‘Old Lupin’—the Headless Singing Ghost of Fishing Creek

Local historian Samuel Sener wrote about various Lancaster County superstitions in the 1905 edition of the Journal of the Lancaster County Historical Society. One story involved an older man who died along Fishing Creek inside what is now Lancaster Conservancy’s Fishing Creek Nature Preserve.

Here’s what Sener wrote:

“Prawl’s Hollow,” a lonely place in Drurnore township, this county, is haunted by . . . old Lupin, who broke his neck on Fishing Creek, can still be seen there of nights.

It was not until recently that I came across a post by Michelle Shaub in the Conowingo Lake History-Historical Photos & Discussion Facebook group that gave me more details about Old Lupin. Here’s what she wrote:

Old Lupin

About 50 years ago, when I was a child, I befriended a lady, Mrs. G, who weekended at a cabin near the mill at Fishing Creek. It was once her grandparents’ home and where her mother grew up. Mrs. G would tell her “grands” and me stories and history about the hollow. Mrs. G learned the story from her mother or grandmother.

Old Lupin was a man of color who lived here in the hollow. He was a friendly fellow whose whistles and songs could be heard long before his arrival. He made his living doing odd jobs and occasionally selling fish.

Fishing was his passion, and Old Lupin could be found in the hollow most nights. Passersby were always greeted heartily by the tuneful angler.

Early one morning, the Tinker, with his metalwares clanging to the motion of his horse-drawn wagon, found Old Lupin half-kneeling near the creek, his torso leaning forward and his neck nearly severed by a sharp jagged outcropping of schist/gneiss that is common in the hollow.

Old Lupin had lost his footing. The slide marks down the steep embankment told the story. The Tinker resumed his journey west to the mill (likely modern-day Drumore Mill), where he relayed the gruesome details of Old Lupin’s demise.

The miller and a hired hand went to retrieve Old Lupin from the hollow. When they arrived at the scene, there was Old Lupin, just as the Tinker had said, except for one thing…wild animals had taken off with his head. After looking around with no luck, they loaded his headless body and took it to his kin.

It is said that occasionally, you can hear an unknown man singing hymns at night. The sound faintly trails through the hollow as Old Lupin looks for his head.

Read More

Read this story and more in my first full-length book, Uncharted Lancaster’s Ghosts, Monsters, and Tales of Adventure. This 283-page book is packed with 64 unforgettable stories, all set right here in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Resources

• Local Superstitions
• Conowingo Lake History-Historical Photos & Discussion Facebook post by Michelle Shaub