Every Friday and Saturday in October, walking tours take off through town to tell tales of the harrowing history of West Chester’s most haunted places. Each tour meets at the steps of The Lincoln Tea Room at 8pm where Malcolm Johnstone, the executive director of the West Chester Business Improvement District, tells the tale of the ghost who resides within the building... Photo Adam Jones
The Laughing Ghost I
Malcolm Johnstone Tells the Haunting Tale of West Chester’s Most Expressive Apparition
t’s been said that nearly every old building in the Borough is haunted. Ask any resident and you’re likely to hear stories of unexplained sounds, smells, items that mysteriously move, and that very real feeling that you are not alone. For the most part, these phantoms we live with are anonymous, giving us scant information as to who they are–or were. That is not true of the ghost that haunts the Lincoln Building at the corner of West Market and Wilmont Mews–we know exactly who haunts that building. The ghost is that of John Tully, an unfortunate soul who, as the Revolutionary War wound down in the 1780s, made a meager living taking odd jobs whenever he could. He was also known as a petty thief, although never convicted of any crimes... until 1788. It was in 1788 that John Tully was arrested for stealing a horse, a crime that was, at that time, considered among the most onerous. He was taken before the judges at the newly built Chester County Courthouse and quickly given a sentence in five parts. First, John had to pay a fine of 25 American Pounds, the currency of the day, perhaps equal to an entire year’s wages for the poor man. Second, he must serve six months in the county jail. Third, he must be tied to a pillory behind the courthouse in an area just behind where the current historic courthouse now stands on Market Street. Fourth, he was sentenced to receive 31 lashes “well laid on” lashes of the whip. And finally, his ears would be cut off and pinned to the pillory to serve as an example to others as to what happens to thieves. After being cut down from the pillory, laid on a cot, and taken
to a jail cell, one can imagine that John Tulley wasn’t doing well. He writhed on his cot, moaning from the pain of the lashes and disfigurement. All the moaning was quite a bother to the sheriff, so he ordered that John Tully be hauled across the road to spend the night alone in a small shed that had been erected where the Lincoln Building now stands. But John Tully made his presence known. His moans grew louder as the night wore on. Then, adding to the discomfort of those at the jail, he began to make what sounded like a chuckle. As the sheriff and jailer listened, the chuckles turned to laughter. And then the laughing turned to howling. The sheriff and jailer said nothing to each other, only winced as the howling tore through the night. When dawn finally arrived, and the laughing and howling abruptly stopped, the jailer was sent to check on Tully. As he entered the shed, the jailer saw that his prisoner was perfectly still. Dead still. In fact, his body was cold and stiff, the results of rigor mortis that sets in hours after death. How could this have happened? Only moments before, John Tully’s howling and laughing was loud enough to wake the dead. A doctor was called, the death was confirmed, and John Tully was buried in the place he had died. His bones remain there to this day. As for his spirit, it continues to haunt the Lincoln Building where, late at night, when it should be very quiet, you can hear the howls of John Tully, the ghost of the man who died laughing. For more information about haunted ghost tours, check out the West Chester Business Improvement District’s website at www.downtownwestchester.com.
October 2012 | thew cpres s.com
WCP 10.12.1.indd 33
33
9/20/2012 4:36:06 PM