LOCAL LEGENDS, HOAXES, TALL TALES,
GRUESOME MURDERS, WHAT HAVE YOU

"Mrs. Rabb succeeded in passing off this fraud, with few ever discovering her trick."

"The early morning quiet of the city was disturbed, yesterday morning, with the rumor that a dreadful murder had been committed, and from mouth to mouth flew the word that the whole family of Desire Vacelet had been butchered in cold blood by tramps. In a few minutes the road leading south of the city in the direction of the scene of the tragedy was lined with vehicles, carrying hundreds of persons out to ascertain, if possible, the facts concerning the horrible deed."

"The last act of the dreadful tragedy of Wednesday night, in which the Vacelet family were murdered, took place in one of the cells of our county jail, Saturday night. When the cell of Pierre Provost, the accused murderer, was opened Sunday morning by Deputy Sheriff Henry Rumer, for the purpose of feeding the prisoner, he was met with the frightful scene of the hanging body of Provost."

"The same issue of the Western Sun reprinted a satiric letter from Mt. Carmel to the Chicago Post, purporting to explain that the cause of the delay was modifications in the airship--which the writer renamed The Vibrator--to increase its speed from 200 miles per hour to 200 miles per minute, thus enabling it to fly to the moon in eight to 10 hours."

"Pennington was unable to answer Chicago reporters’ questions about the size of the large ships or amount of cubic feet of gas necessary for them--he had forgotten the figures."

"Everyone knew it was just a matter of time before some obscure tinkerer somewhere found the right combination of design and materials and soared in his "flying machine," to become as famous as Edison or Bell - so why not at Vincennes? Or even St. Francisville, Ill.?"

"...the local railroad agent, took to heckling him about his own drinking and his airship theories. Later that night, after both had been drinking, a fight broke out, and Ellis shot and killed Hickman."

"Pennington next was the promoter of a scheme to connect the larger towns of the Indiana gas belt with an electric railway. It also failed. Pennington was well-known at Vincennes, where he tried to work one of his schemes. He was best remembered by the shortness of his coat."

"Pennington left this country about 1894, leaving his wife and several children in Arlington Place, Cincinnati. For a time his wife received long letters from Pennington, telling of the money he was making in London with his cycle motor and other wonderful schemes."

"Subsequently, the letters came less frequently..."

"Presently, he saw a squirrel come down to the water's edge and leap aboard a clapboard. He saw that squirrel hoist its tail like a sailorman would a sail, and deliberately tack out across the river."

"There is something about searching for lost treasures that makes total fools out of otherwise sensible persons. While none of these supposedly hidden treasure troves has ever been found by eager seekers, this does not seem to diminish their enthusiasm for the quest."

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EMAIL: rking@indian.vinu.edu