The legend of the Wizard Clip is a popular ghost story that relates an incident that occurred in Middleway, West Virginia in the 1790's. The story of the Wizard Clip is part of the oral history of the area, and was called by Rev. Alfred E. Smith, editor-in-chief of the Baltimore Catholic Review and secretary to the late Cardinal Gibbons, "The truest ghost story ever told".[1]
In around 1790 a Pennsylvanian named Adam Livingston moved from Lancaster County, PA to what was then the town on Smithfield, Virginia. Smithfield has since been renamed Middleway, and is located in Jefferson County, WV. In around 1794, a traveling stranger boarded at the Livingston house where he took ill. The stranger asked Mr. Livingston to bring a Catholic priest. The area was mostly devoid of Catholics and no priest could be found, and the Lutheran Livington was not enthusiastic about finding one. Ultimately, the stranger died of his illness and was buried nearby without the benefit of a Catholic service.[2]
Immediately after the passing of the stranger, candles would not stay lit in the room where his corpse was. In subsequent days, many annoyances were experienced around the Livingston house, including the sounds of horses galloping, crockery breaking for no apparent reason, and burning embers jumping from the fireplace hearth. Subsequently, these annoyances were replaced by the sounds of heavy shears making a clipping noise in various parts of the house. with the clipping sounds, all sorts of materials - fabric, sheets, and boots were clipped with half-moons and other figures. These manifestations continued over a period years, causing great distress to the Livingston family. One often repeated tale is of a visitor who wrapped her new silk cap in a handkerchief to keep it safe while in the Livingston house, but when she left, she found the cap had been cut to ribbons.[2]
Several Catholic parishes had recently been founded in nearby towns by Father Dennis Cahill, an immigrant Irish priest. After some inquiries, a now distraught Mr. Livingston was directed to the church in Shepherdstown, WV where he implored Father Cahill to visit his house to investigate the anomalies. Initially, Father Cahill sprinkled holy water about the house. This did not cause the clippings to cease, but some of the manifestations changed, and a sum of money that had previously gone missing was deposited on the threshold of the house. Later, Father Cahill returned with Reverend Prince Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin, who had heard of the tale of the 'Clip' at his home on Conewago, PA. Together they performed a mass at the house, after which the haunting ceased.[3][4]
Prince Galitzin wrote of his experience at the Livingston home as early as 1839.[4] Regardless of one's belief in ghost stories, history shows that Adam Livingston believed the story. In 1802, Livingston deeded 35 acres of his land along the Opequon Creek to the Catholic Church as "A field to sustain a priest" for favors granted.[5] This parcel has since been known as 'The Priest's Field'. In 1983, the Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston dedicated the Priest Field Pastoral Center on the site.[6]
^Wood, Don C. (October 28, 2007). "The mystic of Priest's Field". The Martinsburg Journal. Martinsburg, WV. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
^ abLaidley, W.S. (January 1904). ""WIZZARD CLIP" (Wizard Clip)". West Virginia Historical Magazine Quarterly. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
^Dichtl, John (May 2008). Frontiers of Faith: Bringing Catholicism to the West in the Early Republic. University Press of Kentucky. p. 114,115. ISBN978-0813124865.
Bates, Robert L. The Story of Smithfield (Middleway), Jefferson County, West Virginia, 1729–1905, Endicott, New York, 1958.
Finotti, Joseph Maria. The Mystery of the Wizard Clip, Baltimore, Maryland, Piet and Company, 1879.
100 Year Old Story of Wizard Clip," WV Hillbilly, 8-28-1965.
Catholic Service Ends Contest Arising Over Haunted Farm," Baltimore Sun, 11-5- 1922.
Mystery Befuddles the Mind, Frustrates the Rational," Washington Star, 10-31- 1978.
Eerie Tale of 'The Wizard Clip, I, II, III," Beckley Post Herald, 1-14, 15, 16-1969.
Legend of Conspiracy? Were the Strange Happenings of Wizard Clip the Doings of Demons or Men?" Martinsburg Journal, 5-12-1984.
Sketch of Manifestations of Wizard Clip Recently Found in an Old Volume, Gazette, 10-21- 1922.
Wizard Clip: Historic Scene of Haunted Occurrences Researched by Sate Resident," Bluefield Daily Telegraph, 9-7-1980.
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