On Saturday, May 6th, my group and I decided to travel to Northumberland County in Pennsylvania to find the wolf man’s grave as the story had been told by Henry Shoemaker in his gothic tales. Henry Shoemaker tells the story of a werewolf who had grown an attachment to a human girl named May Paul, who was hunted by a neighboring villager. It was said that werewolves would travel back to his grave to pay respects to their king and the girl he loved. None of us had previously used w physical map to get around which proved a challenge and we found ourselves getting turned around a few times. Through the help of locals, we were able to find our way back and local gravesites we weren’t able to see on the map. Through research, we were able to find Himmel’s Church near Schwaben Creek which is the exact location it is rumored he was buried. Though the grave would have been unmarked so we would not know if we had found it, the adventure itself was nonetheless engaging. None of the townspeople we spoke with seemed to be familiar with the disappointing tale but it did not stop our journey.

Planning for this trip and our research in advance was the foundation that held our trip together. It was difficult to find resources outside of Henry Shoemaker as the tale of the “Line Mountain Werewolves” doesn’t seem to garner much attention, especially in modern times. It was said that during this time farmers feared the wolves that would come and steal their sheep at night. There was one family, of which May Paul was a part, that didn’t suffer from these attacks. A connection was made between the older man who would come around May and the wolves that raided the farm. According to Shoemaker’s tale, a man one day had shot an old world but the “…next day, the man went to find the wolf for the $25 reward…Instead, he found the Paul girl’s aged lover stretched out, lying on his back, shot through the heart.” After he was buried they say wolves came from all over to visit his grave and that no wolves ever bothered the Paul family’s farm. In our research we found the main places of interest being Schwaben Creek, Northumberland County, Line Mountain, and Himmel’s Covered Bridge. There were a few grave sights near churches in the Schwaben Creek area so we decided to stop there first. Following those stops we went close in town to an antique shop, with hopes that the locals there may have some information or memorabilia from the period.

The journey itself started smoothly as we stayed on one road for about an hour. Once closer to the town, and trying to navigate the different hotspots noted through the articles we’ve read in addition to local guides is where we fell into some trouble. We made it to the first grave site pretty easily but found no indication of this place’s relation to wolf-mans grave. Having no experience using a physical map and taking a trip to an unknown part of town certainly proved a challenge, but with local help, we were able to find our way. We went to about two grave sights, one called Wolf’s Cross Grave, and another named Sunbury. We saw a lot of headstones but nothing stood out particularly. After the first grave, we went closer to town to see some of the locals and ask if they may have known anything about this story. After finding a nearby antique shop we felt that if anyone were to know some old stories it would be them. We explained our trip and asked if they had ever heard of Henry Shoemaker or wolf man’s grave. Though they were not directly familiar with the story they had pointed us towards Himmel’s Church where there was a cemetery. We had recognized the name from a past article in our research as others that had traveled noted arriving in that area. After grabbing some lunch we headed towards where we were directed in collaboration with our map. After around ten minutes we arrived at Himmel’s Church which is photographed below. There was a wooded area nearby as well as a gravesite which gave us hope that this could have been where the wolf man was killed. I remember seeing that there was a death record for May Paul’s family confirming that she and her family had once lived in that county, furthering my curiosity about the foundation of this tale. I found it interesting that a baseball field was merely a few feet away from where it’s believed werewolves had once roamed. On our way out of Himmel’s Church, we did find some trouble finding our way back to Penn State since it was far away from the road we had originated. We drove in circles for a few minutes before reaching a residential area. Making a sharp turn, we came upon an older couple out on their lawn and asked for directions back to Penn State. They told us to head straight and what exit we should turn to and we were able to find our way back.

The legend we chose focused on the tale of werewolves and their interactions with humanity in the past. Inspired by the unknown, we chose to travel to the rumored grave sight of a known Pennsylvania werewolf. We were unable to find exactly the spot where he might have been buried but got pretty close to the area that the story stems from. It was something new and exciting to find myself on a supernatural hunt and relying on the people around me to endure a successful trip. Although we may not know if we made it to his grave, the exploration in itself was exciting. It forced us to rely on people and pay close attention to our surrounding areas both going and when we were lost in that area.

Himmel’s Covered Bridge