The Mystery Skeletons of Upper Augusta Township

Upper Augusta Township

In late April of 1874 a party of workmen hired to exacavate a cellar on the property of D.R. Shipe made a startling discovery-- two human skeletons, which were examined by several prominent physicians from Sunbury and pronounced as the remains of a middle-aged man and a teenage boy.

Shipe's farm, which stood on the south side of the stretch of Mile Hill Road between Tower Road and Epler Road, was situated on a parcel of land once owned by Jacob Snyder, approximately two miles from Sunbury. Back in those days this part of the township was known as Shamokin Hill, and Shipe lived in an old farmhouse which he decided to tear down and rebuild. The skeletons were discovered buried beneath the stone foundations, in a spot where the old kitchen had stood.

The original farmhouse did not have a cellar, and since Shipe thought his new home ought to have one, he hired a labor crew under the direction of Edward Drumheller. Once the digging began one of Drumheller's workers noticed that a portion of the old foundation looked strange, as if the original stones had been torn loose and later replaced without cement or mortar. After removing a few of the stones, it was evident to the workmen that someone had hollowed out a hole, just large enough for one person to squeeze through. Perhaps intrigued by the possibility of hidden treasure, one of the workers squeezed into the cavity but, instead of discovering gold coins of valuable relics, he discovered an abundance of bones.

Considering that the remains were found less than two feet below the surface, it seemed to everyone present that the bodies had been hastily buried in a shallow grave, and who would do such a thing but a cold-blooded murderer?

Drumheller, who also happened to be the proprietor of the City Hotel, found two sets of old-fashioned iron boot heels among the bones, one large and the other small. He believed that these boot heels belonged to two men, one who must have been older and another who must have been a child. This detail was remarkable, Drumheller thought, because it seemed to shed some light on a decades-old mystery which Drumheller's own father played a part in.

According to Mr. Drumheller, sometime around 1839, two traveling peddlers dropped by his father's hotel in Washington Township to seek lodging for a few weeks. These men, stated Drumheller, were about forty and eighteen years old, respectively, and gave their names as Black and Fronck. One morning the two salemen left for Danville to transact some business, leaving behind a chest of personal items at Drumheller's place. Since they were going to Danville on foot-- a distance of about eleven miles-- they had gone to a local blacksmith named Latshaw to have extra iron put on the heels of their boots.

Unfortunately, Black and Fronck never returned from their trip, and were last seen at the Conrad Hotel in Lower Augusta Township, which, at the time, was owned by Elias Emerick. After failing to return for their personal effects, Drumheller distributed the items among the neighbors as "mementos" of the two missing peddlers.

But, if the bones found beneath Mr. Shipe's foundation really were those of Black and Fronck, who had carried out the ghastly deed? And why?

Once word of the discovery spread throughout the township, wild rumors began to circulate. It was recalled that the property's former owner, Jacob Snyder, had fathered several boys-- one of whom lost his mind and hanged himself on the premises years earlier. As for Snyder's other children, they had all moved away and were believed to be somewhere out west.

Daniel Hile, a former resident of Northumberland County, came forward with his own peculiar story. According to Hile, about thirty-five years earlier he was living in the vicinity of Shamokin Hill, just down the road from the farmhouse. One night, a peddler who had been lodging at the Snyder house had knocked on Hile's door, claiming that he was about to be killed. The peddler said that he had overheard an angry argument, and one of the Snyder boys said that he was going to murder someone. The peddler, believing that he was the intended victim, surreptitiously fled from the house and sought refuge at Hile's home, where he remained until the following morning.

It was also learned that there were a few people by the name of Fronck living in Danville, one of whom later admitted to having an uncle who hadn't been seen in thirty-five years. Interestingly enough, the Fronck in question also happened to be a merchant.

Although the evidence seems to suggest that the two peddlers who disappeared in 1839 turned up beneath Mr. Shipe's foundation in 1874, the true identities of the two men have never been proven. And if these men were indeed the long-lost peddlers, Black and Fronck, their cold-blooded killer has never been identified, either.