An infamous 19th-century murder in Fort Indiantown Gap resulted in a trial of six defendants who all had blue eyes. They became known as the Blue Eyed Six, given the moniker by a newspaper reporter who was attending the trial. Their murder trial, held in the county courthouse in Lebanon, received worldwide publicity and inspired Arthur Conan Doyle while he was writing "The Red-Headed League". Five of the six defendants were hanged at the county jail. One of the defendants, Franklin Stichler, was buried in an unmarked grave on his family's farm. Another defendant, Israel Brandt, a Civil War veteran, ran a rather seedy hotel along Hotel Road. The murder site along Indiantown Run, Stichler's family farm, and the hotel site were all later encompassed by the Fort Indiantown Gap installation.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
When One Thing Leads To Another
I stopped in Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania a couple of months ago and posted about phone booths. A comment about the size of the town got me wondering so I did a quick check of Wikipedia and got sidetracked by this interesting tidbit:
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9 comments:
That is one of the things I enjoy so much about traveling this country, particularly the small towns. It seems every little burg has a story in its history, if one digs a little.
Now there is a story just waiting to spin into fiction. Cool!
"Tidbits" are fantasic, aren't they. I need to do a bit of diging around up here!
Chris, I consider myself rather knowledgeable in terms of history but every once in awhile something knew, like this, pops up. And it always seems to be small towns holding the booty.
Sarah, Yeah but the master already beat us to the punch by nearly a hundred years. But I suppose there could be a story behind the story.
David, Dig away.
That is so cool. Fascinating bit of history. Thanks.
I didn't know this. The "red headed League" makes me think of Southpark and the Gingers.
Leah, you bet.
Charles, I can always count on you for unique comments. I'm not a South Park watcher, so I'll have to Google that.
That tidbit makes me want to read another Sherlock Holmes.
Sounds like a book to me. Or at least a short.
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