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| Salem Cemetery |
Originally called Salem
Church Cemetery this burial ground has been in use since Ohio’s pioneer days.
It is located in Belmont County amidst the Egypt Valley wilderness area.
It got its name from the
church that once stood across from it. Vandals burned down this church in the
1960s. This isolated area is prone to vandalism so during the hunting season
people are posted at Salem Cemetery to protect the area.
This cemetery has two ghosts
that wander through it. One was a murderer the other was his victim.
In 1869 Louiza Fox was a
13-year old girl who lived with her family in this sparsely populated corner of
Ohio in Kirkwood Township.
The main industry in the area
was coal mining.
Thomas D. Carr was a coal
miner and a much older man than Louiza. The two met when Carr visited his
employer--Alex Hunter’s home. Louisa was employed as a domestic servant.
Carr was attracted to her and
despite their difference in age quickly obtained the Fox’s permission to marry
their daughter.
But they changed their minds
when they heard about Carr’s bad reputation and propensity for violence.
Born in Sugar Hill, West
Virginia Carr enlisted at the age of 15 in the Confederate infantry. He was
captured at Cheat Run WVA and held in a POW camp.
Finding out about his
“notorious character” Louisa’s parents broke their promise to Carr. They
cancelled the wedding.
Carr became enraged when he
found Louiza also wanted to end their engagement.
On the night of January 21,
1869 Carr waited behind a fence along the route Louiza walked home from work.
He waylaid her with her younger brother Willy.
Carr approached the siblings
and sent Willy on ahead stating he needed to talk to his ex fiancé. He then kissed Louiza goodbye and slit her throat with a razor and stabbed her
fourteen times.
He dumped her body in a
nearby ditch. Willy saw the whole thing from a distance. He told his family
what happened and a posse was quickly formed to search for Carr.
The next morning Carr
attempted to commit suicide by slashing his throat and shooting himself but he
was found alive and arrested.
The formidable Judge Way
presided over an exciting 5-day trial. When his death sentence was handed down
Carr laughed and stated he did “not care a damn if it was to be tomorrow.”
On March 8, 1870 while
waiting to be hung Carr made a full confession. He also admitted to killing 14
other people. This makes him one of the 1800’s most prolific serial killers.
While being held Carr became
a morbid celebrity. He entertained two female teenage visitors whom had crushes
on him--the 1800 version of murder groupies.
He gave these two girls
pictures of himself and his rings. He told them “they would all meet in
heaven.”
Carr’s hanging was delayed by
a “legal technicality” but he was finally hanged on March 21, 1870. He was the
first person to be legally hanged in Belmont County.
Louiza’s worn headstone in
Salem Cemetery reads:
Louiza Catherine
Daughter of John E. & Mary A,
Fox
Murdered by Thomas Carr
Jan. 21, 1869
Aged 13 years 11 months
and 13 days
There is also a marker at the
spot where Louiza was murdered--it notes the same information her gravestone
has.
Both Louiza’s and Carr’s
ghosts have been seen wandering the Valley.
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| Louiza's gravestone |
Louiza’s ghost tends to
linger near her gravestone. She is heard crying near this spot. She is also
seen on Starkey Road near the place where she was murdered. This spot is just a
mile away from her burial site.
Carr was buried on the
grounds of the county courthouse in St. Clairsville were he was executed. But
this hasn’t stopped his ghost from wandering around the cemetery and valley
where he once lived.
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