“Off railroads, bus lines and main highways in Jefferson County West Virginia lies a charming little Village of about 300 inhabitants. This town has 3 names: Smithfield, Middleway and Clip— the last and best known being derived from the famous manifestations of the “Clipping Spook.””
The Clipping Spook
The village of Middleway, West Virginia, is a community with a population of less than 500 people. Though the area was first settled back in the early 18th century, it has its place in history because as the home of legend that dates back to the late 1700s when a local farmer and his family became the victim of poltergeist-like activity.
A historic marker stands there in the community today, describing the infamous events as quote: “After the 1794 death of a stranger at Livingston Farm, Mysterious Noises and clippings of garments frightened Middleway Residents for years.” This is the mysterious, and highly documented legend of Wizard Clip.
Additional Links From This Episode:
Sources:
Brownson, Sarah M. Life of Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin: Prince and Priest. New York: Fr. Pustet & Co., 1873. GoogleBooks.
Dallaire, Glenn. “The Wizard Clip - Adam Livingston’s Miraculous Conversion.” Miracles of the Church (blog). November 2011. https://www.miraclesofthechurch.com/2011/11/wizard-clip-adam-livingstons-miraculous.html.
Dallaire, Glenn. “The Wizard Clip & Mystic Voice - Newspaper Article from 1926.” Mystics of the Church (blog). February 2014. https://www.mysticsofthechurch.com/2014/02/the-wizard-clip-mystic-voice-newspaper.html.
Finotti, Joseph M. The Mystery of the Wizard Clip. Baltimore, MD: Kelly, Piet, and Company, 1879. Archive.org. https://archive.org/details/mysteryofwizardc00fino.
Grundhauser, Eric. “The Ghost Story Behind a Bucolic Catholic Retreat Center.” Atlas Obscura. November 7, 2017. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/wizard-clip-west-virginia-priest-field.
Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. The Big Book of West Virginia Ghost Stories. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot, 2014.
Harvey, George, ed. “A Ghost that Advertised a Town.” Harper’s Weekly, 54 (January 1, 1910): 33. GoogleBooks.
Hauck, Dennis William. Haunted Places: The National Directory. New York: Penguin, 2002.
Helentjaris, Diane R. “A Look Back at the Catholic Ghost Of Wizard Clip.” Religion Unplugged. October 29, 2019. https://religionunplugged.com/news/2019/10/29/the-catholic-ghost-of-wizard-clip.
“The Historic Village of Middleway, West Virginia.” Middleway Conservancy Association. Accessed October 7, 2022. https://middlewayconservancy.org.
Huntington, Jedediah Vincent. Alban, Or a History of a Young Puritan, Vol. 2. New York: Redfield, 1853. GoogleBooks.
Musick, Ruth Ann. The Telltale Lilac Bush and Other West Virginia Ghost Tales. Lexington KY: The University Press of Kentucky, 1976.
Whitney, Annie Weston and Caroline Canfield Bullock. Folk-Lore from Maryland. New York: The American Folk-Lore Society, 1925. GoogleBooks.
Wilson, Patty. Haunted West Virginia: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Mountain State. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot, 2019.
