Moosic Mystery: The Skeleton That Refused to Stay Buried

 

The Moosic Mountains of Lackawanna County are just a stone's throw away from the urban centers of Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, yet they still contain dark, shadowy, seemingly impenetrable places steeped in mystery dating back to Indian times. However, one of the most fascinating mysteries doesn't date back to the early settler days, but to the early 20th century, when the coal mining industry reigned supreme. It is the mystery of a skeleton of an unknown man whose bones might be scattered anywhere except the spot they were first buried in 1906.

It was July 14, 1906, when two sisters from Jessup took to the mountain a mile and a half west of Moosic Lake to pick berries. Their attention was drawn to something strange in the dense underbrush, and as they drew nearer it became obvious that they had stumbled upon the decomposed body of a man. The Kemtoski sisters raced back to Jessup and reported their discovery to the proprietor of Donnelly's Drugstore who, in turn, notified the coroner. However, the girls weren't home when Coroner James Stein arrived in Jessup, and since only they knew the location of the dead man, his hands were tied.

Of course, by this time, word of the gruesome discovery had spread throughout town, and it was believed by many that the body was that of a tramp who was often seen in the woods, but who hadn't been seen by anyone in quite some time. Unfortunately, the Kemtoski sisters weren't able to find the remote spot again, and while Coroner Stein prowled the mountains for days attempting to find the corpse, news of the Moosic Mountain skeleton had traveled far and wide. Authorities were flooded with leads of missing persons who might fit the description. One came from Edward Grimm of Ohio who feared that the skeleton was that of his father, who had been missing for over a year. Another was from Mrs. Alice Heberling of Sharon, Pennsylvania, who insisted that it was the body of her son who had gone missing after being discharged by the navy. Because no one but the young sisters had seen the corpse-- and they hadn't gotten close enough to give it a thorough examination-- there was no information go on. All they knew was that the corpse was attired in winter clothing, and the hair on what remained on the scalp was light brown in color.

Finally, on July 20, Coroner Stein located the remains. Although the head was detached from the body, the coroner could not tell whether the victim had died of natural causes or if he had been murdered. The only clue that might identify the body was a bill from the Moosic Mountain Coal Company made out to a man named John Dobick in the amount of $10.02. It was dated June 15, 1905. This proved a complete mystery; no one in the vicinity knew anyone with that name.

From the appearance of the remains, the coroner believed the body had been lying on the ground for nearly six months and that the victim had frozen to death. The skeleton was attired in two heavy pairs of trousers, long underwear and shoes. The head, which was found a few feet away from the rest of the body, was fleshless except for a scrap of scalp, and the coroner surmised that the head had been gnawed by animals. A silver watch was found nearby, and a gold pocketwatch was found inside the dead man's vest pocket. Also found was a derby hat with the top crushed in, but there was no evidence of blood or indications of foul play. The fact that the man had gold and silver watches seemed to dispel the notion that he was an immigrant miner or a wandering tramp, and if death had been caused by foul play, surely the perpetrator would have taken the jewelry.

The Undertakers' Mishap

Upon examing the remains where they lay, the coroner notified an undertaker at Dickson City and instructed him to take charge of the body. One could only imagine Coroner Stein's ire when he learned, over a week later, that the skeleton was still up on the mountain, where anyone could take liberties with it. Apparently, the Dickson City undertaker had been under the impression that an undertaker from Olyphant had buried the remains. The Olyphant undertaker, meanwhile, flatly denied ever having been told to dispose of the body. Though it was never stated, it would seem that the opinion of the Dickson City undertaker had been, "Well, Olyphant is closer, so let somebody else take care of it."

Coroner Stein then notified the county poorhouse in Blakely and Burgess Thomas J. Mack of Winton (a "suburb" of Jessup, Winton was the nearest borough to the spot in question), but neither party wanted to get involved in the matter. Why should they be saddled with the expense of burying this stranger? Again, the prevailing sentiment was, "It's not our problem, let someone else take care of it." Tired of getting the runaround and tired of waiting for someone to give the remains a proper Christian burial, Coroner Stein grabbed a shovel and, quite literally, took the matter into his own hands. He dug a shallow grave on the mountain and buried the unfortunate victim himself on July 27, in the same spot where it had been found. For two weeks the skeleton had remained on the mountain after it had been discovered by the Kemtoski sisters. 

The Resurrection of the Moosic Mountain Skeleton

On July 15, 1908-- nearly two years to the day when the Kemtoski sisters found the skeleton-- an eerily similar discovery took place near the very same spot. Once again a human skeleton was found near Moosic Lake, and once again the discovery had been made by berry pickers.  

According to the berry pickers, the head of the skeleton was found lying about ten feet away from the rest of the remains, and, from what they could tell, the corpse was that of a slender man of middle age, attired in heavy clothing. They found a pair of buckskin gloves on the hands of the skeleton, as well as the dead man's pocketwatch. At first, this find was believed to be a hoax; neither County Detective M.A. Rafter nor Coroner J.F. Saltry had heard anything about it and, like everyone else, had first learned of the discovery in the local papers.

But there was one man who had been informed about the discovery and that was Burgess Mack of Winton, one of the men who had refused to have antything to do with the skeleton that was found two years earlier. Burgess Mack, accompanied by Constable Gallagher and the berry pickers, searched the mountain for half a day. Just as the case had been in 1906, the berry pickers couldn't find the exact spot again-- there were no roads or trails in the area-- and it wasn't until July 17 when Mack and Gallagher finally located the remains. Unfortunately, they failed to locate the skull.

After locating the mysterious remains, the search party carefully marked the spot and returned to Winton, where they notified Coroner Saltry. The coroner, in turn, notified an undertaker and instructed him to take charge of the skeleton and see to its burial.

History Repeats Itself

Once again, there was a considerable dust-up over whose job it was to bury the body. Because the skeleton was found in a different township, Jessup officials refused to carry out the coroner's directive. Burgess Mack flat out told a local newpaper reporter that he "did not feel like burying the skeleton", and said that it was the job of Jefferson Township officials to carry out Coroner Saltry's order. When asked by a reporter if he thought the skeleton was the same one found in 1906, and if he agreed with the previous coroner that the man's death had been caused by freezing, Mack essentially replied that he didn't know and that he didn't particularly care.

 

 

If it seemed that Burgess Mack and Constable Gallagher didn't act very honorably, it's because history shows they were something of a corrupt pair. One of the their favorite tricks was arresting strangers in Winton without telling them of the charges, and releasing them only after they agreed to pay a small fine. On August 6, 1908, a photographer from Scranton named Jacob Abrams walked into Alderman Millar's office and filed charges of extortion against Mack and Gallagher, claiming that he had been arrested and unlawfully detained. According to Abrams' complaint, he was arrested by Gallagher while walking down the street and taken to a room in a local saloon owned by Thomas Mack and his brother. He was confronted by the burgess, who refused to tell him why he had been arrested. The burgess ordered Abrams to pay five dollars, but when the photographer refused he was thrown into the borough lock-up, where he remained for five days before agreeing to pay the bogus fine.

On the same day Burgess Mack and his constable were arrested, Chief of Police McHale of Archbald, acting under the orders of the district attorney, went to the mountain and buried the headless skeleton, this time deep enough to stay buried-- or so he hoped. The first time the skeleton was found, it had lain exposed for 13 days before burial. The second time, it remained unburied for 22 days.

Presumably, the skeleton is still there to this day in an unmarked grave not far from the shores of Moosic Lake, unless it has been dug up by ravenous animals or morbid relic hunters. The location of the dead man's skull, however-- as well as the identity of the victim-- remains a Lackawanna County mystery.

 

Sources:

Scranton Truth, July 14, 1906.
Scranton Tribune, July 21, 1906.
Scranton Times-Tribune, July 26, 1906.
Wilkes-Barre Times, July 27, 1906.
Scranton Truth, July 16, 1908.
Scranton Tribune, July 17, 1908.
Scranton Tribune, July 18, 1908.
Scranton Republican, August 6, 1908.
Scranton Tribune, Aug. 6, 1908.