Kayak only cache! This is the tenth cache of the "Monster Mash Trail" series that are scattered along the scenic Pocomoke River that begins in Snow Hill, MD. The Monster Mash Trail is compiled of various monsters from movies and "real" monsters. Local legend dictates that the Pocomoke Forest, which this river runs through, is extremely haunted and has a plethora of history and lore so we thought this type of theme would be perfect! The cache is a micro that may require an extraction tool for the log. Please BYOP! Happy Hunting!
About the monster: The woodland that surrounds this river trail is known as the Pocomoke Forest and is brimming with countless accounts of hauntings whose origins can be traced back to the early settlement of the region. One of the many settlements of the lower shore is "Furnace Town" which isn't too far from this trail and has one of the most highly documented ghostly stories of the area about a man named Sampson Harmon. "Furnace Town" was a small community founded during the early part of the industrial age and thrived from 1831 to 1850 until it was abandoned due to the bog ore being harvested to near depletion and the manufacturing of iron in other parts of the state became much more economical. Once there was no more work in the town, the villagers began to quickly leave and the slaves that had been assigned to the furnace were sent elsewhere, save for Sampson Harmon who simply refused to leave the town he so loved. Sampson continued to live alone in the once bustling town and left explicit instructions that he wanted to be buried at Furnace town, but for an unknown reason his wish was ignored. This is said to be the reason why Sampson is now seen roaming the grounds of the town quite often. Reports stated that Sampson was most active during the restoration of the town when it was deeded to the Worcester County Historical Society in 1962.
There are 1,000's of accounts of ghostly activity in the Pocomoke Forest and as a result it is frequented by many paranormal investigators as well as curious locals who have grown up with stories of tragedies and mysteries within its wooded expanse. Another well-known ghost story of the Pocomoke Forest is that of the tragedy at Cellar House. In the late 1600's a highly successful French sea captain/shipbuilder built a small farmhouse on the banks of the Pocomoke river for himself and his English wife where he believed that he and his wife would enjoy quiet country-style living off of the profits from his business. His money soon dwindled and he resorted to piracy, which he also became quite accomplished at and soon began spending more time on the seas plundering then at home with his young wife. The wife waited in anguish for her husband every day by the window in her private room, laying across her bed and staring out the window that faced the west, searching eagerly for the sails of his ship. Eventually the woman was driven by loneliness into the arms of secret lover and when the husband finally came home expectantly one evening, she was caught in bed with her lover and banished from Cellar House. Now homeless and abandoned by her lover whose child she was carrying, is said to have taken refuge with her brother, William Allen, who didn't live too far from her beloved Cellar House. After the baby was born in the dead of winter, the wife saw a single candle burning in the window that she spent so much time staring out of for her smuggler husband and decided to approach the home. When the husband answered the faint knock at the door, he opened it to find his wife holding a baby that he learned wasn't his and became immediately enraged. He rejected her plea for reconciliation and sent her back out into the freezing night with the child. A short while later the Frenchmen heard his wife's screams coming from the river and rushed out to find that her small boat had capsized and her child had been swallowed by the black waters of the Pocomoke River. The wife begged desperately for help and the husband obliged, towing her shivering body onto shore and into their house where he drug her by her long, drenched hair into the master bedroom of the home. It was in that room that the wife lost her life to the madly infuriated sailor turned pirate. The Frenchmen, realizing he would be hanged for what he'd done, packed of everything of value in the Cellar House and left the lower Eastern Shore forever. The grisly scene wasn't discovered till months later by a search party that included the English woman's brother. Eyewitness accounts claim that the slain woman is now seen roaming the banks of the Pocomoke river searching for her lover and the child that she lost.
The lore and fear that surrounds the Pocomoke Forest has been passed from generation to generation for quite some time, even stretching far back to when it was first discovered by European settlers. A few examples of these stories include murdered slaves and Native Americans that roam the forest and back roads as well as a church that held a bible from which you couldn’t remove as it would grow heavier and heavier the closer you got to the exit. Despite all these reports about the ghostly nature of the Pocomoke forest we hope we haven’t scared you away! This cache is a tribute to those who may or may not be roaming the swampy forest of the Pocomoke.