Sloss Furnaces: A Living Hell

For years, Birmingham, Alabama, police have received calls from concerned citizens that they witnessed unexplained activity at Sloss Furnaces Historical Landmark.

Sloss Furnaces opened in 1882 and operated for 89 years, producing high-quality pig iron. The steel that came from these furnaces was then used to built railroads, skyscrapers, and bridges during America’s industrial revolution.

Milton iron flowing from a Sloss Furnace.

The human cost to produce this steel was high. The work conditions at Sloss were unbearable and dangerous. The workers were never given breaks or holidays.

“During the stifling summer months temperatures throughout the plant would reach more than 120 degrees. Lack of sleep, the heat and low visibility made working the furnace literally a “living hell” and only the poorest workers—immigrants—desperate for employment, would work it.”

One foreman that worked at Sloss made these horrendous conditions even worse. James “Slag” Wormwood ran the graveyard shift.

Slag to impress his bosses drove his men hard. He often demanded they take unnecessary and dangerous risks. The reason for this was to speed up production.

Under Wormwood’s management, 47 men lost their lives. This was ten times the fatality rate than any other shift. On top of this, countless men were injured in accidents, which left them unable to work.

In one accident alone in 1888, one explosion left six men burned and blind.

Big Alice

In October of 1906, Slag Wormwood fell from the top of the highest furnace—known as Big Alice—into a giant pool of smelting ore. His body dissolved within seconds. 

According to one legend, this wasn’t an accident. Workers may have assisted his fall.

Ever since there have been sightings of Slag’s spirit at Sloss Furnaces. His ghost is seen as an evil tormentor.

Past employees of the plant have shared numerous stories. Most involve them being shoved from behind by unseen hands. A typical report is they heard a voice scream, “get back to work.”

The Sloss Furnaces former night watchman, Samuel Blumenthal, tells one story that happened to him in 1971. This was the night before the plant shut down production.

He states he found himself. “face to face” with the “most frightening thing he had ever seen.” He described this figure as “evil.” He stated it was “half-man/half-demon.”

This figure tried to push him up the stairs he was standing on. When Blumenthal refused, it proceeded to beat him with its fists.

Later, when a doctor examined him, he found Blumenthal was covered in “intense burns.”

This haunting continues today, as evidenced by all the reports the police receive from concerned citizens.

The haunted tunnel at Sloss.

Slag Wormwood’s ghost is not the only entity seen at Sloss, other spirits are believed to be those who lost their lives at the plant. They are most often seen and heard near where they died.

Sloss Furnaces have been preserved for public use. The site has a museum and hosts a nationally recognized metal arts program. Tours are given of what remains of the plant. At Halloween, a haunted attraction called Sloss Fright Furnace is held.

Two Sycamores

Moonlit sycamores

Even though the following is a legend, several elements of this story are true. Elias Caudlill, a Kentucky pioneer, first wrote it down in his diary in 1780.

Many Native Americans call the sycamore tree the  “ghost of the forest.” This tree has cream-colored markings on both its trunk and branches giving it a skeletal appearance—especially when viewed in the moonlight.

There are several spooky Indian tales about sycamore trees. One of these was told for generations among the Shawnee Indians in east-central Kentucky.

They believed two sycamore trees that grew near the Licking River along the old Warriors Path—the earliest land route across the state—were haunted. Later, when the white settlers moved in, this path was known as the Wilderness Road.

Warriors Path

The Shawnee were careful to avoid these two trees. They observed that birds did not nest in them, and all the animals stayed clear. It was not unusual to find dead birds within the branches or dead animals near these twin trees.

The tribe believed the reason for this haunting was connected to one of their ancestral maidens and a captured Cherokee warrior 200 years ago.

The Shawnee had wounded this young brave during a battle. The young Cherokee brave was seen as courageous, so instead of killing him the Shawnee took him to one of their villages along the Ohio River.

As he slowly recovered the Shawnee Chief’s daughter caught his eye. The pair, despite being “enemies,” fell in love. They realized their tribes would frown upon their wish to marry, so they decided to run away together.

Knowing they would be killed if captured, they stole away one night. They headed west along the Warriors Path, but on the fourth night, they heard a dog barking. They knew their pursuers were gaining on them. They quickened their pace, but both were exhausted.

Shawnee warrior

As night fell, a storm moved in. The girl’s father and his warriors were catching up. The angry Shawnee reached them just as the couple came to the bank of the Licking River.

A bright streak of lightning flashed across the sky, followed by a loud clap of thunder as their pursuers drew near. Several Shawnee warriors were knocked off their feet by the lightning bolt.

This same bolt ripped a large hole in the ground where the young couple stood. No trace of them was ever found.

As the years passed, the tribe noticed two large sycamore trees grew out of this hole. Several stated when the wind blew, the branches of these two trees would appear to caress each other.

When a storm rushed down the river others noted that the larger of the two trees seemed to sway down as if protecting the smaller one.

When the first white settlers moved into the area, they scoffed at this old Indian tale about these two trees were haunted. One naïve young man decided to prove that he was not afraid.

Pioneers in Kentucky

He swung his ax intending to cut down the smaller of the two trees, but as he turned his blade, it glanced off the tree and sliced his leg open instead. He bled to death.

A few days later another pioneer was found mysteriously hung, swinging between two limbs of the larger tree.

Another dead man was found the next morning sitting against the trunk of the smaller sycamore. There were no marks on his body, and his expression indicated he had died of fright.

These three strange deaths unnerved the pioneers, and they wondered if there wasn’t some truth to the Indian tale. They all agreed to avoid the two sycamores.

Licking River

The Wilderness Road along the Licking River eventually was reclaimed by nature. It was lost to briars and underbrush, and the old Indian tale was forgotten.

These two trees stood on the bank of the Licking River until 1921. The larger tree, without apparent reason, began to shrivel and then dried out and died. Within months the smaller tree followed suit. It fell and lay across the larger sycamore.

Elias Caudill’s diary mentions the twin sycamores along the Licking River. It also states the Shawnee Indians warned the white settlers about these two trees. He shares the deaths of the three pioneer men—which I describe above.

Haunted Winter Quarters Mine

Winter Quarters Mine

May 1, 1900, was a bright sunny day Scofield, Utah. This town had been established in 1875 after rich deposits of coal were found in the area.

At 10:28 a.m., the residents of the town heard a deafening explosion. A stray spark had ignited coal dust deep within the mine.

Wives and daughters rushed to the Winter Quarters mine #4 to find only 104 men still alive—seven of them severely injured.

Father and Son killed in
disaster.

Another a hundred and ninety-nine men were killed, one hundred in the initial explosion and ninety-nine were killed by poisonous gases that leaked into the #1 mine.

This was the worst coal mining accident in American history, a hundred and five women were left widowed, and two hundred and seventy children were left without their fathers.

Rubble at the mouth of mine after the explosion.

Men from all over came to help with the rescue efforts. Many of the bodies found were burned beyond recognition or mutilated to the point where they could not be properly identified.

Graveside service after the disaster.

When these bodies were buried in the northwest quadrant of the local cemetery—many were buried under the wrong names.

This mine remained in operation for twenty-eight more years. After this disaster, the Pleasant Valley Mine Company that owned the Winter Quarters mine was plagued with problems.

These troubles all stemmed from the fact, the miners after the 1900 explosion firmly believed the mine and the nearby cemetery was haunted.

This belief was well documented in the newspapers of the time.

Within the first year after this disaster, forty to fifty miners stated that they had seen a ghost in the mine. In this same year, 1901, all the miners at Winter Quarters went out on strike—their reason was the mine was haunted.

The Pleasant Valley Mine Company scrambled to do damage control—they were worried they would not be able to find men willing to work in the mine—so they cited “safety conditions” as the reason for this strike.

But the numerous newspaper reports at the time belied their reason.

In 1901, various articles in the Anaconda Standard, The Salt Lake Herald, Fort Wayne Daily News and the Utah Advocate all mentioned the strange activity these men had seen and heard.

The local miners also felt the nearby cemetery was haunted. They refused to go into this graveyard after dark because strange blue lights had been seen around the mine disaster victim’s headstones.

Scofield Cemetery

But what they saw and heard deep within the mine was more disturbing. Most of this activity was experienced where the deceased had been found.

It occurred everyday oddly between the hours of 12:00 and 2:00 p.m. Even before the strike, many of the men had refused to enter Winter Quarters during these two hours.

They heard cries and moans without source, and many saw the apparition of a miner believed to be a Scotsman by the name of Sandy McGovern, whose body was the last to be recovered.

His head blown off in the explosion was never found. So his ghost when seen was headless.

One miner was said to become hysterical after he heard a voice state, “Go back, go back.” He rushed out of the mine and had to be sedated. He refused to return to work after this.

McGovern’s ghost was seen in various shafts. Miners reported looking over their shoulders only to see Sandy’s headless body standing close behind them.

Drivers that led the mule driven coal cars out of the mine reported seeing this headless figure sitting next to them—it would only disappear as they reached the sunlight or entrance to the shaft.

Here is a sample of a newspaper article that appeared in the Utah Advocate in January of 1901.

“Several of them (miners) heard strange and unusual noises, and those favored with a keener vision than their fellow workmen have actually seen a headless man walking about the mine and according to their statements have accosted the ghost and addressed it or he.

At other times the headless man would get aboard the coal cars to which mules and horses are worked and ride with the driver to the mouth of the tunnel when he would mysteriously vanish and again reappear in the mine. Many supposedly intelligent men have claimed this, and some forty have thrown up their jobs in consequence.

These same people and others have seen mysterious lights in the graveyard on the side of the hill where many victims of the explosion of May are buried . . .

Tombstones, where the light appeared, have been blanketed but the light remains clear to the vision of those who watch from town. The ghost of the mine is known among the workmen as ‘Sandy McGovern.’”

Excerpt from Ghost Stories of the Rocky Mountains by Barbara Smith

The Magpie Mine

This mine is known for being both cursed and haunted.

Magpie Mine

The Magpie mine is located in the Peak District of Derbyshire. It is just south of the village of Sheldon.

The mine is shut down today, but many visitors come to see it on the weekends. It is a well-preserved example of the lead mining industry history in the district.

The Magpie was mined for 300 years. Trouble came to the district in the 1820s and 30s when a dispute occurred over one vein of lead.

Miners from the nearby mines, Maypitt, and Red Soil would periodically break through on each other’s workings. When this happened, one side would light a fire underground to smoke the others out.

Tragically, in 1833, a fire lit by the Magpie miners caused 3 Red Soil miners to die.

These Magpie miners were then tried and acquitted of the charge of murder because of “lack of intent” and “conflicting evidence.”

It is said the three widows of the Red Soil miners bitter about this verdict placed a curse on the Magpie mine.

Many felt this curse took hold for after this trial for murder, floods, and fire plagued the Magpie. In 1880, the Magpie Mining Company even changed its name in an attempt to rid the mine of this curse.

Magpie Mine on limestone uplands.

In 1835, the mine plagued by floods and people’s belief in this curse was closed down. It reopened in 1839 and continued to produce lead until its final closing in 1954.

A side story to the curse is the fact that after the three Red Soil miners lost their lives the Magpie gained a reputation as being haunted—supposedly by these three unfortunate men.

One well-documented encounter with this activity occurred in 1946.

A survey team working in the Magpie spotted a man holding a candle further down the shaft. This figure vanished as they watched it.

Later this team took a photograph that shows a ghostly figure standing on top of a deep pool of water.

Guinness Family Curse

This Irish family it is said has been plagued by a curse through several generations.

Arthur Guinness founded the Guinness Brewery in 1759. He amassed a great fortune. Ten of his 21 children died.

After his death, several of his grandchildren also experienced misfortune. Several died of alcoholism and two died while in a mental institution.

Other heirs, not inheriting their Grandfather’s business acumen, ended their lives in poverty.

As more misfortune hit this family during the Second World War rumors started to spread the Guinness’ were cursed.

The Stern Gang, a Zionist terror group murdered Lord Moyne, a British minister to the Middle East, in Cairo in 1944.

Shortly before WWll ended, another member of the family, Edward Guinness the heir to the family fortune was killed in action.

The curse continued to plague the family. In 1978, the family experienced four deaths. Lady Henrietta Guinness jumped off an aqueduct in Spoleto, Italy.

A pint of Guinness
Today, 10 million pints are sold
every day.

In June of this same year a young Guinness heiress drowned in a bathtub while trying to inject heroin.

In the same month, Major Dennys Guinness, aged 44 was found dead in Hampshire of an apparent suicide.

In August, John Guinness an aide to British Prime Minister James Callaghan survived a head-on car collision in Norfolk but his four-year old son John was killed.Yet another son was injured badly.

Before this, Lady Henrietta’s cousin Tara Browne died in a car crash in Chelsea in 1966.

In 2005, the latest victim of this family curse died. Robert Hesketh, 48 was married to the daughter of the Guinness heir, Lord Moyne. Hesketh died in his sleep of a heart attack.

Click to enlarge.

In an interview published in the The Glasgow Herald, in July of 1978, Jonathan Guinness, the vice-president of the brewery adamantly denies that his family is cursed. He states the tragic deaths are just coincidences.

Famous Curses Through History, Part ll

The Cursed Wedding

Maria Vittoria

Maria Vittoria del Pozzo, the sixth Princess della Cisterna, is said to have had a cursed wedding.

When Prince Amedeo of Savoy announced he was going to wed Maria, his father, King Vidor Emmanuel ll of Italy was against the marriage.

The main reason for this was he felt his son could make a better match. After all, Maria was a mere Duchess consort without a royal birth.

Despite his father’s objections, Prince Amedeo married Maria in May of 1867. Their wedding day, at every turn, was doomed and many connected to it appeared to be cursed.

Prince Amedeo

The morning of the wedding the bridal party discovered the woman who was responsible for the wedding dress had committed suicide--she hanged herself.

Maria being superstitious chose another gown to wear.

As the bridal party made its way from the palace to the church, the colonel that was chosen to lead the procession fell off his horse and died of sunstroke.

With his replacement, the party continued, but the palace gates for some reason would not open. When the gatekeeper was sent for he was found dead in a pool of blood.

Immediately after the wedding, the best man toasted the wedding party by shooting himself in the head.

The party then left for the train station but once at they arrived the man who drafted the marriage contract had internal bleeding in the brain and died.

After this, the stationmaster was pulled under the wedding carriage or “car” and died. This brought the death total to 5.

The King now worried about the cost of all these funerals and not wanting anything else to happen, demanded everyone return to the palace.

As the wedding party exited the train the Count of Castiglione also got pulled under the wedding carriage, the medallion that he wore was crushed into his body--stabbing him in the heart.

This couple lived together for the next ten years. Maria died at the age of 29 during childbirth.

The Forever 27 Club Curse

Amy Winehouse is the latest talented musician who died young becoming a member of this club in 2011.

Members of the 27 club are famous, talented musicians who all died at the age of 27.

The 27 Forever Club

This curse supposedly started with Robert Johnson who died in 1938 at the age of 27. Vicious rumors stated that he made a pact with the Devil so that he could make “great music.”

Robert Johnson

Johnson is credited with inventing the Blues.

Since it is said, others have fallen “unaware” to this curse. Among these include Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, and Jim Morrison--whose ghost I write about here.

All these artists made a difference in each of their generations.

Jones drowned in a pool, Hendrix was asphyxiated by his own vomit, Joplin and Morrison both died of drug overdoses, and Cobain shot himself in the face.

Another recent musician who fell victim to this curse and died at the age of 27 was Lily Tembo. She was a famous artist in Zambia. She died in 2009.

In Part l of Famous CursesThrough History read about two other curses, one involving a disturbed tomb and another about a disturbed grave.

The Navajo Chindi, Part ll

This is the story of the Long Salt family a Navajo clan who were cursed by a chindi--an evil spirit--set upon them by one who was wronged. This case is well documented.

This evil spirit pursued and exacted its revenge on the Long Salts for over 100 years.

An Angry Spirit

The families’ ordeal started in 1825. One member became ill when he could not sleep. He was having nightmares.

The angry spirit of a man he had killed was tormenting him because he was slain before he could sing his death song.

The man’s brothers told him that he should let it go for he had killed this man in a fair fight--recognized by the tribe-- so it was not his fault.

But the man felt he would surely die if something was not done to appease this troubled spirit.

The Long Salt family sought help from an old, blind priest from the Tsegi country. This priest then held a 3-day b’jene or sing over the afflicted brother.

On the final day the ill man sighed in relief, he stated his gratitude for the troubled spirit had departed and he now could sleep peacefully.

The old priest requested the Long Salts butcher 5 sheep for him as payment. His request was fair for the powerful Long Salt Clan numbered in the 100s and had many sheep.

But the two Long Salt men who were assigned to slaughter these sheep had other ideas. The old priest’s village was a considerable distance from their flocks so taking a short cut they butchered 5 wild antelope instead. They felt the priest being blind would not know the difference.

The elder Long Salt that presented the 5 carcasses to the priest was also unaware that antelope had been substituted for the sheep. The two men had cut off the heads and the legs at the knees so he was deceived as well.

The Long Salt Curse

A few weeks after the payment an older member of the clan died suddenly even though he had not been ill. Then a young robust male died for no reason.

As the Long Salt members and young widow mourned these deaths in song they began to feel something was not right. Soon after a pattern began.

Every few weeks another member would become ill, waste away and die. It became obvious to the wiser members that a chindi had been set against them, but why?

The two men who had substituted the antelope finally came forward and confessed. The family council agreed that they must ask the old priest how they could rectify the situation.

The priest told them he had become angry when he discovered the deception. He acknowledged that he had set a chindi against them--its task was to eliminate them one by one.

They explained they had not meant to cheat him. They begged him to call off the avenging spirit.

The old priest believed they were sincere but warned them that to uphold his reputation he would have to appease the spirit world. The Long Salts told him they would pay whatever the price.

The priest sent them away stating he was tired and needed to figure out what a proper compensation would be. He told them to return in 10 days.

Unfortunately, when the Long Salts returned they were informed the old priest had died. They asked his son if he knew if his father had called off the curse before he died.

To their horror, they were not able to determine if the curse had been lifted. By the time they returned home, several members of the family lay ill and dying.

1925 Interview

In a 1967 August/September issue of the Frontier Times, John R. Winslow wrote he had met the last surviving member of the Long Salt clan in 1925--100 years later.

He talked to Alice, a slender teenager:

“Curiously, anyone marrying into the family met the same fate as a blood Long Salt. Alice’s mother died when the girl turned seven and she was attending the Tuba City boarding school at the Indian agency. Alice’s father became skin and bones, dying two years later. The remaining three Long Salts--Alice’s two uncles and an aunt--were ill, crippled, and helpless. Friends cared for them, watching them fade into nothing before their eyes.”

A Navajo man named Hosteen Behegade adopted Alice. He swore to protect her from the chindi’s mission. He kept them on the move hoping the spirit could not find them.

But in the winter of 1928, still wandering, a blizzard hit the Hogan they were staying in 3 miles from the trading post at Red Mesa.

Alice was found dead the next morning. The final revenge had been exacted. The curse was complete.

In Part l of The Navajo Chindi read more about Navajo death customs and lore that surrounds this evil spirit.