேலை தேடும் பொருட்டு தம்பியுடன் சென்னை சென்றார். அங்கு இந்தியக் காங்கிரஸ் கட்சியின் அலுவலகத்தில் எழுத்தராக வேலை கிடைத்தது. இரண்டு மாதங்கள் அங்கு பணியாற்றிய பின்னர் சென்னை காஸ்மாபாலிட்டன் கிளப்பில் எழுத்தராகப் பத்து ஆண்டு காலம் பணியாற்றினார்.[2] இங்கு பணியாற்றிய காலத்தில் இவரது சில பாடல்களை ஹிஸ் மாஸ்டர்ஸ் வாய்ஸ் நிறுவனத்தினர் இசைத்தட்டுகளில் வெளியிட்டனர்.[2] இதனால் இவருக்கு நாடகங்களில் நடிக்கும் வாய்ப்புக் கிடைத்தது.

திரைப்படங்களில் பணி[தொகு]

ஜி.பி.சி. ஸ்டூடியோவில் மேக்கப்மேன் ஆகப் பணியாற்றிய மாமா ராஜு என்பவர் சாமாவை நேசனல் மூவிடோன் ஸ்டூடியோவுக்கு அறிமுகப்படுத்தினார். அவர்களது முதல் படமான வள்ளி கல்யாணம் படத்தில் நாரதராக நடித்தார்.[2] அதன் பின்னர், இயக்குனர் ஏ. நாராயணனின் கீழ் பணியில் சேர்ந்தார். ஓராண்டு காலம் அவருடன் பணியாற்றிய பின்னர் திரௌபதி வஸ்திராபகரணம் (1934) திரைப்படத்தில் கிருஷ்ணனாக வேடமேற்று நடித்தார். தொடர்ந்து மாயா பஜார் (1935), கருடகர்வ பங்கம், பாமா பரிணயம், சிந்தாமணி ஆகிய அடுத்தடுத்த படங்களில் கிருஷ்ணன் வேடத்திலேயே நடித்தார். சிந்தாமணி படத்தில் இவர் பாடிய பாடல்கள் இவருக்குப் புகழ் தேடித் தந்தன. பின்னர் அம்பிகாபதி படத்தில் கம்பன் வேடத்தில் நடித்தார். தொடர்ந்து பல படங்களில் நடித்தார்.

பாரத் பிக்சர்சு என்ற பெயரில் தனது சொந்தப் படத் தயாரிப்பு நிறுவனம் ஒன்றை சாமா ஆரம்பித்தார். இதன் மூலம் 1940 ஆம் ஆண்டில் ஷைலக் என்ற திரைப்படத்தைத் தயாரித்து வெளியிட்டார். இப்படத்தில் அவர் ஷைலக்காக நடித்தார். இப்படம் அவருக்குப் பெரும் நட்டத்தை ஏற்படுத்தியது. ஆனாலும் தொடர்ந்து சுபத்ரா அர்ஜூனா (1941), ராஜசூயம் (1942) என இரண்டு திரைப்படங்களைத் தயாரித்தார். இப்படங்களும் தோல்வியடையவே, கம்பனியை மூடி விட்டார்.[2] சிறிது காலத்தின் பின்னர் மீண்டும் படங்களில் நடிக்க ஆரம்பித்தார்.

1942-இல் ‘ஜெமினி ஸ்டூடியோஸ்’-ன் மாபெரும் வெற்றித்தயாரிப்பான ‘நந்தனார்’ படத்தில் வேதியர் கதாபாத்திரத்தில் செருகளத்தூர் சாமா

GHOST SEX,SPEECH IN EUROBE

GHOST SEX,SPEECH IN EUROBE

என்றாலும் இவை ஊர்ஜிதம் ஆன உண்மை

ஐரோப்பாவில் மந்திரம் ,ஆவியுடன் பேசுதல் ,ஆவியுடன் உறவு கொள்ளுதல் ஆகியவை 
நடைமுறையில் இருந்து வந்துள்ளன . ஆவியுடன் உறவு கொண்டு பிள்ளை பெற்ற ஒருவருக்கு 
மரணதண்டனை 1275 இல் பிரான்சில் தரப்பட்டுள்ளது

பிசாசுடன் வழக்கமாய் பாலியல் உடலுறவு கொண்டு தன் 46 வயதில் ஒரு ஓநாய் தலை மற்றும் ஒரு பாம்பு 
வால் கொண்ட பிள்ளையை பெற்றெடுத்தார் .என்று குற்றம் சாட்டியவர் உச்ச நீதிமன்ற நீதிபதி Inquisitor Hugues de Beniols

அசுரர்களின் ஒரே உணவு குழந்தைகளால் ஆனது, 
இது அங்கெல்லே டி லா பார்தேவால் கொல்லப்பட்டது அல்லது தொலைதூர தேவாலயங்களில் 
தங்கள் கல்லறைகளில் தோண்டியெடுக்கப்பட்டது

அசுரன் இரவின் நடுவில் ஓடிவிடுவதற்கு இரண்டு வருடங்கள் குழந்தைகளுக்கு உணவளித்ததாக அவர் ஒப்புக்கொண்டார் - பேயோட்டுடன் வர்த்தகமும், இதில் ஒரு நிலையான பணியாளராகவும் இருப்பதாக பெருமையடித்துக் கொண்டார்.

ஆங்கிள் டி லா பார்த் Angéle de la Bartheகுற்றவாளி எனக் கண்டறிந்து, துலூஸில் உள்ள பிளேஸ் செயிண்ட் ஸ்டீபனில் உயிருடன் எரித்தார்

ஆனால் இந்த சம்பவம் சரி என்பதை பெரும்பாலும் யாரும் ஒப்பு கொள்வதே இல்லை . என்றாலும் இவை ஊர்ஜிதம் ஆன உண்மை

Angéle de la Barthe was a prosperous woman of Toulouse, France, who was supposedly tried for witchcraft and condemned to death by the Inquisition in 1275. She has been popularly portrayed as the first person to be put to death for heretical sorcery during the medieval witch trials.

Born a noblewoman of Toulouse, France, de la Barthe was an adherent of Catharism, a Gnostic Christian sect deemed heretical by the Catholic Church. She was allegedly accused in 1275 by Inquisitor Hugo de Beniols of having sexual intercourse with the Devil (or an incubus) and giving birth to a flesh-eating monster with a wolf's head and a serpent's tail, whose sole food consisted of babies and young children. De la Barthe was accused of having either kidnapped and killed these children or of digging them up from graves, and was held responsible for the disappearance of many infants over the previous two years. Under torture, she confessed to having had sexual relations with Satan, and she was found guilty and burned alive.

Contemporary scholars have cast doubt on the truth of the Angèle de la Barthe story since there is no mention of her trial in the Toulouse records of the time and congress with demons was not yet a crime in 1275, and the 15th Century chronicle from which her story derives is now considered spurious.

Greenbrier Ghost - told the story of Zona heaster shue

Greenbrier Ghost -

told the story of Zona heaster shue

Zona Heaster Shue - The Greenbrier Ghost

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In early October 1896, 23 year old Zona Heaster met Trout Shue and instantly fell in love with the powerful 35 year old blacksmith. Though her mother vehemently objected, within weeks the two were married. Three months later Zona was dead. Her death was ruled to as accidental but rumors of murder persisted. As far as her mother, Mary Jane Heaster, was concerned the rumors were verified when Zona’s ghost appeared to her four nights in a row and told her of Trout’s cruelty. Mrs. Heaster's persistent telling of this story prompted authorities to exhume Zona’s body, and find that her neck had been broken. Trout Shue had been accused by the Greenbrier Ghost.

Date: January 23, 1897

Location:  Greenbriar, West Virginia

Victim: Zona Heaster Shue

Cause of Death:  Strangulation

Accused:  Erasmus Stribbling Trout Shue

Synopsis:

The tale of Zona Shue’s murder is a ghost story, handed down generation to generation in the oral tradition. Facts in the case are sparse; stories vary from teller to teller and often contradict each other. When supernatural elements are added to the mix they tend to push out the truth. This synopsis will be limited to verifiable facts.

Elva Zona Heaster, was born in Greenbrier County, West Virginia in 1873. She is often portrayed as pure and innocent, but in November 1895, at age 22, Zona had a child out of wedlock. On a visit to the blacksmiths shop with her family the following October, she met and became infatuated with the handsome blacksmith, Trout Shue. She returned soon after and let him know she was interested. Zona and Trout had a whirlwind courtship and were married on October 20.

Erasmus Stribbling Trout Shue was born in 1861 or 1862 in Augusta County, Virginia and grew up in Droop Mountain, West Virginia. He was as at least eleven years older than Zona. His first name was later changed to Edward, but in Greenbrier County he was known as Trout.

Zona was not his first wife; Trout had been married twice before. In 1885 he married Ellen Cutlip and in 1887 they had a daughter, Girta Lucretia Shue. In 1888 they were separated and in 1889 divorced; Girta was raised by Ellen’s parents. In 1894 Trout married Lucy Tritt and less than a year later Lucy was dead. There is no record as to how Lucy died, stories of her death range from falling on the ice while pregnant, to being hit on the head by a brick accidently dropped by Trout, to being deliberately poisoned by Trout.

In 1886, Edward Shue and his first wife lived in a cabin on Rock Camp Run, in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. Shue was a young man with a strong, well-built body. He was also a bully who beat his wife. Shue's first wife finally divorced him while he was in the penitentiary for stealing a horse.

After Shue got out of prison, it wasn't long before he married again in 1894 and set up housekeeping on the top of Droop Mountain. His second wife died under peculiar and suspicious circumstances.

Trout Shue’s life seemed to be nothing but turmoil. Between his first two marriages he was arrested for stealing a horse and spent two years in prison. After his second wife died he moved to Greenbrier County to start a new life. He found work as a blacksmith, a lucrative trade he had learned from his father. His marriage to Zona was another step toward a better life.

On January 23, 1897, just three months after the wedding, the body of Zona Heaster Shue was found at the foot of a staircase, by a neighbor boy hired by the Shues to do chores. The boy told his mother what he had seen and she sent for the doctor. Dr. George W. Knapp arrived to find that Trout had taken his wife to the bedroom and dressed her for burial. She was lying on the bed wearing a high-necked dress. Dr. Knapp began to examine the body, but it so distressed Trout that his examination was incomplete. He first reported the cause of death as “an everlasting faint” but later changed the cause to “childbirth.” If Zona was pregnant at the time of her death she had told no one.

Zona’s mother, Mary Jane Heaster, had never approved of the marriage and after the body was found she was convinced that Trout had murdered her daughter. She began to pray that Zona would come and tell her how she died. Then strange things began to happen. She washed a white sheet that had been in the coffin and the wash water turned red. The sheet turned a pink color that she could not remove. About four weeks after her daughter’s death Mary Jane began having visions. Four nights in a row, Zona’s ghost came to her and told her that Trout had abused her. The ghost told Mary Jane how she and Trout had argued the day of her death. She said thatTrout  attacked her and broke her neck. As the ghost was leaving, she turned her head around until it was completely facing backward.

Mary Jane took her story to the prosecutor, John Alfred Preston. Although he would not reopen the case for a ghost story, Mrs. Heaster was persistent enough that be began asking questions of others in town. Dr. Knapp admitted that his examination had been incomplete but he had seen bruises on her neck. Neighbors told Preston about Trout’s strange behavior at the wake. He never left the side of the coffin and never let anyone look to closely at the body. He had wedged her head in the coffin between a pillow and the sheet to keep it straight. Some said they had seen her neck flopping loosely before it was in the coffin.

The body was exhumed for reexamination. During a complete autopsy, doctors found that Zona's neck had been broken. It had been dislocated between the first and second vertebrae. Her windpipe was crushed and her neck was bruised as if she had been strangled. Following the autopsy, Trout Shue was arrested for the murder of his wife Zona.

Trial: June 23, 1897

The roadside marker for the “Greenbrier Ghost” on Route 60 in West Virginia calls it “[The] only known case in which the testimony from a ghost helped convict a murderer.” This is an exaggeration. John Preston, the attorney prosecuting Trout Shue for murder, knew full well that Mary Jane Heaster’s ghost story would not be admissible in a criminal trial, so made no mention of it. But Trout Shue’s attorney, William Rucker did bring it out when he cross-examined Mrs. Heaster. His intention was to make her appear unstable and to discredit her testimony. This did not have the desired effect on the jury, and the ghost story was not mentioned again in court.

Trout Shue’s trial lasted eight days. Though entirely circumstantial, the evidence against Shue was compelling. On the sixth day of the trial Shue took the stand in his own defense. He rambled on all afternoon but added little beyond the flat denial of all that had been said against him. The Greenbrier Independent reported “His testimony, manner, and so forth, made an unfavorable impression on the spectators." The jury deliberated for an hour and ten minutes before returning a verdict of guilty. Shue's sentence would also be determined by the jury. Although ten of the twelve jurors voted for execution, the decision was not unanimous so Trout Shue was sentenced to life in prison.

Verdict:  Guilty of first degree murder

Aftermath:

The life sentence did not please the residents of Greenbrier County who felt Trout Shue should hang for his crime. On July 11, 1897 an armed mob gathered, intent on lynching Shue. Sheriff Nickell got wind of the plot and managed to hide Shue in the woods before the mob reached the jail. He then confronted the mob and persuaded them to lay down their arms and go home. Four of them were later indicted for attempted lynching.


On July 13, 1897, Trout Shue was sent to the state penitentiary in Moundsville, West Virginia. He died there on March 13, 1900 of natural causes.

Murder[edit]

Mary Jane Heaster, Zona's mother

The couple lived peacefully for a short time, but on January 23, 1897, Zona's body was discovered at her home by a young boy who had been dispatched to the house by Shue on an errand. The boy found Zona lying at the foot of the stairs, stretched out with her feet together and one hand on her stomach. The boy ran to tell his mother, who summoned the local doctor and coroner, George W. Knapp. Knapp did not arrive for close to an hour.

By the time the doctor arrived, Shue had carried his wife's body upstairs to the bedroom, and laid her out on the bed. He dressed the corpse himself; this was unusual, as traditionally the job of washing and preparing the body for burial would be undertaken by the women of the community. Nevertheless, Shue dressed her in a high-necked dress with a stiff collar, and placed a veil over her face. Shue remained by the corpse while Dr. Knapp examined it, cradling his wife's head and sobbing. Knapp, noting the husband's grief, gave the body only a brief examination, noting some bruising on the neck. When he tried to look closer, Shue reacted so violently that Knapp[clarification needed] ended the examination and left the house.

House where the murder took place

Initially, Zona's cause of death was listed as "everlasting faint"; later, this was changed to "childbirth". Knapp had been treating her for "female trouble" for two weeks before her death, but whether she was pregnant or not is unknown.

Zona's parents were soon informed of her death. Mary Jane Heaster is reported to have said that "the devil has killed her" upon hearing the news.

Burial[edit]

Zona was buried on January 24, 1897 in the local cemetery now known as the Soule Chapel Methodist Cemetery.[2] Shue showed great devotion toward the body, keeping a vigil at the head of the open coffin during the move. The body was 'laid out' in the Heaster’s house. Soon his behavior began to arouse suspicion. During the wake, his grief changed repeatedly from overwhelming sadness to incredible energy. He allowed no one to come close to the coffin, especially while he was placing a pillow on one side of her head and a rolled-up sheet on the other.

He explained these additions by saying that they would help his wife 'rest easier'. Shue also tied a large scarf at the corpse's neck, explaining tearfully that it 'had been Zona's favorite'. When it came time to move the corpse to the cemetery though, several people noticed that there seemed to be a strange looseness to Zona’s head.

For her part, Mary Jane Heaster was convinced that her son-in-law had murdered his wife. After the wake, she removed the sheet from inside the coffin and tried to return it to him, but he refused it. She noticed an odd odor about it, so she washed it; the water in the basin turned red when she dropped the sheet in. The sheet then turned pink and the water cleared. The stain could not be removed, which Mrs. Heaster interpreted as a sign that Zona had been murdered. She began to pray, and every night for four weeks kept up her prayers, hoping that Zona would return to her to explain what had happened.